495 



to the above balance, gives $956 35, which may be considered a fair 

 calculation for the present net annual income ; and this may be ex- 

 pected gradually to increase without any additional expense, as it has 

 done for the past time. 



The result then stands, that the average income for the ten years is 

 $11 68 per cent., which includes nothing for improvements ; or, for the 

 last five years, $14 70 per cent., upon the value of the land, in which 

 value I have not included buildings, because the house belonging to the 

 farm is leased ; and the income is not considered in this calculation ; 

 were it to be added to the value of the farm, and the rent to the in- 

 come, the result would be nearly the same. 



The variations of the income in different years have arisen from sev- 

 eral causes, viz : increase and decrease of produce ; by a difl^erence in 

 the seasons ; the difl^erence of value in different seasons ; and some- 

 times in consequence of articles being sold in one year that were the 

 produce of the former. 



Mr. Henry Colman, — 



Letter II. 



Brookline, Dec. 5th, 1840. 



Dear Sir, — In compliance with your request, I have transcribed 

 from my books the proceeds of my farm from the year 1821 to 1836, 

 having presented to you a memorandum of the same from 1811 to 1820 

 inclusive. My object in keeping such an account was, in the first in- 

 stance, to learn where the greatest profit might be produced, compared 

 with the labor and expense, in the mode in which it was most conve- 

 nient for me to manage my farm, that it might not bring me in debt ; 

 and not altogether that of making the greatest profit from it. I kept 

 no vehicle for the market, but sold the produce to others, to sell again ; 

 therefore the result as to profit would be quite an unfit example for 

 farmers, who must live from the product of the farm alone. Yet, from 

 this limited experience, I am satisfied that had I been destitute of other 

 resources, I could by method and industry, with suitable economy, have 

 produced from my twenty-five acres sufficient for all the necessaries 

 and comforts of my family, and a reserve every year for old age, with- 

 out laboring any more than is necessary for health and pleasure. 



It has been a delightful employment for me, while my age permitted 

 me to direct the concerns. I yet take an interest in the occupation, 



