9. Agriculture

This department of Ashram activities owes its existence to Maganlal Gandhi. But for him I would not have had the courage to take up agriculture at all, although an Ashram without it would be something like Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark. For we had not the requisite skill and environment for it as I thought Agriculture is a very big undertaking and would call for a lot of land, money and manpower. I was afraid that it would distract our attention from other necessary things which could be done and would not wait. But Maganlal was insistent and I yielded to him. 'Let me do it,' he said, 'if only for my own diversion.' Maganlal hardly ever argued with me. He thought it his duty to carry out my ideas. If he did not understand them or if he disagreed, he would tell me so. If even then I stuck to my may be susceptible of some slight improvement, but nothing definite can be said about it, as the Ashram has not the time to apply its mind to the subject.