I905-] MONEY IN LAMBS. "Jl 



field. I laid out a new land and made an entire new arrange- 

 ment out of that old farm. I remember how that first summer 

 I went back and forth between the fields and the barn and the 

 house, and I could not help but think, as I looked over that 

 place, how far it fell behind what it ought to have been, and 

 how far short it was of the land on the prairies of Illinois, Kan- 

 sas, and Nebraska, that I knew so well. That thought ran in 

 my mind all the time. That was one trouble with me. I 

 could not be content to carry on farming as we were compelled 

 to do on that small place in Ohio. I could not see to my entire 

 satisfaction, at that time, how it could be made to pay. I said 

 to my father, " This land is poor. It does not pay to carry on 

 farming here and raise crops to compete with those raised on 

 the prairies of the great west." I said, " I think we make a great 

 mistake. This soil has got to be made rich before we can raise 

 crops with which we can compete with the west in farming," 

 and so I constantly took counsel with myself and studied how 

 to make improvements ; how I could bring that land up to a 

 high state of fertility, where it would raise good crops that 

 would pay some money. I knew that it had run down. I 

 knew that something must be done. I did not know then of 

 the fertilizing power of clover and other legumes. I knew 

 about stable manure, and about the advantage of keeping live 

 stock on a place, but I did not see how I was going to bring 

 that farm up to a high state. 



And right here I want to tell you a funny thing. It has 

 nothing to do with sheep in the world, but it does explain how 

 I solved that problem, in part. A mile and a half away was the 

 village, where they wasted a good deal of their manure. It 

 was a village of a couple of thousand inhabitants, and I could 

 buy the manure for twenty-five cents a load. I thought that 

 was going to solve my problem. I made a great wagon box, 

 wide and deep, a regular hay rack, and I had a big pair of Per- 

 cheron horses, so that I could draw a big load. Then some- 

 times, when some man sent me word, I would go up to the vil- 

 lage and buy it and draw it out to the farm. I felt mighty 

 glad when I got those big loads of manure, and I would just 

 think to myself, as I was going home, " Why, in this stuff I 

 have got something which I can spread out there, which will 

 bring my farm up, and where it will be forever." And so 

 I pushed the horses along as fast as they could walk. I felt 



