Vermont State Hokticultural Society 39 



Those two things came along together; this clover that 

 brought me more hay per acre and better and increased fertility, 

 and this tillage that had increased the fertility of the soil. I said 

 to myself, isn't it possible in some way in working along this 

 line to increase the fertility of this land, the whole farm, and 

 make it productive, and then I didn't care how soon I left it, — 

 I wasn't able to get away from it before I succeeded. So I be- 

 gan to change around gradually. We had nine cows. I sold 

 eight of them so I could get money to experiment. It was dan- 

 gerous, but I was bound to try it. We changed the land around 

 and got our fields into shape so we would have three cultivated 

 fields about equal, and there had to be some draining done. I 

 laid every tile with my own hands ; I had to work long days, 

 and all day in the rain sometimes, when other farmers said it 

 was too bad weather to work. Drains had to be put in; instead 

 of spending money on clothes we bought tiles with it, and we 

 also went in debt for them. Every bit of manure was saved, 

 both liquid and solid, to be used as top dressing to make the 

 clover grow. We used it as far as it would reach to help the 

 clover start, also used straw for the same purpose ; we grew 

 clover, potatoes and wheat in regular rotation. The clover was 

 good to get the fertility to grow the potatoes, and the tillage for 

 the potatoes and to make the wheat grow, and so on. That was 

 my idea, and I was bound to try it. I was getting $i,ooo a year 

 at a desk in Hudson before I bought the farm ; I wanted to be- 

 come independent and get out of doors ; I was offered $1200 a 

 year if I would return to my desk, I told my former employer 

 I couldn't do it. I overheard two of my acquaintances in the 

 city say of me, one day in passing my place, — and do you know 

 sometimes a little thing will influence a man's whole life — one 

 man said: "What is Terry doing out here? He can never suc- 

 ceed." The other answered, "I know he will succeed if he sticks 

 to it." That determined me. I said I would not go back to the 

 office, that I would succeed with my farm before I left it; I 

 wasn't born on a farm, and didn't like farming, but it all seemed 

 to be a series of happen-sos and I was bound to succeed and then 

 go back to town if I wanted to. 



In five or six years we began to be pretty well satisfied with 

 this work, the growing of the clover regularly, plowing a little 

 deeper every year and increasing the amount of tillage, and the 

 results increased accordingly. 



Briefly let me tell you how this clover growing and this til- 

 lage increased the fertility of the land. 



By growing the clover as we did we were supplying the 

 land with all the nitrogen it needed, and what is the use of 

 buying nitrogen when you can get it for nothing? 



