172 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



hired any extra help more than half a dozen days. By double 

 and tripple cropping I cultivate, as you have seen, sixty-six 

 acres. We have ploughed twenty-six acres once, and more 

 than half of it twice. I will say that I have dono nearly all 

 the ploughing myself. I always plough all my greensward 

 myself, and this season have, with a subsoil plough and three 

 horses abreast, gone over about one-fourth of the farm. I 

 have done all my mowing with the machine, and most of my 

 raking. 



Question. You carry on your farm with your own hands 

 and two hired men ? 



Mr. Cheevee. Yes, sir. My son, who was at school, was 

 at home on his vacation, and he helped me a little during 

 haying ; but his hands were soft. He had a great deal of 

 studying to do, and I could hardly count it much. My 

 editorial work, and calls from friends, take a great deal of my 

 time ; but two men, with what work I could do, have been 

 all I have needed. We do not have to travel half a mile for 

 every load of manure. One great difficulty with large farms 

 is, that too much travel is required in getting to work. 



Question. You spoke of using fertilizers on portions of 

 your farm that are distant from the house : are we to under- 

 stand that you used no manure on those port-ions, except 

 commercial fertilizers ? 



Mr. Cheever. On a certain portion of my land I have 

 used fertilizers only for the past six years ; and it has been 

 cropped once every year, and twice a year most of the time. 



Question. Do you find your crops as good where you 

 use the fertilizers as you do where you use manure ? 



Mr. Cheever. I do. And every acre so treated has 

 been growing richer and stronger under this system. To 

 test the matter, and see whether the fertilizers had all been 

 used up, I sowed half a dozen acres, the past season, to rye 

 and oats, without applying any fertilizer at the time, and in 

 both cases got a full crop ; but of course I could not repeat 

 such an experiment often with success. 



Question. I would like to ask you if you would sow 

 the land with grass, that you have used fertilizers upon for 

 two years in succession, expecting to get good crops for two 

 or three years. 



Mr. Cheever. I should never sow land down to grass 

 without manuring with something at the time. 



