126 HOW TO GET A FARM, 



examination of the matter, assented to the feasibility 

 of completely reclaiming the land. 



But the whole condition and aspect of the swamp 

 was so forbidding, that, although his judgment was 

 convinced, yet he hesitated about undertaking the 

 task. He had never drained a swamp, nor seen a 

 similar job done by others. He spoke of the nu 

 merous waste places in the neighborhood resembling 

 this, and of the fact that not one owner had ever 

 undertaken the business of reclaiming a single acre, 

 though so much wealthier than himself. He was 

 satisfied that the redeemed land would be of the 

 highest value, but he doubted if his means would 

 hold out. The difficulty was to get him to begin 

 he had a commendable degree of courage, but not 

 quite enough. 



Finally, his hesitation was overcome by a third 

 party offering to furnish the money with which to 

 pay for the swamp, to wait any time for him to re 

 fund it, and, in case of his little capital and his own 

 labor proving insufficient, to assist him with what 

 ever more might be needed. 



&quot;With this agreement to rely on the swamp was 

 purchased at twenty dollars an acre. Taking it as 

 it stood, this was a high price; but looking at it 

 with reference to what could be made of it, the 

 price was low enough. It lay within twelve miles, 

 by rail, of a city of many thousand inhabitants, 

 and there was a station within gunshot, from which 

 vast quantities of milk, vegetables* and other farm 

 products, were daily carried to the city. The rail 

 road company was one of the few that assiduously 



