LUTHER BURBANK 



of a pond. At the same time the ground was care- 

 fully graded. Then, as manure was cheap near 

 by, I had 1,800 loads of it put on the four acres. 

 The manure was spread so thickly that it was 

 impossible to plow it under without the aid of 

 several men, who followed the plow and pitched 

 the manure into furrows as the plowing proceeded. 



Further details as to the method of tillage and 

 the preparation of the soil have been given in an 

 earlier chapter and need not be repeated here. 

 But I advert to the subject because I wish to 

 emphasize the possibility of transforming very 

 poor land into land of exceptional fertility. The 

 would-be plant developer who has small financial 

 resources may take a lesson from this experience, 

 and let ingenuity take the place of money. 



To what extent intelligent manipulation of land 

 may be rewarded is illustrated in the immediate 

 sequel. For in the spring following the season in 

 which the new land was tiled and fertilized, it was 

 planted to fruit trees, and the year following 

 enough nursery stock was sold from half the land 

 to pay for the entire place and all the improve- 

 ments that had been made. 



So I had a four-acre plot of the finest land, 

 located near the business center of Santa Rosa, 

 that had been paid for with ingenuity and knowl- 

 edge without making any drain on my purse. 



[96] 



