40 Our Farming. 



greatest caution and only after much figuring. After deciding on 

 the potato business as the one I could do best with, I did not 

 raise hardly any at first. My land was not ready. The lots were 

 not in proper shape, nor were they cleaned up for tillage, and the 

 much needed drainage was not done. But after a general plan 

 was decided on every move counted toward the end in view. 

 Meanwhile, something was being made out of cattle-feeding. 

 When matters began to be in shape to promise reasonable success 

 I put in some five acres of potatoes. That seemed like a big thing 

 then. Of course, all the work was done the first year in a costly 

 way. We had little experience. I led the horse while my man 

 plowed out furrows with a one-horse plow. The seed was dropped 

 and covered by hand, and they were hoed by hand. There were 

 two acres of early potatoes, Karly Rose, and about three of Peach- 

 blow. In spite of the great cost of raising the crop, the early 

 ones paid me some $20 an acre clear net profit above all cost of 

 production and use of land. I figured closely, and knew to a 

 half cent a bushel what they cost. This was quite encouraging, 

 as I got good pay for all my labor and that of my horses, besides 

 the profit. But I have a worse report to make of the Peachblows. 

 They did well; I had a fine crop. They could have been sold 

 readily for forty cents a bushel at digging time, and would have 

 paid as well as the early ones or better, but everybody said, " You 

 had better hold them. They will be much higher in the spring. 

 I would not sell any for less than fifty cents a bushel." Well, I 

 had no experience, but wanted all I could get, kept them, and 

 never got out of them one-half what it cost to raise them. This 

 was discouraging, but I had not gone into it very largely and 

 could see it was a fault of judgment and not the business that 

 made the trouble, and I pushed on. As I remember, some seven 

 to eight acres were put in the next year, and I began to work and 

 study over cheapening production. Well, we made a perfect suc- 

 cess all around, selling and all, and an increased net profit. Thus 

 the business grew, and we began also raising wheat after potatoes 

 to seed with. Of course, we did not do the best possible at first, 

 but we kept steadily figuring and working until there seemed to 

 be no chance for further improvement. 



Our rotation at first was not the best, but was good. It 

 was : 



1 . Timothy and clover. 



2. Timothy and clover. 



3. Wheat. 



4. Potatoes, mostly late ones. 



5. Early potatoes. 



6. Wheat. 



This was when we had the manure from animals wintered to 

 put on potato land, or \vas expecting to have it. The sod fur- 

 nished the wheat fertility enough ; manure, as far as we had it, 



