It has the drawback of being
rather stony."
Of course this is "a fad"; it is doubtful if it will pay any one to
give such prices for seed except to sell to some bigger fool than
himself. Of course, also, the market for a particular fancy thing
may soon be overstocked, but it seems to be a nice thing for the
Findlays meanwhile, and it does good in teaching people to
appreciate good things.
Yet the average potato patcher prudently saves his small potatoes
for next year's seed, which is just as if a breeder were to keep the
colts that were too poor to sell, to be the parents of his herd.
In the dark ages of farming--to wit, in 1881, for this is a true
story--a minister of the Gospel came into possession, by
inheritance, of a fifteen-acre farm a short way from Philadelphia.
He found the soil a reddish, somewhat gravelly clay, and so worn out
from years of cropping that it did not support two cows and a horse.
City born and bred, he was encumbered with no knowledge of
agriculture which had to be unlearned. He began a careful and
systematic study of the agricultural literature, and ultimately
developed a novel system of dairy farming to which he adhered
religiously.
Pages:
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353