"Well, of course there's no gettin' around that; but yard manure is all I
want. It's like a square meal to a man, and not a bit of powder on his
tongue."

"No one wants anything better than barn-yard manure for most purposes,
for it contains nearly all the elements needed by growing plants, and its
mechanical action is most beneficial to the soil. But how many acres will
you be able to cover with this fertilizer this spring?"

"That's just the rub," the squire answered. "We use all we have, and when
I can pick it up cheap I buy some; but one can't cover a whole farm with
it, and so in spite of you some fields get all run out."

"I don't think there's any need of their running out," said Leonard,
emphatically. "I agree with Webb in one thing, if I can't follow him in
all of his scientific theories--we have both decided never to let a
field grow poor, any more than we would permit a horse or cow to so lose
in flesh as to be nearly useless; therefore we not only buy fertilizers
liberally, but use all the skill and care within our power to increase
them. Barn-yard manure can be doubled in bulk and almost doubled in value
by composting with the right materials. We make the most of our peat
swamps, fallen leaves, and rubbish in general. Enough goes to waste on
many farms every year to keep several acres in good heart. But, as you
say, we cannot begin to procure enough to go over all the land from which
we are taking crops of some kind; therefore we maintain a rotation which
is adapted to our various soils, and every now and then plow under a
heavy green crop of clover, buckwheat, or rye. A green crop plowed under
is my great stand-by."