lo Oct., 1911.] To Start Farming. 697 



A married couple would be able to do all the work required to produce 

 this return. Extra labour must be allowed for, in estimating the returns 

 from potatoes, tobacco, &c. The plant is of course, primitive, and should 

 "be added to by degrees, the bare necessaries being allowed to start, with. 

 The returns from the cows are above the average for Victoria, but a small 

 herd, carefully selected and well looked after, should be made to give 

 these figures. 



One of the greatest advantages in starting farming as a dairyman is 

 the quick return, which should be monthly, from the cows; from crops, 

 eight to twelve months would elapse before a return was obtainable. No 

 allowance has been made for the purchase of a bull ; as, if the services 

 of a neighbour's bull can be obtained for a small herd, an extra cow can 

 be kept, and his purchase and keep saved. In the irrigation districts 

 Government bulls are placed for public service at a small fee. The pigs 

 should be turned off as fats every three months or two brood sows kept 

 and their progeny sold as slips. Allowing ;!^i5 per annum for losses and 

 depreciation, the net annual income should be jQ^io, the capital required 

 being ^400, including house and buildings, or ;£24o if these are already 

 on the farm. 



Capital req^uircd to start on a lOO-acre Farm, and Returns that might be 



expected. 



On a loo-acre farm, the cost of equipment would be larger, but at the 

 ■same time less in proportion to the return. The same house, with slightly 

 larger out-buildings and more expensive machinery, one more horse and 

 ^fifteen more cows would cost as follows : — 



Expenditure. 



£ i. d 



House, 4 rooms ... ... ... ... -■• .-■ i-^o o o 



Stable (3 stalls), ;^i5 ; milking shed (12 bails), /'30 ; sepa- 

 rator house, ;{. 10; fowl house, ;i^5 ... ... ... 60 o c 



Plough, D.F., ;!^i5; harrows, £6 los. ; scuffler, £2 5s.; 



bars, 15s; harness, £12; separator (60 gallon), ;^26 ; cart, 



^15 (secondhand) ... ... ... ... ... 77 10 o 



30 cows, at £-j los. each ... ... ... 225 o o 



3 horses, at ^,'30 each ... ... ... ... 90 o o 



6 pigs, at 15s. each ... ... ... ... ... 4 10 o 



Seed, ;^i5; manures, £1^; tools, ;^io ... ... ... 40 o o 



Receipts. 



30 cows, yielding ;^io each 

 25 calves, at 12s. 6d. eacli 

 24 pigs, at 305. each 



5 acres of potatoes, or 3 acres of tobacco; 10 acres of broom 

 corn or other crop 



A family of five could comfortably work a farm of the.se dimensions. 

 ^vhich, after allowing ;^2i for deterioration, loss, &:c.. would return ;;^390. 

 In both cases, where the property is bought, payments for interest and 

 sinking fund would be an annual charge. On irrigated land, shire and 

 w;iter rates, insurance, and other charges would also have to, be paid. 



Seasons must be reckoned with, and the good dairyman will always 

 have a stack of liay in reserve : and. as soon as possible, a silo which will 



