"Let's have it," urged Mr. Bronson.
"This land has been worked by tenants only for some years. Tenant farmers usually supply commercial fertilizer to some extent, but not enough humus. The land needs humus—and that in the form of stable manure. Especially the manure from cattle—from cows—if you want to raise bumper crops of corn."
"I presume that is so, Hiram."
"The barn yonder is arranged for the keeping of cattle. You should at least drive some young stock up here right away to eat up the roughage that is going to waste. We want to make all the fertilizer possible and spread it on the land as fast as it can be made and carted out of the barn basement."
"But we can't handle milch cows here, Hiram, before we have a house in which to put a family to look after the cows and the milk."
"That is why I say buy some young stock for the present. I can attend to them myself. They can be fattening at practically no expense. And all the time they will be making fertilizer for the place."
"Well, Hiram, what is going to happen," asked Mr. Bronson, quizzically, "when we give up farming with horses and mules entirely and use only tractors?"
"A hundred tractors won't put back into the soil the fertility that one horse will," the young farmer said. "That is sure. Soiling crops are all right. But in the end, the only farms run by tractor power that are not going to be injured beyond repair are the dairy farms. And I believe the easiest and quickest way to get this half run-down farm into shape is by putting cattle on it."
"Young stock—yes. I agree with you that can be done at once. In fact," said Mr. Bronson, "I should not be surprised if I could pick up a score of head of stock to send up here within the week from my other farms."
"Good! That will be a beginning. But two score will be better. Pasture them later if the pasture is any good here."