THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



183 



provement more permanent. Our plan would be 

 under-dniining, which might have been followed 

 ut any subsequent period by subsoil ploughing, 

 conducting the drains either into open or cover- 

 ed ditches where the water might be made to 

 pass off. The drains, at suitable distances, per- 

 haps not nearer tliau the lowest point of two rods 

 between the ridges, might in this land easily be 

 sunk below where any plough would ever reach ; 

 and these would furnish a very convenient space 

 for the disposition of thousands of tons of the 

 surface rocks, so laid and covered that the water 

 could always pass oft" in them without obstruc- 

 tion. They would forever carry away not only 

 all the redundant surface water but the spring 

 water rising above the bottom of the drain. — 

 Deeper and deeper stirring of the ground at ev- 

 ery new ploughing, this land would not only have 

 been first rate grass ground, but it would become 

 the best for almost any kind of crop. The ap- 

 ple trees, which have been set surrounding some 

 of the fields, and which now have not flourished 

 as they do on lighter and easier soil, would in that 

 case have grown up without difficulty; and the 

 land that is now estimated and has been sold at 

 seventy-five dollars the acre, would be worth at 

 the lowest calculation one hundred and fifty dol- 

 lars the acre. We were informed that the price 

 paid by Mr. Howe for this land before any im- 

 provement was made upon it was seventeen dol- 

 lars the acre : such land, farther removed from a 

 village oi- city would be valuable perhaps only for 

 growth of .such forest trees as might be natural 

 to it. 



From the Connecticut Congregatinnalist. 

 Twenty Acres enough for a Farm. 



Mr Editor : — I have long been convioced, 

 both by practice and observation, that one of the 

 greatest mistakes in om- farming is, that we cul- 

 tivate too much land, and have been too eager 

 for acres, rather than to improve those we already 

 possess. To illustrate this opinion, and to carry 

 conviction more forcibly to the mind, I will insti- 

 tute a comjiarison between a Hundred acre 

 farm, cultivated according to the common course 

 of farming now pursued in the town of Bloom- 

 field, where 1 reside, and a Twenty acre farm 

 made rich and cultivated in the best manner. 



One lumdred acres, average value of land in 

 Bloomfield, $40 per acre, $4000 



Twenty acres in a high state of cultivation 

 worth $200 per acre, $4000 



It will be seen from this, that the capital in- 

 vested, is the same in both farms. I will now go 

 into a minute calculation of the profits and ex- 

 penses of the large and small farms, and invite 

 iariiiers to give it a candid examination. 



ESTIMATE OF THE EXPENSES AND PROFITS OF ONE 

 HUNDRED ACRE FARM. 



Twenty acres in mowing, (1 ton 

 to the acre, average |iroduce 

 of the land in Bloomfield,) 

 worth, to feed stock, $7 per 

 ton. 20 tons, at $7 per ton, is .^140 00 



Ten acres of Corn, 30 bushels 

 to the acre, 300 bushels, at 

 50 cts. 150 00 



Ten loads of Corn Stalks, at 



$3 per load, 30 00 



Three acres of Potatoes, 150 

 bushels to the acre, 450 bush- 

 els at 16 cents, 72 00 



Seven acres of Rye, 12 bushels 

 to the acre, 84 bushels at 75 

 cts. fi3 00 



Ten acres of Oats, 20 bushels 

 to the acre, 200 bushels at 

 30 cts. 60 00 



The mowing and cultivated 

 crops, take up 50 acres of 

 the farm, leaving 50 acres for 

 pasturing, which will keep, 

 and keep well, 1 yoke of Cat- 

 tle, 7 Cows and a Horse, 10 

 head, at $6 each, 60 00 



Produce worth, to feed to stock, $575 pO 575 00 



ESTIMATE OF THE EXPENSE OF CULTIVATING ONE 

 HUNDRED ACRE FARM. 



Labor of Cultivating one acre of Corn. 

 Ploughing forCorn once,] 50 

 Harrowing, 50 



Manuring in the hill, 3 00 



Planting 1 acre of Corn, 1 50 

 Hoeing 3t. $2 each time, 6 00 

 Gathering and husking 

 30 bush. ap'g-. crop, 3 00 



CulL 10 acre.s Corn, at 15 50 pr ac. 155 00 



Labor of Cultivating one acre of Potatoes. 

 Ploughing- once, 1 50 



Harrowing. .50 



Manuring in the hill, 3 00 

 Planting, 4 00 



Hoeing 3 times, 6 00 



Digging 150 bu. average 

 crop, 6 00 



Cult. 3 ac. Potatoes, at 91 00 pr ac. 63 00 



Labor of Cultivating one acre of Rye. 

 Ploughing twice, 3 00 



Dragging, 50 



Sowing and dragging, 1 00 

 Reaping, carting, &c. 2 00 

 Thrashing & cleaning, 1 00 



Cult. 7 acres of Rye, at 7 50 pr ac. 52 50 

 Labor of Cultivating one acre of Oats, 

 Ploughing once, 1 50 



Dragging and sowing, 1 00 

 Cradling & gathering, 1 50 

 Thrashing 20 bushels, 75 



Cult. 10 acres Oats, at 4 75 pr ac. 47 50 

 Mowing, making and securing 



20 acres of Hay, at $3 60 00 



Seed for 10 acres of Corn, 4 



qts. to the acre, at .f 1 per 



bushel, 1 25 



Seed for 3 acres of Potatoes, 12 



bu. to the acie common quan 



tity used, 36 bushels, 25 cts 



per bushel, 9 00 



Seed for 7 acres Rye, 7 bush. 



at 75 c 5 25 



Seed for 10 ac. Oats, 20 bush. 



at 30c 6 00 



Clover seed, to seed down 17 



acres of Rye and Oat-ground, 



3 qts. to the acre, common 



quantity used. 15 30 



Keeping fences in repair on 



100 acres of land, 30 00 



Cutting the hushes, 10 00 



Am't of expenses of 100 ac. 



farm, $454 80 



Mit profit of the large farm, $120 20 



STATEMENT OF THE PRODUCE AND EXPENSES OF 

 TWENTY ACRE RICH FARM. 



