24-6 THE PRACTICAL FAKMEK. 



neiglibors', while his farm gives him a living. It 

 is true that his soil does not produce as much as it 

 did ten years ago ; but prices are better, and he is 

 satisfied. 



Let us look at his premises, and see how his affairs 

 are managed. First, examine the land. "Well, it is 

 good i'air land. Some of it is a little springy, but it 

 is not to be called wet. When first laid down, it will 

 produce a ton and a half of hay to the acre it used 

 to produce two tons. There are some stones on the 

 land, but not enough, in his estimation, to do harm. 

 The plowed fields are pretty good ; they will produce 

 35 bushels of corn, 1 3 bushels of wheat, or 30 bushels 

 of oats per acre, when the season is not dry. His 

 father used to get more ; but, somehow, the weather 

 is not so favorable as it was in old times. He has 

 thought of raising root crops, but they take more 

 labor than he can afford to hire. Over in the back 

 part of the land there is a muck-hole, which is the 

 only piece of worthless land on the whole farm. 



Now, let us look at the barns and barn-yards. 

 The stables are pretty good. There are some wide 

 cracks in the siding, but they help to ventilate, and 

 make it healthier for the cattle. The manure is 

 thrown out of the back windows, and is left in piles 

 under the eaves of the barn. The rain and sun make 

 it nicer to handle. The cattle have to go some dis- 

 tance for water ; and this gives them exercise. All 

 of the cattle are not kept in the stable ; the fatten- 

 ing stock are kept in the various fields, where hay is 

 fed out to them from the stack. The barn-yard is 



