CHOICE OF FARMS. 585 



tion, is conveyed back to the outlying farms; and thus while the world is sleeping, is supplied 

 as to a growing school-boy, such vitalizing gain as more than balances the daily loss. 

 Nowhere better than such sections of city-surrounding country, can the system of high farm 

 ing be carried to perfection. The nearness of the consumer furnishes a ready market for 

 vegetable products which, from their perishable nature, demand immediate consumption, 

 while unrivalled facilities for obtaining fertilizers leave a margin for profits which can 

 scarcely be equalled in places more remote.&quot; 



As a general rule, the money-value of land, the size of the farm, and the kind of products 

 to be raised, are determined by the distance and importance of the nearest markets. As an 

 instance showing the profitable revenue derived from a small farm, we cite that given at a 

 recent farmer s meeting in New England, by Richard Van Deusen of Shaker Village, who 

 stated that he cultivated twenty four acres, and was not satisfied unless he made each acre 

 return him a hundred dollars of clean profit. He raised a variety of products, in order that 

 the harvesting could extend over a longer period. He read from his diary a list of the crops 

 raised and sold the previous year, as follows: &quot;4,300 pounds of red strap-leaf turnip-seed r 

 $1,032; 915 pounds of onion-seed, $2,297; potato onions, one-fourth of an acre, $175; early- 

 potatoes, $125; 40 rods of sage, $80; 7 acres of golden wax-beans (blasted), $117; three- 

 fourths of an acre of cabbage for seed, $180; 4 acres of cucumber -seed (20 cents a pound), 

 $1,725; 1 acre of peaches, $304; 4 acres of pears (with two crops of hay on the same land), 

 $100; one-fourth of an acre of asparagus, $75. Of the last from three to five bushels were 

 cut a day and freely used by the Shaker family. In all, $5,282 worth of produce was sold 

 from twenty-four acres, or at the rate of $520 an acre. His expenses were $1,212, and the 

 chief items were $841 for labor, and $317 for manure.&quot; 



The fifty-acre farm of Artemus Fisher, near Keota, Iowa, is described, together with its 

 management and success, by the Keota Eagle, as follows : 



&quot; He keeps one team of horses, three first-class cows, and a nice little drove of the best 

 hogs. He milks his cows for the creamery, and they made him nearly $200 last year. Will, 

 perhaps, do better this year. He will sell $500 worth of hogs this year, and have 30 stockers 

 to keep over. He has $200 worth of flax-seed to sell; has an abundance of hay and grain 

 to keep his stock in first-class condition during the coming winter. He keeps everything in 

 the best order about his farm; his cows revel in clover up to their eyes; he attends to feed 

 ing, watering, and milking as regularly as the clock strikes; hence he gets the best results 

 with the least possible feed. He keeps his stock under cover in the winter, and never allows 

 any animal to shiver in the fence-corners. He has a barn that is a model of convenience and 

 economy. It is snow-proof, and as warm as the old-style kitchen. He has a first-class selec 

 tion of fruit not a large orchard, but a choice selection of the varieties that thrive and bear 

 the best in this locality. Everything about the farm bears marks of intelligence, thrift, and 

 economy. Besides making a living for himself and wife, he will sell at least $800 worth of 

 stuff off his fifty acres this year, and not be exceeding that of former years. There is no rush 

 or hurrah about the work on this model farm. Everything goes off quietly and regularly. 

 The expenses are very small, and the gains sure.&quot; 



Thus we see, that rightly-managed, and their highest possibilities tested, even very small 

 farms may be made quite profitable. 



In those sections where the farms are generally small, it is a good practice for a few of 

 the proprietors to cooperate in the purchase of expensive farm- machines or choice stock, 

 thus largely reducing the outlay to each, and increasing proportionately the profits, while it 

 permits each individual interested in the ownership to obtain the benefits resulting, at a com 

 paratively slight expense. Whatever the size of the farm, the capital should never be all 

 invested in land. Th- re should always be a sufficient amount of working capital left in the 

 hands of the owner and manager of the farm to thoroughly till it, and no land that is capable 

 of being tilled should be permitted to remain unproductive. 



