What the Farm Was. 19 



Station, told the people at one institute last winter where I was, 

 that he had visited my farm and carefully examined the soil and 

 looked at lay of land, and he was greatly surprised to find the 

 natural conditions no better than they were. There is one thing 

 that deceives many. The road runs right through the streak of 

 best land there is on the farm. Go back 50 rods on either side 

 and a stranger will be greatly taken down. The road is just 

 where it enables me to put my best foot forward to those passing. 

 Every field has grand good land right at the road, and there is no 

 deception about this on my part. When Friend A.I. Root visited 

 me last summer I wanted him to know the truth about my soil, 

 and so took a spade and went back in the fields and dug down in 

 the clover sod. But let me quote directly from Mr. Root's report 

 in Gleanings for July 15, 1891, page 603 . ' ' Now I wish to em- 

 phasize one point right here. Everybody seems to be trying to 

 find out some excuse for Terry's great crops rather than to admit 

 that the credit belongs to Terry himself. * * * A good many 

 have said, 'Oh, yes ! Terry has got a piece of the richest land in 

 the State of Ohio ; and anybody can make a living on such soil as 

 he has.' That, too, is a big blunder. We got a bright, clean 

 spade out of the tool house, and I made it my special business 

 to dig down as I passed through the fields. In one place 

 where the clover was particularly rank and strong I uttered an 

 exclamation of surprise when the spade showed poor yellow 

 looking earth, almost exactly like the poorest ground on my 

 own place at home. Yes, we have some ground that is so 

 poor that I have just thrown away manure in trying to make 

 it raise something. It is doing better, but it takes time. Well, 

 Friend Terry has several acres yet that has never been re- 

 claimed. As we looked it over he said it would probably 

 not bring over $15 an acre (the real estate assessor valued the 

 unreclaimed upland at just $15 an acre last spring). The original 

 soil had been washed off (or was never on) and it was hard, 

 stony, gravelly yellow clay. A part, however, of this same kind 

 of land has been redeemed. Just over the fence there was a 

 beautiful stand of wheat, all even, with great long heads just 

 bending under their loads of plump grain." After telling what 

 he thought had made the change, draining, clover, etc., Mr. Root 

 continues : " It is the result of enthusiasm and steady work, year 

 after year, together with careful planning and experimenting, to 

 make the most of some of the poorest ground to be found in the 

 State of Ohio. There is, however, some very good ground on the 

 place. * * * I should like to see Mr. Terry take hold of 

 some rich river bottom ground. There may be a providence, 

 however, in the fact that God has seen fit to plant him where he 

 is on a farm that averages about as poor, naturally, as almost 

 any farmer in the State of Ohio has to contend with. If you 



