216 THE HIGH COST OF LIVING 



to the commission, he said: "The soil is poor hard- 

 pan. I sunk in the place more than $5,000. I 

 could hardly make a Hving. The land does not 

 produce enough. If I had kept the money in the 

 bank at 4 per cent, interest I would have more 

 now, not figuring my labor." 



A second settler was a miner. He had a wife and 

 three children. He bought 10 acres of land at $100 

 an acre. In addition he spent $750 on improve- 

 ments. The first year the total value of his crop 

 was $90, the second year $130, and the third year 

 $57. In addition he had a cow, two hogs, and some 

 poultry from which he derived a few dollars more. 

 He says that the land he bought is worthless for 

 small farming. 



Another settler worked in a logging-camp. He 

 bought 20 acres of land at $100 an acre. This he 

 had to improve at an expense of $435. He put his 

 savings into farm implements, a cow, and some other 

 live stock. The first year he realized $150 from the 

 farm and $15 from his poultry. "The land pro- 

 duces nothing," he says. "Will work outside and 

 pay up in one or two years. I have paid $1,500 for 

 the land, which does not produce enough to pay 

 expenses. I now have no money to put in a crop. 

 I was told that the land would produce a volunteer 

 crop the first year, enough for a Hving and to meet 

 the payments. But the crop hardly paid the cost 

 of harvesting. Ten acres out of the 20 are worth- 



