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Streeter, John Williams

"The Fat of the Land The Story of an American Farm"

During these three months we sold butter to the amount of
$1283, and $747 worth of eggs; in all, $2030.
The ploughs were started in the highest land on the 11th of April, and
were kept going steadily until they had turned over nearly 280 acres.
I decided to put the whole of the widow's field into corn, lots 8, 12,
and 15 (84 acres) into oats, and 50 acres of the orchards into roots and
sweet fodder corn. Number 13 was to be sown with buckwheat as soon as
the rye was cut for green forage. I decided to raise more alfalfa, for
we could feed more to advantage, and it was fast gaining favor in my
establishment. It is so productive and so nutritious that I wonder it is
not more generally used by farmers who make a specialty of feeding
stock. It contains as much protein as most grains, and is wholesome and
highly palatable if properly cured. It should be cut just as it is
coming into flower, and should be cured in the windrow. The leaves are
the most nutritious part of the plant, and they are apt to fall off if
the cutting be deferred, or if the curing be _done carelessly_.


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