18 TALKS ON MANURES. 



would cover the whole i'arm with 500 Ibs. of Peruvian guano per 

 acre, or its equivalent, it would pay him better than any other 

 agricultural operation he is likely to engage in. By the time it 

 was on the land the cost would amount to about $20 per acre. If 

 he sells no more grass or hay from the farm than he would sell if 

 he did not use the guano, this $20 may very properly be added to 

 the permanent capital invested in the farm. And in this aspect of 

 the case, I have no hesitation in saying it will pay a high rate of 

 interest. His bill for labor will be as much in one case as in the 

 other ; and if he uses the guano he will probably double his crops. 

 His grass lands will carry twenty cows instead of ten, and if he 

 raises the corn-fodder and roots, he can probably keep thirty cows 

 better than he could otherwise keep a dozen ; and, having to keep 

 a herdsman in either case, th3 cost of labor will not bs much in- 

 creased. " But you think it will not pay ? " It will probably not 

 pay him. I do not think liia business would pay me if I lived on 

 my farm, and went to New York only once or twice a week. If 

 there is one business above all others that requires constant atten- 

 tion, it is farming and especially stock- farming. But my friend 

 is right in saying that he cannot afford to wait to enrich his land 

 by clover and summer-fallowing. His land costs too much ; he 

 has a large barn and everything requisite to keep a large stock of 

 cattle and sheep. The interest on farm and buildings, and the 

 money expended in labor, would run on while the dormant matter 

 in the soil was slowly becoming available under the influence of 

 good tillage. The large barn must be filled at once, and the only 

 way to do this is to apply manure with an unsparing hand. If he 

 lived on the farm, I should have no doubt that, by adopting this 

 course, and by keeping improved stock, and feeding liberally, he 

 could make money. Perhaps he can find a man who will sin- 

 fully manage the farm under his direction, but the probabilities 

 are that his present profit and pleasure will come from the grat- 

 ification of his early love for country life. 



