54 HAPPY HOLLOW FARM 



its usefulness. After the fashion of tenant 

 farmers everywhere, the tenants on this place, 

 in addition to slovenly methods, had exhausted 

 the natural supply of decaying vegetable mat- 

 ter in the upper soil, so that the surface would 

 bake and "crust" badly after rains. Besides, 

 this humus is, as even the kindergartens teach 

 nowadays, quite necessary to plant growth. 



There are many ways of getting humus into 

 a depleted soil; but they all simmer down to 

 one easy rule: You must put it there. It's 

 like the kids' saying: "What goes up must 

 come down." If you waste humus by allowing 

 your soil to wash, by burning refuse instead of 

 plowing it under, or by persistent cropping, 

 and do nothing to renew the supply, the time 

 is bound to come when you won't have any 

 humus. That's just a little more obvious than 

 the well advertised fact that two and two make 

 four. That's practically the sum and sub- 

 stance of the "worn out farm" bugaboo, north 

 or south, east or west. This isn't the place for 

 an argument about the theory of it. 



It would be hard to find a "worn out farm" 

 anywhere that couldn't be made as good or bet- 

 ter than it ever was by patience, perseverance 

 and prudence. It's not to be accomplished 



