same time not depleting my bank account. I wished to experiment in
_intensive farming_, using ordinary farm land as other men might do
under similar or modified circumstances. I believed that if I fed the
land, it would feed me. My plan was to sell nothing from the farm except
finished products, such as butter, fruit, eggs, chickens, and hogs. I
believed that best results would be attained by keeping only the best
stock, and, after feeding it liberally, selling it in the most favorable
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.