182 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Third year, 2| tons clover hay, at $8 50 per ton $21 25 



Cost of labor 2 50 



Net receipts per acre 



Fourth year, 2 tons clover hay, at S8.50 per ton, 

 Cost of labor per acre 



Net receipts per acre , 



Fifth year, 2 tons mixed hay, clover and timothy 

 Cost of labor per acre 



Net receipts per acre ... .*^ $14 50 



Sixth year, 1| tons timothy, at $10.00 per ton $15 00 



Cost of labor 2 00 



Net receipts per acre $13 00 



Total net reeeipts per acre for the six years ... $77 25 



Average net receipts per acre per year ... $12 87^ 



The above results represent six per cent, interest on a cash 

 valuation of over $200.00 per acre. 



You will observe, that I have not brought into the account, the 

 value of the manure or fertilizers applied, or cost of application. 

 Neither have I given credit for the manurial value of the crops 

 raised. In this case the crops were mostly fed upon the farm, and 

 the manurial results or their equivalent returned to the soil upon 

 which they were grown. This should, and did, result in a greatly 

 increased fertilit}'. Neither have I taken into account th.e fact that 

 we began with land, the market value of which is not now over 

 twenty dollars per acre, and leave it paying the interest on over two 

 hundred dollars per acre. Had I purchased an amount of hay and 

 grain equal to that grown upon each acre, and continued to pasture 

 the field, I should have paid out 899.75, and saved in seed, and 

 labor, $22.50, while the value of the pasturage would not have 

 exceeded $9.00 per acre, for the six years at the present rental 

 value of such pastures. This obviously left a balance in favor of 

 the enterprise of $68.25 per acre for the six years during which the 

 rotation was continued. In view of such facts as these, I submit, 

 whether we can afford to purchase western grain at even the present 

 low prices and in consequence neglect the development of our farms. 



Appearances in this matter are often deceptive. While attending 

 an agricultural meeting in a town noted for the excellence of its 

 dairy products, the high price received for them and the superior 



