two estates, so
that my relation finds himself now in the position of being the unhappy
owner and occupier of five or six farms, extending over several thousand
acres--one farm alone occupying an area of two thousand four hundred
acres. Fortunately for the owner, he possesses town property in addition
to his landed estates, so that the question with him is not, as it is
with many land owners, how to find the necessary capital to cultivate
the land, but, having found the capital, how to expend it in farming, so
as to produce a proper return.

It is not very surprising that, under these circumstances, my opinion
should have been asked. What, indeed, would have been the use of a
relation, who not only spent all his time in agricultural experiments,
but also pretended to teach our neighbors how to farm on the other side
of the Atlantic, if he could not bring his science to bear on the land
of an adjoining county! Here is the land--my relation might naturally
say--here is the money, and I have so much confidence in your capacity
that I will give you _carte-blanche_ to spend as much as you
please--what am I to do?

An inspection of the property brought out the following facts--that all
the land was very light, and that you might walk over the fresh plowed
surface in the wettest weather without any clay sticking to your boots:
still a portion of the soil was dark in color, and therefore probably
contained a sufficient amount of fertility to make cultivation
profitable, provided the management could be conducted with that care
and economy which are absolute essentials in a business where the
expenditure is always pressing closely upon the income.

Upon land of this description meat-making is the backbone of the system,
which must be adopted, and a large breeding flock of sheep the first
essential towards success.

Science can make very little improvement upon the four-course
rotation--roots, barley, clover, and wheat, unless, perhaps, it may be
by keeping the land in clover, or mixed grass and clover, for two or
three years.

A good deal of the land I was inspecting was so light, that, in fact, it
was hardly more than sand, and for some years it had been left to grow
anything that came up, undisturbed by the plow.

To a practised eye, the character of the natural vegetation is a sure
indication of the fertility of the soil. Where herds of buffaloes are to
be seen--their sides shaking with fat--it is quite evident that t