26 THE LURE OF THE LAND 



ers, and others from Iowa, Missouri, Indiana, Illinois, Massa- 

 chusetts, New York, and from all parts. After the read- 

 justment the country will recover. It is a good country but 

 over-boomed. People are now turning attention somewhat to 

 poultry, pigs, sheep, alfalfa, beets, et cetera. We were tree 

 crazy for a time, but are getting more sane. 



Now is a good time to invest here. I know several bargains. 

 Never till last year did I advise any one to buy. Mr. W. H. 

 and wife visited us last summer. They live in Indianapolis. 

 I advised them to buy our place and they came near doing so. 

 If I had $5000 or $25,000, I would invest it here now. One 

 neighbor who has some 30 acres of nice orchard says it is still 

 worth $1000 an acre. They do not wish to sell. 



Apple raising is not such a " gamble " as peach raising. By 

 building a store-house and putting the apples there as they are 

 picked, one can take time to pack and sell them. One can 

 learn something of market conditions. If the prices do not 

 warrant shipping them hold them for better prices, or let them 

 rot at home and save paying expenses of packing and ship- 

 ping. 



I invested all I had and borrowed more. I am in debt. I 

 do not expect ever to get out. The children will not get to 

 college, unless I should find a chance to sell and go East and 

 buy a small place near a college town. We are cramped. 

 Sometimes I feel like running away and letting the place go, 

 but that would hardly do. I'd like more room. Could have 

 done better on a general farm. I understood that business; 

 this I had to learn. Prunes were of no account. I pulled out 

 the prunes and set apples. Poor lot of trees. Did no good, 

 not true to name. Had to graft and bud and reset and reset 

 and reset every spring. 



I fear I cannot give you a true notion of things in a letter. 

 I might in a pamphlet ! It would take a week to tell you what 

 is needed to understand all. But it is surely true that the 

 booming has been overdone. Real estate agents are most to 

 blame, I think. They are good fellows to shun when buying 

 property out here. 



It is true that occasionally a man invests in a gold 

 mine and makes a fortune. There is such a lucky thing 



