_Wealth in material objects._—Our attention is called to wealth in comparing two material objects of desire. One has more uses, more important uses, more rare uses, than another; or one is less easily obtained than another. In either case we prize that one in store, as the more important. We compare two farms, as material aids to different owners, and call both wealth in different degrees. We note the condition of two countries as to all the machinery of industry, and know that one has greater wealth than the other. We compare the accumulations of this generation with those of our fathers, and rejoice in our advance in wealth as one important form of power to gain a genuine welfare. Thus, in comparing our country’s inventory by the census of 1890 with that of 1850, we find that while its people are only 2.7 times as many, there are 3.15 times as many farms of exactly the same number of acres, though more of each is cultivated, and that the value of property used in farming is more than four times as great; so we know that the farmers have increased in wealth and welfare as compared with our fathers. See Charts I and II. _Rural wealth analyzed._—A brief analysis of rural wealth in any established community will help to understand the meaning of the word and its relation to welfare. First may be named the farm fields and plantations brought by exertions continued through long years from raw forest or prairie to present tilth and productiveness. An English farmer, when asked how long it took to establish a certain permanent pasture, replied, “Three hundred years.” Second, all fences, drives and farm buildings, for convenience of handling and storing produce and stock. Third, all the tools and implements of the trade. Fourth, all domestic animals of every kind, and all attendants of their sustenance and growth, including feed and manure. Fifth, all contrivances for marketing and preparing for market. Sixth, all highways between neighbors and toward market. Seventh, all local elevators, stock-yards and depot facilities. Eighth, the homes, with all material comforts and utensils. Ninth, any store of provisions in cellar, pantry, smokehouse or bin. Tenth, all personal belongings for clothing, adornment and enjoyment. Eleventh, the family libraries and associated treasures. Twelfth, any actual store of gold, silver or other current wealth available for future wants. This does not include notes, mortgages, bonds, or any other promises to pay, nor certificates of stock in any business enterprise, because these are mere titles to wealth supposed to exist elsewhere,—as distinct from the wealth as the deed is from the farm. Thirteenth, any peculiar advantages of location, scenery, pure air, pure water and agreeable temperature, that are controlled by owners for personal advantage or enjoyment, and can be objects of desire to others. Fourteenth, any “good will” attached to, and part of, particular farms, due to long established methods and facilities