CHAPTER LVI11 



BACTERIA 



JANUARY, February, and March passed with 

 more than the usual snow and rain, fully ten 

 inches of precipitation ; but the spring proved 

 neither cold nor late. During these three months 

 we sold butter to the amount of 11283, and $747 

 worth of eggs ; in all, $2030. 



The ploughs were started in the highest land 

 on the llth of April, and were kept going steadily 

 until they had turned over nearly 280 acres. 



I decided to put the whole of the widow's field 

 into corn, lots 8, 12, and 15 (84 acres) into oats, 

 and 50 acres of the orchards into roots and sweet 

 fodder corn. Number 13 was to be sown with 

 buckwheat as soon as the rye was cut for green 

 forage. I decided to raise more alfalfa, for we 

 could feed more to advantage, and it was fast 

 gaining favor in my establishment. It is so pro- 

 ductive and so nutritious that I wonder it is not 

 more generally used by farmers who make a 

 specialty of feeding stock. It contains as much 

 protein as most grains, and is wholesome and 

 highly palatable if properly cured. It should be 

 cut just as it is coming into flower, and should 



