MY DEAR SIR:--I beg to report that I returned home a few days ago
and found my mother well and busy as usual. We have definitely
decided that we will not accept your kind offer to sell us a part of
your farm, but we appreciate nevertheless the sacrifice, at least
from the standpoint of sentiment, which Mrs. Thornton and Miss
Russell were willing to make, in order to permit us to secure such a
farm as we might want in a splendid situation.

As a matter of fact we are thinking very seriously of purchasing a
farm in Southern Illinois. My mother much prefers to remain in
Illinois, and for some reasons I have the same preference on her
account.

While in Washington I was fortunate enough to find that a soil
survey had been completed for your county and also that a partial
ultimate analysis had been made of the common loam soil of your
farm, such as we sampled. Following are the number of pounds per
acre for the surface soil to a depth of six and two-thirds
inches,--that is, for two million pounds of soil.

610 pounds of phosphorus

13,200 pounds of potassium

1,200 pounds of magnesium

3,430 pounds of calcium

As compared with a normal fertile soil, your land is very deficient
in phosphorus and magnesium, and, as you know, the soil is acid. It