FARMING AS A BUSINESS. 17 



ready. Put on half a ton of guano per acre and harrow in, and 

 then mark off the rows three feet apart, and drill in four bushels 

 of corn per acre. Cultivate thoroughly, and expect a great crop. 

 By the last of July, the Ayrshire cows will take kindly to the suc- 

 culent corn-fodder, and with three or four quarts of meal a day, 

 it will enable each of them to make 10 Ibs. of butter a week. 



For the pigs, sow a few acres of peas. These will do well on 

 sod-land, sown early or late, or a part early and a part late, as 

 most convenient. Sow broadcast and harrow in, 500 Ibs. of Pe- 

 ruvian guano per acre and 200 Ibs. of gypsum. Drill in three 

 bushels of peas per acre, or sow broadcast, and cover them with a 

 Shares' harrow. Commence to feed the crop green as soon as the 

 pods are formed, and continue to feed out the crop, threshed or 

 unthreshed, until the middle of November. Up to this time the 

 bugs do comparatively little damage. The pigs will thrive won- 

 derfully on this crop, and make the richest and best of manure. 



I have little faith in any attempt to raise root crops on land not 

 previously well prepared. But as it is necessary to have some 

 mangel-wurzel and Swede turnips for the Ayrshire cows and 

 long-wool sheep next winter and spring, select the cleanest and 

 richest land that can be found that was under cultivation last 

 season. If fall plowed, the chances of success will be doubled. 

 Plow the land two or three times, and cultivate, harrow, and roll 

 until it 13 as mellow as a garden. Sow 400 Ibs. of Peruvian guano 

 and 300 Ibs. of good superphosphate per acre broadcast, and har- 

 row them in. Ridge up the land into ridges 2^ to 3 ft. apart, with 

 a double mould-board plow. Roll down the ridges with a light 

 roller, and drill in the seed. Sow the mangel-wurzel in May the 

 earlier the better and the Swedes as soon afterwards as the land 

 can be thoroughly prepared. Better delay until June rather than 

 bow on rough land. 



The first point on such a farm will be to attend to the grassland. 

 This affords the most hopeful chance of getting good returns the 

 first year. But no time is to be lost. Sow 500 Ibs. of Peruvian 

 guano per acre on all the grass land and on the clover, with 200 

 Ibs. of gypsum in addition on the latter. If this is sown early 

 enough, so that the spring rains dissolve it and wash it into the 

 soil, great crops of grass may be expected. 



" But will it pay ? " My friend in New York is a very energetic 

 and successful business man, and he has a real love for farming, 

 and I have no sort of doubt that, taking the New York business 

 and the farm together, they will afford a very handsome profit. 

 Furthermore, I have no doubt that if, after he has drained it, he 



