FARMERS' CLUBS. 47 



have been appropriated towards the purchase of a piano, for which 

 she had long- been yearning and patient!}^ waiting. The interest 

 of two or three thousand dollars lost in the sale of a single product 

 of the farm, by not knowing hoio. This would have purchased 

 two or three good cows, or a pair of steers to take the place of 

 the old oxen just sent to the shambles, or a new horse to take the 

 children to school, the women to church, or the men to market, or 

 mill, or town meeting, in addition to his services on the farm. 

 Following up this loss for each month in the year, would result in 

 an aggregate of one thousand and eight hundred dollars, or a sum 

 sufficient to purchase a good farm ! and all because he failed to 

 attend a Farmers' Club and learn the mercantile part of his busi- 

 ness, as well as improvements in the agricultural. 



Such losses are frequently occurring among farmers, and some- 

 times end in deplorable results. One recently occurred where a 

 farmer, not well informed in regard to the value of timber land, 

 sold it at what he supposed to be a fair price ; but upon learning 

 that the skillful speculator had more than doubled his money upon 

 it, fell into a despondent state of mind, and is ending his days in 

 an insane asylum. 



How important, then, that farmers should frequently come to- 

 gether in systematic form, and not only discuss the best modes of 

 cultivating the soil, but the markets, the demand for certain things 

 for sale in them, and everything else that pertains to their in- 

 terest. 



There is no other place where so much valuable knowledge to 

 them can be gained so cheaply and pleasantly, as in a well organ- 

 ized Farmers^ Club. 



In draining lands, a single example will show the importance of 

 a full understanding of this item of farm husbandr3^ A meadow 

 near farm buildings had been mowed one hundred years in suc- 

 cession, and produced one ton per acre, worth $10 per ton. It 

 was drained, plowed and slightly manured, at a cost of $50 per 

 acre. The succeeding year it produced a ton and a half of hay 

 per acre, worth $16 per ton. The second year it was mowed 

 three times, and produced five tons per acre, worth $16 per ton. 



Product first year, IJ tons at $16 , $24 00 



second" 5 " 80 00 



fall feed, two years 10 00 



$114 00 



