113 



new to offer, but was going to tell them simply what had 

 been his experience, not what he had heard or read. He 

 was not born a farmer but was in active business in Bos- 

 ton until he was forty years of age, and then owing to ill 

 health he went on to a farm where he spent ten years in 

 various experiments and failures before he made the farm 

 pay. He said he thought farmers needed a more busi- 

 ness knowledge of their work to become successful, a quick 

 perception and action ; delay is the cause of many of the 

 failures upon the farm. To begin with planting corn 

 for food for cattle is one of the essentials, and a great 

 many make the error of putting off the planting until too 

 late, thus losing the opportunity of getting it, in in good 

 condition. He, the speaker said, would plant as early 

 as the first of M?lj, and take his chances of a frost, and 

 get it in by the middle of September or just as soon as 

 the kernels were hard. All that a cow will eat of corn 

 fodder pound per pound is as good as timothy hay. 



He said he fed on corn fodder twice a day and fed hay 

 at night, but what works well on my farm may not apply 

 to others. A chemical analysis of the soil is not feasible, 

 as it only gives you the limited space examined. His 

 farm is a fruit farm, and here he would say, he is sur- 

 prised to see how few farmers have gardens for household 

 use to supplement the table, as they are a great help in 

 making the farm pay. Strawberries are one of the easiest 

 things to raise in a small way for the family ; he raises 

 strawberries for a money crop not for the fun of it. Do 

 not pick your berries too soon, wait until they are all 

 ripe. The trouble is pickers are apt to pick them half 

 grown. Raspberries are also a good fruit for the market 

 and a paying crop. He has known the vines to last for 

 twenty years with good care. You must keep them 

 trimmed and the soil free, do your trimming in the 

 spring. Blackberries do not pay well now, the price is so 

 low, but they are very productive. Currants are also a 



