Talks on Manures

“Farming is a poor business,” declares the Deacon, tallying a corn crop down to the last dollar. Joseph Harris answers with different arithmetic: what if the same acre yields 75 bushels instead of 30?

In the farm country of late-19th-century New York, Harris takes up the question with the Deacon and other neighbors, testing familiar farming ideas against actual harvests. A run-down field, a remarkable potato crop, and a shortage of manure turn the talk into a practical dilemma: how can a farmer restore the soil and earn a living when there isn’t enough fertilizer for every acre? Harris argues for large yields, but not necessarily “high farming”—a distinction that matters when wages, taxes, and next season’s crops are at stake. What should be grown, and where should the manure go?

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