Four acres of mowing, 5 tons 



to the acre, at 2 cuttings, 20 



tons of Hay, worth to feed, 



f 7 per ton," 

 Two acres of Wheat, 30 bush. 



to the acre, 60 bush, at $1 



per bush. 

 One acre of Corn, 90 bush, at 



50 c 

 Four loads of Corn Stalks, at 



.$3 per load. 

 One acre Sugar Beets, 800 



bushels, al one shilling per 



bushel , 

 One acre of Potatoes, 400 bu. 



alls. 

 Half ar. acre of Ruta Baga, 450 



bush, at 12A cts per bushel, 

 Half an acre of Carrots, 440 



bush, at 1 shilling per bushel. 

 The mowing and cultivated 



cro])s take up 10 acres, leav- 

 ing 10 acres for pasturage, 



wiiich will keep, and keep 



well, 7 cows, a yoke of cat- 

 tle, and a horse, 10 head at 



$6 each, 

 Produce, worth to feed the 



stock, 



EXPENSE 



.$140 00 



60 00 

 45 00 

 12 00 



134 00 

 67 00 

 56 00 

 73 67 



60 00 



— 647 67 



ACRES OF 



CULTIVATING TWf 

 LAND. 



Mowing one acre of heavy 



grass first time, 2,00 



Making and carting first crop, 4,00 



Mowing second crop, 1,00 



Making & carting 2nd crop, 2,50 



Mowing 4 .".cres, nt (per acre.) 9,.50 — 36,00 



Labor of Cultivating one acre of Wheal. 



Plowing twice, 3,00 



Harrowing and sow ing, 1,50 



Reaping, binding and carting, .3,00 



Thrashing and cleaning30 bu. 2,50 



Labor in cultivating 2 a<!ree, 



at (per acre) 10,pp— 20,00 

 Labor of Cultivating one acre of Potatoes. 

 Carting 30 buck loads of ma- 

 nure and spreading, 6,00 

 Plowing turf once, 2,00 

 Harrowing thoroughly, 1,00 

 Planting, 4,00 

 Hoeing .3 times, at $2,50 each 



time, 7,50 

 Digging 1 acre, 400 bushels, at 



2i cts per bushel. 10,00 



Labor in cultivating 1 acre of 



Potatoes, at (per acre) 30,50—30,50 

 Labor in Cultivating one acre of Com. 

 Carting and spreading 30 buck 



loads of manure, 6,00 



Ploughing turf once, 2,00 



Harrowing thoroughly, 1,00 



Planting, 2,50 



Hoeing three times, 10,00 



Gathering, husking, & shelling, 8,00 



Labor in cultivating 1 acre, 29,50 — 29,50 

 Labor in cidtivating one acre of Sugar Beets. 



Ploughing first time, 1,50 

 Calling 40 buck loads manure, 



at 20 cents, 8,00 



Ploughing first time, 1,50 



Harrowing, 75 



Sowing seed with drill-barrow, 50 



Hoeing four times, 10,00 



Gathering and securing crop, 8,00 



Labor in cultivating 1 acre, 30,25 — 30,25 

 Labor of cultivating one acre of Ruta Baga. 



Carting 30 buck loads manure, 6,00 



Ploughing twice, 3,00 



Harrowing and bushing, 1,00 



Sowing with drill-barrow, 50 



Hoeing three times, 6,00 



Gathering and securing, 6,00 



One half acre, at (per acre,) 22,50—11,25 

 Labor of cultivating o^ acre of Carro(s. 

 Carting manure. 

 Ploughing twice. 

 Harrowing and bushing. 

 Sowing with drill-harrow. 

 Hoeing 4 times, $4 each time. 

 Gathering and securing, 



One half acre, at (per acre,) 40,75 — ^20,37 



Seed for 2 acres wheat, 2 bush, 

 to the acre, 4 bushels, at 1 



dollar, 4,00 



Seed for one acre of corn, 25 



Seed for one acre sugar beets, 



3 lbs. at 60 cents, 1,80 



Six bustjels of potatoes, suffi- 

 cient to seed one acre, at 25 



cents, 1,50 



Half 11). ruta baga seed, for 



half acre, 37 



One lb. carrot seed, for half an 



acre, 1,00 



One bushel herds grass and 

 12 qts. clover seed, to seed 

 down 2 acres of wheat, sow- 

 ed thick, so as to occupy the 

 ground to the exclusion of 



weeds 6,35 



Keeping fences in repair on 20 



acre farm, 10,00 



Cutting the bushes, 1,00 



Whole expenses of labor, seed, 

 &c. on 20 acre farm, 



206,14—206,14 



J^'et profit on small fa,rm, $441,53 



It will he seen from this statement that the 

 small farm nets 311 dols. 33 cents more than the 

 large one. If we add to this the dift'erence in the 

 extra time spent in going to work, carting crops 

 and driving stock to and from distant parts of • 



