60 



ULKA.NINGS 1 .\ HEK ClLTl^KK. 



Jan. 



them as high ns we could, and then set 

 boards on top of the ridge, and banked them 

 a foot higher. The celery was still growing 

 when frost came, and the (jnalit} is so crisp 

 that every bit of the plants is edible— there 

 is no hard stalk about it. They are so crisp 

 that, unless great care is exercised in han- 

 dling it, it snaps up like pipe-stems. Now, 

 then, to raise almost any kind of a plant, we 

 want the ground underdrained and then 

 Worked up mellow and line. Now work into 

 the surface of this mellow ground a good lot 

 of line manure, put on just as the manure- 

 spreader does it ; then sow^ jour seeds or set 

 out yoiu' plants, and put on another thin cov- 

 ering of manure. If there should be a dry 

 time after this last coat of manure is spread 

 over the surface, there may be some of the 

 manure lost by drying up— at least, some 

 farmers think there is, but I do not feel sure 

 of it. When a shower does come so as to 

 wet the surface of the ground, there is ma- 

 nure enough to make the rain water look 

 dark-colored : and this dark-colored water 

 around the seeds and roots of the plants is 

 what brings the crop. Manure plowed un- 

 der may make a crop, it is true; biit my 

 opinion is, that it takes more, and does not 

 act so quickly, as the plan given. A very 

 little manure will color or darken a very 

 large quantity of rain water. While I was 

 attending the Ohio State Fair, one of my 

 men discovered that a manure-heap was 

 heating. He therefore turned the hose from 

 the stables, near by, on the heap, and left it 

 while he did something else. He let the 

 water run rather longer than he intended, 1 

 presume. On my arrival home, the first thing 

 I did was to take a look over the grounds. 

 Imagine my surprise to see the water of the 

 creek darkened as if somel)ody had been 

 pouring coffee into it. I followed the coffee- 

 colored streak at one side of the stream un- 

 til it came to the outlet of an underdrain. 

 Sure enough, the dark-colored liquid was 

 slowly trickling from the tiles. I followed the 

 drain until 1 came to the manure-heap. and. 

 digging down into it. I saw that it was wet. 

 I hunted up my man. but he insisted that 



there could not have been water enough put 

 on the heap to make any great waste. Xow, 

 very likely one load of good manure would col- 

 or a stream of w^ater for a mile; but my expe- 

 rience indicates that, wlienever the water is 

 colored so as to be perceptible to the eye, it 

 will make plants grow. The question has 

 often been asked, if the system of under- 

 draining commonly in vogue does not in 

 this way sometimes carr> off the strength of 

 the manure. I have watched the matter close- 

 ly ; and although I have seen it do it to some 

 extent, after ver> heavy rains, I believe the 

 loss is very small where the underdraining 

 and spreading of the manure was done as it 

 should be. If the underdrains are down 

 fully three feet in de|>th, and your ground is 

 worked up fine and soft before the manure 

 is spread on the surface, this fine soft ground 

 filters every thing valual)le from the water 

 before it reaches the underdrains. If, how- 

 ever, yoiu* manure is plowed under, so as to 

 lie on the bottom of a hard ftirrow, and your 

 underdrains are filled with hard lumps, of 

 course the first rain carries the strength of 

 the manure off to the roadside or to the out- 

 let of your underdrain. This should be care- 

 fully guarded against ; and the Acme har- 

 row, such as I have described, and manure- 

 spreader, are the things to do it. 



In regard to the expense of these ma- 

 chines, you can test the matter for yourself. 

 Make a bed in the garden, with a spading- 

 fork and rake. Tut on the manure with the 

 wheelbarrow, and rake it in by hand. Mea- 

 sure the area you have worked, and see how 

 much it costs per acre to do it. Xow tit an acre 

 Avith modern tools, and figure again the cost 

 of team, interest on money invested in tools, 

 and see which is the cheapest. I do not 

 mean to discourage working with fork and 

 rake ; for small patches for early vegetables 

 must oftentimes be got ready in this way ; 

 and the extra price leceived for the crop will 

 pay for so doing. But just as soon as cir- 

 cumstances will permit, we should let horse- 

 pow'er take the place of hand-power— not 

 only in getting the ground ready, but in 

 spreading and working the manure. 



(11 AFTER XXXIV 



Whosoevei' sliall u.vall liimsolt' shall l)c abased; 

 Matt. 3.'i: 12. 



Thus far in our book our talk has been 

 principally about " What to Do," ami but 

 little has been said about the latter part of 

 the title—'- How to be Happy," etc. I think 

 our happiness, to a great extent, depends 



and he that shall hiitiililp liiiiiselt sliall he e.valled.— 



upon our surroundings. We are also happy 

 when our plans succeed. Most of us are 

 planning and working with l)usy brain. 

 Even during the night time we lay out our 

 work and contrive ways and means to ac- 



