FOR MEADOW AND PASTURE LANDS. 163 



We have spoken of some of the top dressings which will 

 prove beneficial to pasture and mowing lands. We have not 

 aimed to treat of them in any abstruse and scientific manner. 

 Nor have we been anxious to mention and dwell upon every 

 possible substance which would serve a good purpose as a top 

 dressing. If was our aim to set forth the peculiar advantages 

 of such as could be available to most farmers of enterprise. In 

 the choice of these, regard should be had to the soil, to the 

 season, and to the expense compared with the probable result. 



The great secret of success in farming, is to do things well 

 and cheaply. "We do not believe that in our country, except, 

 perhaps, in the immediate vicinity of the market, a very great 

 outlay, what is commonly called high farming, for the sake of 

 increased crops, is expedient. Many a rich man has ruined 

 himself by farming for display. But every one knows that 

 our work should be done with system, with care, with vigi- 

 lance against waste. Manure high, make, if possible, rich gar- 

 dens of every field, but let the manure be made, so far as it can 

 be, from the natural resources which every farm possesses. 

 Draw from the meadow, the ditch, the roadside, the woods, 

 Avhatever will enrich the soil. Nor does cheap farming, imply 

 that the buildings, the fences, the roads about the farm, be neg- 

 lected. Ditching, draining, reclaiming useless lands, these form 

 a sort of reserved fund for the farmer. 



And Avhen these, his appropriate tasks are completed, then 

 all the powers of nature help him rise to competence, to honor, 

 and to happiness. Then, what a life is his ! What quiet with- 

 out envy ! What freedom from intrigue ! What calmness ! 

 What serenity ! His sleep is sweet. When morning comes, 

 the very animals hasten with glad step to welcome his ap- 

 proach. These joys are for him to appreciate, who aims to 

 secure that higher culture to which every task of life is sub- 

 servient ! 



