20) TOM’S EXPERIENCE 
The only investment of money required is' for seed, 
and the only labor is the planting and gathering of 
the crops—no cultivation being required. Mys success 
with sod crops has always been good. 
PLANTING TREES. 
As soon as possible I selected a site for my house, 
and during the spring got nearly one hundred young 
trees, which [ planted around the building site for 
future shade. [ had heard that trees could not be 
made to grow if planted in sod, but this is a mistake, 
provided proper care is taken in the planting. First 
take the sod off to the depth of three or four inches 
over a circle, three or four feet in diameter; then, with 
a spade, thoroughly loosen the earth to the depth of 
eighteen inches; plant your trees: a proper depth in 
this loose earth, packing it carefully around the roots, 
and they will grow as well as.if planted in old 
cultivated ground. After planting, cultivate them 
very much as you would a hill of corn, occasionally 
loosening the earth around them, and if the weather 
is dry giving them water in the evening. Of course, 
this takes some extra work, but if you could see the 
beautiful shade trees around my house now, you 
would say that it paid better than the same amount 
of work would have done in the wheat or corn field. 
IN OUR OWN HOME. 
During the summer [ had built a house. small, but 
warm and comfortable, and situated so that when I 
