AN EXAMPLE OF SUCCESSFUL FAKM MANAGEMENT. 11 



CONDITIONS OF THE HILL LAND. 



The hill portion of this farm is particularly typical in accessibility 

 and general conditions of southern New York and northern Pennsyl- 

 vania. The owner of a valley farm is in a position to handle contigu- 

 ous hill lands in connection with his valley farm more profitably than 

 any one else, and the experience of Mr. English demonstrates that 

 this type of land can be made productive and profitable. 



This general type of soil needs lime, frequent and thorough culti- 

 vation, organic matter, and some plant food, largely phosphoric acid. 

 In some cases it needs drainage, and if such is the case it is useless 

 to handle it without drainage and expect the best results. Mr. Eng- 

 lish realized this and has given attention only to the better drained 

 portions of the land which he owns. However, he owns some land 

 which is poorly drained, and he expects to begin reclaiming it by 

 installing an artificial drainage system. 



IMPROVING THE FIRST FIELD. 



For some time after he purchased the farm Mr. English gave but 

 little consideration to this hill land, using it for pasture and being 

 satisfied with what little grew of its own accord. His first attempt 

 toward improvement was with a 6-acre field which at that time was 

 nothing but a poor pasture, in just about the same condition that a 

 •majority of the pastures in the section are to-day. He plowed it in 

 the spring of 1906, picking off the stones before and after plowing. 

 During the summer the field lay fallow, but was cultivated at fre- 

 quent intervals to get good tilth. In September the land was sowed 

 to rye. A fairly good stand was secured the following spring, and 

 it was allowed to grow until June 1, when it was plowed under. The 

 field was left fallow but received cultivation until July 10, when 

 buckwheat was planted. Planting the buckwheat was intentionally 

 late, so there would be no possibility of its getting ripe and thus 

 affording a temptation to remove it from the land. As soon as the 

 buckwheat was full grown the cows were turned on it to feed and to 

 tramp down the growth. 



During the process of improvement Mr. English made it a point 

 to plow a little deeper at each successive plowing, until at length 

 he was able to plow 8 to 10 inches deep. He was careful to pick off 

 any large stones which had been turned up, but at no time was the 

 stone picking particularly arduous. Most of them were removed 

 just before and after the first plowing. After that it was necessary 

 to remove only those which the later plowings had loosened. 



After the cattle had pastured off the buckwheat somewhat in the 

 fall of 1907 and it was trampled down sufficiently, the field was 

 plowed. In the spring the land was thoroughly prepared and 

 planted to potatoes. An application of 600 pounds per acre of fer- 



