88 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



and old must be more broadly educated as to how to till the soil to get 

 more out of an acre by additional labor. 



Working out a number of years among farmers, I began renting 80 

 acres for $250 cash rent, boarded with the landlord on the same farm, 

 and made enough ahead after my expenses were paid to spend three 

 months in school during the winter. In the spring I went back to 

 Switzerland and invested my earnings in three small plats of land and 

 farmed intensively one season with good success. Next season I came 

 back again to Kansas, where a friend rented me 120 acres of land, giv- 

 ing half in grain, he reserving stalk field and straw. I sold the oats from 

 12 acres at 12 cents per bushel and had $10 left after all expenses were 

 paid. The corn brought 17 cents a bushel. In those two years I ac- 

 cumulated $275, and was ready then to leave the place because one of 

 his sons wanted it. The best I could find was 80 acres to rent at $225 

 cash in advance, and the landlord wanted to live in the same house. 

 Well, I drove 18 miles to see the 80 acres. I found 20 acres of unim- 

 proved land in Pawnee, Nebraska. This 20 acres was originally sold 

 off from a farm because of its extreme roughness and undesirableness for 

 American agriculture, as it was coal land. When the coal was worked 

 out it was an undesirable piece of property and was sold to me by the 

 owner for $12.50 per acre when land adjoining sold for from $70 to $80. 

 Half of the land was covered witli small trees and hazelbrush, with a 

 small branch running across it. One bank of the stream was a high, 

 steep bluff with limestone cropping. 



This rough land did not look rough to me after having been brought 

 up in a mountainous country like Switzerland. A small cottage was 

 built on the hill side. It was not large at first, being 12 by 16 feet, but 

 it was a happy home to start with. As soon as I moved in I lost no time 

 in clearing up some of the brush land and planted three acres in potatoes. 

 They brought $339, besides a crop of corn between the rows. While I 

 was grubbing out the trees and getting the land ready for crops I was 

 studying the crops I would grow and the home market. All that was 

 suitable for tillage was made fertile by hundreds of loads of manure 

 drawn from a small town near by. The crops consisted of potatoes, 

 onions, small fruits, pears and peaches. Poultry was also added to the 

 farm and kept in yards some of the time during the growing season. 

 One team was kept, two cows, and a few hogs sold each year. When I 

 bought the place I was the laughing stock of the average people. They 

 would say, "What is that man going to do on that piece of land — he will 

 starve to death." When I was grubbing out those hazelbrush in order 

 to plant some profitable crops in their place, I was called "Hazelbrush 



