314 THE FAT OF THE LAND 



" Are these things worth $100,000 ? " 



" Now, John, you don't mean that you've spent 

 1100,000! What in the world have you done 

 with it? Just pigs and cows and chickens " 



"And greenhouses and sunken gardens and 

 pergolas and kickshaws," said I. " But seriously, 

 Polly, I think that we can show value for all that 

 we have spent ; and the whole amount is not 

 three times what our city house cost, and that 

 only covered our heads." 



" How do you figure values here ? " 



" We get a great deal more than simply shel- 

 ter out of this place, and we have tangible values, 

 too. Here are some of them : 480 acres of ex- 

 cellent land, so well groomed and planted that it 

 is worth of any man's money, $120 per acre, or 

 157,600 ; buildings, water-plant, etc., all as good 

 as new, $40,000 ; 44 cows, $4400 ; 10 heifers nearly 

 two years old, $500 ; 8 horses, $1200 ; 50 brood 

 sows, $1000 ; 350 young pigs, $1700 ; 1300 laying 

 hens, $1300; tools and machinery, $1500; that 

 makes well over $100,000 in sight, besides all 

 the things you mentioned before." 



"You haven't counted the six horses in my 

 barn." 



"They haven't been charged to the farm, 

 Polly." 



" Or the trees you've planted ? " 



" No, they go with the land to increase its 

 value." 



" And my gardens, too ? " 



