102 



could or could not be brought into comparative good 

 tilth by the employment of fertilizing agencies outside 

 of stalile and barn yard manures. The farm at the time 

 of purchase was well suited to a trial of thiis kind, as it 

 had been in administrators' hands for several years, and 

 was consequently neglected and unproductive. The soil 

 is varied in its character, with upland and lowland, a fine 

 peat bog occupying a basin between the hills. A por- 

 tion is silicious, another portion loamy with a clay sub- 

 soil, and still another part is rich in organic debris, a for- 

 est having until within a few years densely covered it. 

 Perhaps no tract of land in our county presents a greater 

 variety of soils, of differences of exposure, or affords the 

 gradations from w^et to dry, so desirable for fair experi- 

 ment. The product at the time of purchase consisted 

 entirely of hay — about twelve tons being produced, of 

 indifferent quality. The crops the present year upon 

 lands embraced in the original purchase, have been oO 

 tons of good hay, 100 bushels of potatoes, 25 bushels of 

 wheat, 150 bushels of corn, 75 bushels of turnips, and 

 one and a half tons of grapes, beside other fruits in con- 

 siderable cpiantities. There has been a steady increase 

 in the amount of crops each year, notwithstanding a se- 

 ries of most unfavorable seasons. The number of acres 

 in tillage is not flir from twenty. No stable or barn yard 

 manures, excepting a few loads at the start, have been 

 purchased during the five years, and the amount made 

 upon the premises has been small ; the stock consisting 

 until within the past year of only three cows, a pig and 

 one horse. At present the farm sustains eleven cows 

 and heifers, three horses, a pig, and during a part of the 

 year, one yoke of oxen. 



The fertilizing substances used (of which an accurate 



