124 THE TIM BUXKEB PA I 



fortnight I sowed buckwheat, harrowing it in with about 

 the same quantity of guano that I had used in the rye. 

 The buckwheat came up and grew more rankly than any 

 thing I ever saw before. All the neighbors were astonish 

 ed at the monstrous growth, and most astonished when I 

 brought out the teams, the last of August, to turn it un 

 der. They said Tim Bunker must be crazy to make ma 

 nure of the heaviest crop of buckwheat in town. But the 

 buckwheat went under, notwithstanding. The last of Sep 

 tember, I sowed with rye again, and as I had put two 

 green crops under the sod, I thought the land had got 

 start enough to take care of itself I sowed with the rye, 

 clover and herds-grass seed, calculating that these would 

 take the ground, when the rye came off. Last July I har 

 vested from that five-acre field, one hundred and twenty- 

 five bushels of rye, worth as many dollars. They have got 

 to making paper out of the straw, so that I got ten dol 

 lars a tun for that, or about seventy-five dollars. 



Now, every man who is used to ciphering can tell 

 whether the operation paid or not. The crop, I consider 

 worth two hundred dollars, to say nothing of the fine 

 catch of grass, which now promises at least a tun and a 

 half of hay to the acre. The cost of the manure was 

 about forty-five dollars. The labor of plowing, sowincr, 

 harvesting, and the grass seed would, perhaps, swell the 

 cost of the improvement to one hundred and fifty dollars. 

 This leaves a handsome sum on the right side of the bal 

 ance sheet, and the land in much better condition. The 

 old plain would have been well sold at five dollars an acre, 

 for it did not pay the interest on half that sum. I should 

 not want to sell now at ten dollars an acre. The experi 

 ment has work -d much better than I thought it would. 



Now, I think we have here a hint as to the economical 

 way of giving land a start. If it lies near the barn, where 

 manure can be carted cheaply, the stable manure is the 

 best renovator. If it lies at a distance, it can be done with 



