MY FARM OF EDGEWOOD 



izers, a smaller harvest. And it is precisely 

 this undervaluation of his traditional mode of 

 labor, that makes him show a distaste for the 

 crop. 



Corn is a rank grower, and very largely, a 

 surface feeder; for these reasons, it accom- 

 modates itself better than most farm crops, 

 to an awkward and careless husbandry — pro- 

 vided only, abundance of gross fertilizers are 

 present, and comparative cleanliness secured. 

 It is not a crop which I should count a valu- 

 able assistant in bringing the sandy loam of 

 a neglected farm into a condition of prime fer- 

 tility. It has so rank an appetite for the inor- 

 ganic riches of a soil, as to forbid any accumu- 

 lation of that valuable capital. Nor do I 

 clearly perceive how, in the neighborhood of 

 large towns, and upon light soils, it can be 

 made a profitable crop at the East. It has a 

 traditional sanctity, to be sure; and a great 

 many pleasant old gentlemen of New Eng- 

 land, who count themselves shrewd farmers, 

 would as soon think of abandoning their heavy 

 ox-carts, or of adopting a long-handled shovel, 

 as of abandoning their yearly growth of com. 



I think I have given the matter a fair test, 

 notwithstanding the objections of my Somer- 

 setshire friend, and have added to my own 



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