THE EARTH'S BOUNTY 



ficiency of any one dangerous. Our business 

 man overtaxes mind and body, and, like the 

 soil, gradually breaks down and tries for the 

 simple life he deserted in youth. 



It seems such a pity that old Father Time 

 does not prevent the pendulum of affairs 

 taking such desperate plunges. A nice, even 

 wigwag would save poor humans lots of 

 sackcloth and ashes, though my grandmother 

 may have been right in saying that " from the 

 ashes of repentance springs the spirit of im- 

 provement " which is certainly appropriate 

 to the present agricultural improvement. 



The necessity for some knowledge of soils 

 is very apparent when we realize that there 

 may be several distinct qualities on one farm. 

 The Wilbur tillable land was divided into three 

 kinds: First quite a good, rich, black mold, 

 then heavy and sandy. A ten-acre field of the 

 heavy character had been plowed shallow for 

 years ; in fact, our dear old landlord had a hor- 

 ror of deep plowing, and, when I quoted a 

 Cornell professor as an authority for thinking 



54 



