Old and New Homes. 5 



in the way I have described. But we were not entirely able to secure 

 this result. We were all new hands at this growing of " truck " as they 

 call it here, and made some total failures. Some seeds were planted too 

 early, and others too late. In fact, we fell far behind our neighbors, whose 

 long experience insured success. Then the long spell of dry weather dried 

 up many of the young plants, and caused us great disappointment. Thus 

 we discovered, before the season was half gone, that we had many things 

 to learn. 



Had we followed the example of some of our small-minded neighbors, 

 we might have done with less for ourselves, and therefore saved more ; 

 but comfort and plenty were not thus to be sacrificed. We were healthy, 

 and had good appetites, which could only be satisfied with a sufficiency of 

 the relishable things around us. At our old home, we had been accustomed 

 to raise a few common vegetables ; but never had we enjoyed so great a va- 

 riety of such splendid quality as were produced on our present farm. This 

 was owing, first, to the condition of the soil, originally a light, sandy loam, 

 but highly enriched by constant dressings of manure ; and, secondly, to the 

 quick growth of the vegetables themselves. The plants drew their vitality 

 from the ground, not slowly as from a heavy clay-soil, but vigorously. They 

 seized upon the fertilizing principle, and rendered us immediate and rich 

 returns for our expenditures. Our next neighbor's farm afforded us a good 

 opportunity for comparison ; for he was so anxious to make money, and so 

 grudged to lay out a dollar on his land, that ver)' little was applied to en- 

 rich it beyond the production of his own barnyard. My father and he 

 often compared notes on the expenses of their farms, and there was a dif- 

 ference of several hundreds of dollars in this one item ; yet, when the sea- 

 son was over, the balance was very encouragingly in our favor. His crops 

 had fallen short of ours both in quality and quantity, while the exhausted 

 soil appeared to be incapable of any further production. Ours was in 

 good condition, and would require a less expenditure for fertilizers the next 

 year. H. 



Burlington, N. J. 



