30 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



ing tillage land discard all stock, exclude all stable manure, 

 employ all labor used upon it, live upon or remote from it, 

 and raise crops and market the same, insuring a good per 

 cent on the capital invested, solely with the use of commer- 

 cial manures as a fertilizer? 



In the year 1884 I purchased my present farm, situated 

 in the town of Dalton, and about 3|- miles east from the park 

 in Pittsiield, consisting of 150 acres, divided as follows : 

 40 acres of tillage land, balance pasture and woodland. 

 Capacity of farm, 12 cows and 2 horses. I stocked it with 

 cows ; made butter which was delivered to customers in 

 Pittsfield, at from 25 to 30 cents per pound. April 1, 1885, 

 took inventory ; balanced up my books ; paid my debts ; 

 found my bank account consisted of a fair amount of stable 

 manure. I thought this rather unsatisfactory, but took fresh 

 courage and went to work ; changed to selling milk. Com- 

 menced using commercial fertilizer in small quantities ; was 

 a little afraid of it, and thought it was too expensive. I in- 

 creased my stock some ; was very particular about family 

 having much spending money. Saved everything that would 

 make manure ; drew absorbents a distance of one mile. 

 Worked a little harder. April 1, 1886, took inventory; 

 found stock and productions of farm increasing slowly. 

 Balanced up my books ; found I could not pay my debts 

 from the income from the farm, but imagined I could see 

 where it was all coming back with good interest, as I had a 

 large amount of good stable manure, so I started in with 

 a determination to win. Followed about the same methods 

 as in 1886, still using small quantities of commercial fertil- 

 izer, with my stable manure ; but could not see much good 

 from it. April 1, 1887, took inventory; found everything 

 slowly though steadily increasing ; also my debt. I was 

 rather discouraged, but my friends cheered me up ; thought 

 I was fortunate, as I had a large amount of very valuable ma- 

 nure. This year used commercial fertilizer freely ; top- 

 dressed grass land with it ; mixed a liberal amount of salt with 

 some and sowed upon grass land that was so badly infested 

 with grubs that one could kick up the turf with the foot. The 

 result was a good crop of timothy and clover mixed. Tried 

 it side by side with stable manure on grass land, spread in 



