PROFITS OF FARMING. 133 



ing, and the plough has been put through at considerable 

 cost, though there are no stones to obstruct ; but the general 

 impression is at present, that it had better be decomposed by 

 the simple process of putting the seed in on the surface. 



Mr. Cheever. I feel as though, on behalf of the farmers 

 of JNIassachusetts, the laboring, every -day farmers, I ought 

 to thank ]\Ir. Paul for coming before us to-day as he has, 

 with his account-book. Many of us whose property is in 

 land, and exposed to the assessors, have had reasons, and 

 good reasons, for keeping our books closed ; and some of us 

 have been more successful than we wanted to talk about 

 much. But here is a working-farmer who began with noth- 

 ing, running in debt for his farm, and his stock and tools ; 

 and he has told us how, out of the produce of that farm, he 

 has paid for it, stocked it, supported himself and family, 

 paid the men in his employ at better wages than have been 

 paid by his neighbors, and has come out very successful : I 

 cannot call it any thing less than that. We are told that 

 farming does not pay: we have all heard that a thousand 

 times. We have been told repeatedly that if a man will sell 

 his farm, put the money in the bank, and go out to work, 

 he will make more money than he will by farming. We have 

 all heard it said, that, if we figure up the profits of farming, 

 we must throw away all our labor, and throw away all the 

 interest on our capital. The discussion seems to be wander- 

 ing from the subject of the essay, and I would like to ask 

 Mr. Paul what interest he finds his farming has paid him on 

 the investment. If he is willing to state the figures, it will 

 answer a question that hundreds of farmers ask themselves, 

 and help us some. 



Mr. Paul. Without going into it more carefully than I 

 can here, I cannot tell exactl}'' ; but making a rough calcula- 

 tion, putting my labor against the support of myself and 

 family, letting one balance the other, it is at least fifteen per 

 cent on the investment. I will say, taking the capital from 

 1869 (when I had paid for the place) up to the present, at 

 least fifteen per cent, and perhaps more than that. 



Question. What is the cost of the manure at your place ? 

 Is it " coarse manure," as people generally call it in Boston, 

 or fine manure ? 



Mr. Paul. The manure that I am purchasing is what is 



