98 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 



result was arrived at from experiment, two thirds of which 

 was by independent farmers. (Particulars will be found in 

 Bulletin No. 264, issued by the Department.) 



In fourteen farmers' business experiments, including 18 

 acres of potatoes, the average gain due to spraying was 62| 

 bushels per acre, the average total cost of spraying 93 cents 

 per acre; and the average net profit, based on the market 

 price of potatoes at digging time, $24.86 per acre. 



"One class of gardeners," Burnet Landreth explains, 

 "may be termed experimental farmers, men tired of the 

 humdrum rotation of farm processes and small profits, men 

 looking for a paying diversification of their agricultural in- 

 terests. Their expenses for appliances are not great, as 

 they have already on hand the usual stock of farm tools, 

 requiring only one or two seed drills, a small addition to 

 their cultivating implements, and a few tons of fertilizers. 

 Their laborers and teams are always on hand for the work- 

 ing of moderate areas. In addition to the usual expense of 

 the farm, they would not need to have a cash capital of be- 

 yond 20 to 25 dollars per acre for the area in truck." 



"Other men, purchasing or renting land, especially for 

 market gardening, taking only improved land of suitable 

 aspect, soil, and situation, and counting in cost of building, 

 appliances, and labor, would require a capital of $80 to $100 

 per acre. For example, a beginner in market gardening in 

 South Jersey, on a five-acre patch, would need $500 to set 

 up the business, and run it until his shipments began to 

 return him money. With the purpose of securing informa- 

 tion on this interesting point, the writer asked for estimates 

 from market gardeners in different localities, and the result 

 has been that from Florida the reports of the necessary 

 capital per acre, in land or its rental (not of labor), ferti- 



