FARM EXPERIMENTS AT LAKESIDE. 103 



ety in character and composition, and probably as 

 fairly represented the varying nature of our Massa- 

 chusetts farms as any tract of land in the State. A 

 portion was silicious, loose, and dry ; another was 

 loamy and retentive ; another, moist and composed 

 of dark mould with a clayey subsoil ; and still 

 another, a well-formed wet peat bog. 



It will be seen from this brief description that 

 the farm was made up of fields eminently suited 

 for fair experiment, and also it will be understood 

 that it came into my hands under the most favor- 

 able conditions to test the value of any plan or sys- 

 tem of fertilization. In 1863, about ten tons of 

 indifferent upland hav were cut upon the portion 

 embraced in the original purchase ; the produce of 

 an adjoining field of four acres of upland, which 

 has since been purchased and added to the farm, I 

 am unable to state. No corn or other grain in any 

 amount had been grown for perhaps ten years upon 

 the farm, and I have no knowledge of the character 

 of any cereals produced prior to the purchase. It 

 should be stated here that the chemical analysis 

 of soils taken from the different fields presented 

 a singular difference in composition, and what I 

 learned in this regard upon my own fields led me 

 to examine those of others at comparatively remote 

 points, and the same remarkable variations have 

 been generally found to prevail. The soil at the 



