104 FIRESIDE SCIENCE. 



base of a small hill or elevation is of a very differ- 

 ent character from that at the apex, and a level flat 

 at one extremity of a farm is quite unlike another 

 at the opposite end. It is not necessary to leave 

 our own farms to find soils presenting striking 

 dissimilarities in chemical composition as well as 

 in physical characteristics. This is a point which 

 should receive more consideration in the conduct 

 of our farms. 



"With the design of attempting to bring this farm 

 into good condition without the use of barnyard or 

 stable dung, no stock was kept upon the premises 

 save a cow and a heifer the first two years, and 

 with the exception of a few loads of manure pur- 

 chased for garden uses at the start, no excrementi- 

 tious products have been bought during the seven 

 years it has been in my hands. The farm at the 

 present time (1871) sustains eighteen cows, five 

 horses, three hogs, and, for a portion of the year, 

 one yoke of oxen. The product of hay in 1870 

 was fifty tons, corn two hundred bushels, rye per- 

 haps twenty bushels, with- large quantities of apples, 

 grapes, and other fruits. The productive capabili- 

 ties of the fields have been aroused through the 

 agency of fertilizing substances outside of animal 

 excrement, and the farm placed in position to main- 

 tain its good tilth by the manurial products which 

 it is now capable of supplying. To state the matter 



