270 An American Fruit-Farm 



were heavy. His labor bill was very large becatise 

 he was ever at work. His bill for fertilizers ex- 

 ceeded fully threefold that of any of his neighbors. 

 He was a little fastidious as to packages and con- 

 tainers for his fruit, always putting it up for the 

 market in attractive fashion; a procedure which 

 meant much additional labor. Never a year 

 passed without its permanent betterment of his 

 estate, and chiefly in drainage, for it was a first 

 article in his horticultural creed that *'no land is 

 better than its drainage.*' His tools were of the 

 best but not always of the latest pattern. He kept 

 all buildings in perfect order; was pimctilious about 

 roofs and fotmdations, unbroken window panes 

 and fresh paint. Year by year he charged against 

 his estate for interest on investment, taxes, insur- 

 ance, and betterments. So, whatever the year, he 

 could turn to its story of labor and returns. 



I was interested to discover that after deducting 

 expenses, as the years slipped away, one year with 

 another, Neville's net income equaled quite one- 

 half of his gross receipts. I think that very suc- 

 cessful fruit-growers will pronounce this return 

 exceptional, as expenses more commonly equal more 

 than fifty per cent, of gross returns, say from fifty- 

 four to sixty-eight per cent. It is a matter on which 

 scarcely two fruit-growers anywhere will agree. 

 The personal equation enters here, and the expense 

 account on the fruit -farm is as variable as the 

 personal equation, and cannot be precisely antici- 

 pated. Neville did things in a large way and indeed 



