62 WE FARM FOR A HOBBY 



be needed per acre of sowing, an intelligent an- 

 swer can only be made when one knows (A) about 

 what the normal crop per acre will be, and (B) 

 how much livestock there will be to feed through 

 the coming winter. How well did the present crop 

 do? Under what conditions? How many head has 

 it fed, and how far into the spring or summer will 

 it last? From the record of past performance an 

 estimate of future needs can be made. Altogether, 

 the complete time cycle contemplated by that one 

 job stretches from a year or more in the past to 

 a year or more in the future. 



I was already familiar with this characteristic 

 of farm planning when I set to work in the fall of 

 1932. I also knew that my land had been worked 

 hard for upwards of two hundred and fifty years, 

 that it was badly run down. I knew that to grow feed 

 for the livestock as well as food for the family it 

 would have to be built up; that land, like old 

 people and horses, is hard to get up once it gets 

 down. I knew that however essential and effective 

 they may be, commercial fertilizers are not a com- 

 plete substitute for farm manures; the application 

 of organic matter can not be indefinitely deferred. 

 Starting my project in the fall, there would be a 

 small accumulation of manure by spring planting; 

 but how much more would be needed, or what it 

 would cost, or where it could be bought were un- 

 answerable questions. I could have had some help 



