Quotation from: The Valley of the Moon

Written by: Jack London

The man nodded appreciatively and continued.

"The old folks schemed and gathered and added the land into the
big holdings, and built the great barns and mansions, and planted
the house orchards and flower gardens. The young folks were
spoiled by so much wealth and went away to the cities to spend
it. And old folks and young united in one thing: in impoverishing
the soil. Year after year they scratched it and took out bonanza
crops. They put nothing back. All they left was plow-sole and
exhausted land. Why, there's big sections they exhausted and left
almost desert.