20 HANDT-BOOK OF HUSBANDRY. 



most necessary is to have something that will serve as a reminder 

 when he is studying over his future operations, in the house in 

 bad weather. It will cost very little to have a surveyor make a 

 diagram of his boundary lines from the description in his deed, and 

 he can pace off the starting-points of his division fences, so as to 

 make a map good enough for his own use. 



Very soon after taking possession, he should manage to get in 

 five or six acres of rye. This will never come amiss. If the 

 pastures are backward in the spring, he can cut enough, daily," for 

 a green bite for his animals, and what he does not need to use in 

 this way will be worth, in straw and grain, much more than it 

 will have cost. 



Other necessary work, in repairing buildings for temporary use, 

 building up fences where they have fallen down, providing winter 

 food for his stock, and getting ready for winter generally, will 

 occupy his time until cold weather actually sets in. Even if he 

 have ready money for improvements, I would recommend him to 

 be very careful about commencing them at once. He needs 

 at least a whole winter to make up his mind what he really 

 wants, though, if he has swamp land on his place, he can make no 

 mistake in hauling out muck to be composted with the manure as 

 fast as made. As soon as he can decide which field he will put 

 in corn the next year, if he intends to buy manure from stables 

 in the town, he should commence hauling and spread it directly 

 on the sod to be plowed in in early spring. If he is sure of early 

 pasture, he may omit sowing rye, and plow his corn land as early 

 as possible, spreading the manure on the furrow. The crop will 

 probably be better for it, and he will, at least, have that much 

 spring work done beforehand. This fall-plowing should be con- 

 fined to land which will not be likely to wash, and if the subsoil 

 is an unfertile " blue-pan," great care should be taken not to 

 bring it to the surface. On many soils it is best, late in the fall, 

 to defer the plowing until spring, — enriching the soil as much as 

 possible by top-dressing. 



When the winter has really set in, and he has long evenings 

 and stormy days for house-work, he should study his map well 



