58 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 



"If the rent, labor, etc., for a crop of asparagus is $200 

 per acre, and the crop is three tons of green shoots at $100 

 per ton, on the farm, the profit is $100 per acre. If we 

 get six tons at $100 per ton, the profit, less the extra cost of 

 labor and manure, is $400 per acre." ("Food for Plants," 

 by Harris and Myers, page 19.) 



Around Bethlehem, Indiana, the farmers raise hundreds 

 of tons of sunflower seed every year, and the industry pays 

 better than anything else in the farming line. A good deal 

 of the seed is made into condition powder for stock, occa- 

 sionally some is made into so-called " olive oil " which is 

 said to surpass cotton-seed oil. Large quantities are used 

 for feeding parrots and poultry, or consumed by the Rus- 

 sian Hebrews who eat them as we would eat peanuts. 



A careful investigation made in 1898 of the value of cer- 

 tain productions taken from farms in New York State shows 

 that the culture of apples is very profitable. From twenty 

 adjoining farms in one neighborhood in western New York, 

 the report gave an average annual return of $85 per acre at 

 the orchard, covering a period of five years. Another 

 report gave an average of $110 annual income per acre for 

 three years, and these results were obtained where only 

 ordinary care was given to the orchard. But note this. 



One orchard, where the trees had been well sprayed to 

 protect the fruit from insect injuries, and the soil well cul- 

 tivated and properly fertilized, gave a return in one year of 

 $700 per acre, and for three years an average income of $400 

 per acre. 



One man bought a farm of 100 acres in Central New 

 York with a much-neglected orchard upon it of SO^acres, 

 paying $5000 for the whole. He cultivated the orchard, 

 pruned and sprayed the trees thoroughly, and in seven months 



