370 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS 



because they are indolent; there is enough of us of that 

 kind now. But if you, or any of your neighbors, who till 

 your little farms, and till them well, would like to till 

 more and till better, but cannot where you are, I pray 

 you come here. 



But one thing I beg of you : notwithstanding I would 

 like to see you practice a little different from what I 

 have described, try to forget before you come here, that 

 you ever spent 18 days works, besides the two teams, 

 planting seven acres of corn, or in the whole work of 

 raising the crop, 871/2 days; lest you should happen to 

 mention it, as it would certainly injure your character 

 as a man of truth. 



Let me see how it would answer here to spend 871/2 

 days upon 7 acres of corn. 



Wages, 50 cents a day, or about an average of 

 $10 per month, or including board, I suppose 

 50 cents a day is a fair price, so that 871/2 

 day's work at 50 cents a day, is $43 75 



The crop of 7 acres of corn, at a fair average, 

 50 bushels to the acre, 350 bushels, at 121/2 

 cents a bushel, $43 75 



A nicely balanced account, saying nothing about the 

 team work and husking. 



And again, "seventeen dollars an acre for manuring." 

 Don't tell that to us, while moving our barn to a "clean 

 spot," to get away from the yard where we lost the old 

 red cow, mired in the dung. 



Let me see what would $17 do here. Why, as I said 

 before, it would pay the rent on 17 acres of land one 

 year, or one acre 17 years, well fenced and under what 

 we call good tillage. Or it would purchase upwards of 

 I31/2 acres of soil, more fertile than yours after being 

 thus manured. Or it would purchase one acre, and more 

 than half build a comfortable log cabin upon it. 



Now you see it is as difficult for us to understand 

 your operations in farming, as it is for you to under- 

 stand ours. 



