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know, here and there, made over and a little modernized 

 perhaps, that, ten to one, you would call splendid new 

 mansions ! And so my friends with our old farms. We 

 must look them over, and examine them thoroughly, and 

 see what is wanting ; the old sills, the foundation, rocks 

 and subsoil, there is no fear of. On some places the 

 shingling of vegetable mould has been washed away. But 

 the paint that makes them fresh and new — the elements, 

 that touch them with hues of deep and living green, that 

 give the bright, rich, luxuriant aspect, are wanting. 

 Perhaps a mixture of a little lime and carbon, or ammo- 

 nia and phosphate, will furbish up the ancient farm, and 

 make the old acres look up bright and shining again. 

 Don't be afraid of modernizing the old house, the old 

 land, making continually new improvements, and return- 

 ing the lost elements of the once virgin soil, that shall 

 bring back to it its early paradise. It is through such 

 examination and analysis of the old soil, alone, that we 

 can make the proper, necessary and economical applica- 

 tion of manures to our well-worn fields, and reap again 

 luxuriant, bountiful crops. 



The whole subject of specifics we are driven to pass 

 here, with the single remark, — from which may easily be 

 gathered the whole philosophy and its application, — that 

 every member of the vegetable kingdom has its own pe- 

 culiar soil, in which it best flourishes ; some belong to 

 the marshes ; some revel in the mountains ; others love 

 the sands ; and still others the rich intervals of the fer- 

 tile rivers. And, while certain elements contribute to the 

 growth and ripening of fruits, others tend only to leaves 

 and wood. The principle is true in regard to vegetables 

 and animals, it is also true in regard to man. 



Again : to the attainment of bountiful crops, the far- 

 mer should see to it that he has no waste land, no neg- 

 lected spots, no holes and side places where pestilent 



