rable
market. To live on the fat of the land was what I proposed to do; and I
ask your indulgence while I dip into the details of this seven years'
experiment.

You may say that few persons have the time, inclination, taste, or money
to carry out such an experiment; that the average farmer must make each
year pay, and that the exploiting of this matter is therefore of
interest to a very limited number. Admitting much of this, I still claim
that there is a lesson to every struggling farmer in this narrative. It
should teach the value of brain work on the farm, and the importance of
intelligent cultivation; also the advantages of good seed, good tilth,
good specimens of well-bred stock, good food, and good care. Feed the
land liberally, and it will return you much. Permit no waste in space,
product, time, tools, or strength. Do in a small way, if need be, what I
have done on a large scale, and you will quickly commence to get good
dividends. I have spent much more money than was really necessary on
the place, and in the ornamentation of Four Oaks. This, however, was
part of the experiment. I asked the land not only to supply immediate
necessities, but to minister to my every want, to gratify the eye, and
please the senses by a harmonious fusion of utility and beauty. I wanted
a fine country home and a profitable investment within the same ring
fence.

Will you follow me through the search for the land, the purchase, and
the tremendous house-cleaning of the first year? After that we will take
up the years as they come, finding something of special interest
attaching naturally to each. I shall have to deal much with figures and
statistics, in a small way, and my pages may look like a school book,
but I cannot avoid this, for in these figures and statistics lies the
practical lesson. Theory alone is of no value. Practical application of
the theory is the test. I am not imaginative. I could not write a
romance if I tried. My strength lies in special detail, and I am willing
to spend a lot of time in working out a problem. I do not claim to have
spent this time and money without making serious mistakes; I have made
many, and I am willing to admit them, as you will see in the following
pages. I do claim, however, that, in spite of mistakes, I have solved
the problem, and have proved that an intelligent farmer can live in
luxury on the fat of the land.

CHAPTER II

THE HUNTING OF THE LAND

The location of the farm