ssive. The man who runs a farm as an avocation usually errs in
putting too much money into permanent improvements for the farm to be
a paying investment.

If it is admitted that the farm unit is limited because of the
physical difficulties of managing large areas, then it must at once be
seen how important the arrangement of the farmsteading must be to the
successful conduct of the farm. In the older farming communities where
the present farm holdings are the result of several purchases or sales
the shape of the farm, the arrangement of the fields and the place of
the farm buildings become an extremely important matter. Sometimes
satisfactory rearrangements are easily made, at other times they are
quite impossible. No attempt will be made to discuss this subject in
detail here, but the young farmer should bring to this question all
the experience and study possible.

When the young farmer goes to inspect a farm it is to be assumed that
he will be conducted over the farm by the owner or his authorized
agent. It is proper to give respectful attention to everything that is
told him, provided he follows carefully the California adage to
"believe nothing you hear and only one-half what you see."

If a farm consists of 200 or 300 acres of land, it is possible for the
agent to convey the purchaser over the farm in such a way as to
prevent the least desirable portions being seen. If the farm has
attracted the seeker of land, he should not purchase until he has made
another visit, preferably some days or weeks after the first one. He
may then very properly visit the farm alone, passing over quite a
different course from that pursued hitherto. Sketches and notes will
be found very helpful, and if the use of the soil auger is understood
it may be well employed to study the character of both soil and
subsoil. During the interval between visits some casual inquiries may
be made among those who know the history of the farm in question,
because the past history of the farm obtained from unprejudiced
witnesses is of prime importance in arriving at a conclusion
concerning its value.

A farm is much more attractive when a crop is growing upon it than
when it is without active vegetation. Poor land looks relatively
better than good land during or just after a rain. Many matters
concerning the selection of a farm can only be learned by some years
of practical experience. The young farmer will do well, therefore, to
secure the help of