“The Clock-Maker” ran into fifty editions and was as popular in America and in Canada as in England--it also had many readers in France. So potent was the delineation of the Yankee, Sam Slick, that it established and still influences the foreign estimate of citizens of the United States. Judge Haliburton had a distinguished career, the latter part of which was passed in England--where he died in 1865. * * * * * We can see from the foregoing that there is some reason, then, for the claim of certain chroniclers that “Sam Slick” was the original Yankee character, and that Windsor, Nova Scotia, was the birthplace of the oddly-costumed figure that now stands for the shrewd, benevolent, wide-awake and efficient personality that we call “Uncle Sam.” [Illustration: W. D. Moffat EDITOR] The Service of Uncle Sam All of us know that Uncle Sam means well by the hundred million members of his family, but few have any adequate appreciation of the many varied forms in which Uncle Sam lends a helping hand. His service is apparent everywhere in city, town, village and farm--and in the great desert wastes and mountain heights. It is worth while to take a sweeping survey of the whole field of Uncle Sam’s helpful operations: HELPING THE FARMER. Uncle Sam supplies a wealth of information about the planting and growing of crops, with crop estimates and statistics of agriculture. He supplies weather reports and gives helpful information on the control of destructive insects and birds--also on the fostering and improving of live stock. He gives advice on forest lands and forest fire protection. He helps in building rural roads and assists in farm management and in the procuring of farm help. He advises the farmer in marketing and in rural organization and farm finance. He gives information concerning diseases prevalent in rural districts. He supplies courses of reading for farmer parents, and assists in the work of rural schools. He spends large sums of money in administration work in the Department of Agriculture to help the condition of the farmer, the farmer’s wife and the girls and boys on the farm. He directs their education and shows them how to improve their living conditions. His office of information supplies documents full of valuable practical suggestions for the farmer. HELPING THE SETTLER. Uncle Sam reclaims desert lands and places them at the disposal of settlers. He encourages the establishment of homesteads and conducts forest service and geological surveys to develop land and make it valuable.