CHAPTER VII. 



THE EXPENSE OF THE NEW SYSTEM. 



" It costs five hundred dollars to fit a single acre under Cole's 

 system," exclaims an occasional critic. " What farmer can afford 

 such an outlay?" 



"Not one in a thousand, probably not one in ten thousand," is 

 our own answer. 



Never have we suggested such cost for farm lands. So far as 

 we are personally concerned, we have nearly finished work on five 

 acres, having in view the utmost possibilities of production in hor- 

 ticulture. No plat of land equaling our five acres can be found 

 on the face of the earth. "Were it within an hour's run by rail of 

 any of our larger cities, this plat would be worth more money 

 than any equal area not under glass in the world. It would be 

 worth more than any greenhouse, costing from ten to twenty times 

 as much. In the mere fitting of this land, the cost has not 

 exceeded $1,500. Here are the figures, moneys expended for all 

 purposes, sober facts that do not lie : 



Expenses for 1882, not exceeding $300; for 1883, about $500; for 

 1884, not exceeding $800. This has been my investment up to 

 April 1st, 1885. I have this season expended about $700 up to this 

 this date August 13, 1885. Thus twenty-three hundred dollars 

 has fitted my land, planted it to trees and plants, cared for and har- 

 vested and marketed all products, paid for manures etc., and durinq that 

 period has returned at least $500 in excess of expenses. 



