DISADVANTAGES OF POOR SOIL. 13 



A. I do not, of my own knowledge, recall a single instance where 

 such men have ever got their original investments back, although 

 many of them, having competent overseers, are handling their fancy 

 stock in a manner which, if energetically followed up as a business, ought 

 to pay them nearly as well as we farmers who have to make our living 

 by it. But there is another element that compensates, outside of any 

 money return, and that is that it is a healthful recreation, a safety- 

 valve, so to speak, from the perplexities of business with which the 

 merchant or professional man is visited. A well known New York 

 gentleman at the head of one of the largest corporations there, in 

 speaking with me the other day about this matter, said that his orig- 

 inal investment in fancy stock on his^farm and gardens was upwards of 

 $100,000, and that it cost him to maintain them nearly $40,000 annually; 

 but he said that the recreation he enjoyed from such an investment, 

 which he could well afford, in all probability would add ten years to 

 his life. The advantage gained by men of wealth in indulging in 

 such an occupation, instead of in paintings or other works of art, is, that 

 before they can view their treasures, they must get out into the open 

 air and sunshine, which is a valuable factor to take into account along 

 with the pleasures of the pursuit. 



THE SOIL. 



(Mr. H. ) I suppose you will agree with me in believing that the first 

 subject, and by all odds the most important factor, of success in farm- 

 ing, is the soil. This must ever be, other things being equal, the funda- 

 mental element of success. While in Europe a few years ago, on an 

 extended tour in Great Britain and the Continent, I observed that 

 although the lands in all these regions had been cultivated probably for 

 five hundred years, wherever the soil was naturally fertile there 

 were found good farm buildings, good fences, horses, wagons and har- 

 ness, everything to indicate prosperity. On the other hand, wherever 

 a poor, sterile soil predominated, there were found farm buildings, 

 fences and cattle that indicated poverty. As well may a stage coach 

 attempt to compete with a locomotive, as a farmer owning poor and 

 sterile land with the owner of a rich, fertile soil, if they sell their pro- 

 ducts in the same market. It is a delusive belief, that manuring or till- 

 age, no matter how good, will ever bring a poor, thin soil into permanent 

 fertility, unless the application of manure is yearly continued; for no 

 ordinary amount of manuring or cultivation will maintain the fertility 

 of any soil over two years, as it will then either have been taken up by 

 the crops growing on it, or else have been washed down below the depth 

 at which the roots penetrate. It requires some extent of practical 



