"I think you should keep in mind, however, that, for every
twenty-five bushels of corn you wish to produce, you should return
to the soil one ton of clover or four tons of average farm manure,
and that for one ton of produce hauled to the barns and fed, you
will probably not return to the land more than one ton of manure."






CHAPTER XXX

"STONE SOUP"





THE next forenoon Percy and Mr. West spent some time making some
further tests with hydrochloric acid and litmus paper in different
places on the farm; but the result only confirmed the previous
examinations.

"I never before saw any such light as now appears," said Mr. West.
"It seems to me that for the first time in the history of Westover,
covering about two centuries, a real plan can be intelligently made
based upon definite information looking toward the positive
improvement of the soil. While you have been away, I have been