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answer, as not only have the situation and soil of the farm to 

 be considered, but the disposition of the owner also. 



I purpose at this time to discuss what can be done by 

 farmers having from fifty to eighty acres of good land, in the 

 central or western part of the County. A fair valuation of such 

 land in my neighborhood is $40 per acre for pasture land, and 

 $75 to $125 for fielding, and I suppose about the same in other 

 sections of the county. 



To this discussion I come with but a limited experience ; 

 and, though I have given much thought to the subject, as every 

 one must to his constant employment, the conclusions to which 

 I have come are doubtless somewhat imperfect, as time enough 

 has not elapsed to thoroughly test them in the field. And many 

 men have found that if all that can be done on paper could be 

 made equally satisfactory and profitable on the farm, we should 

 not need to pursue the subject of this essay any further, since 

 by availing ourselves of a few books we could all be wealthy and 

 wise. 



I have no plan to offer which is original with myself, for I 

 believe the best chance of success is found in looking into the 

 methods of those who have been prosperous, and copying the 

 best points of their systems into our practice. 



In doing this care must be used that the changes attempted 

 are not on so large a scale as to embarrass one, if any unex- 

 pected circumstance should prevent its being as profitable as 

 was expected. This is especially true of new crops, as 

 frequently the experience of several summers is needed to 

 enable one to grow them at a profit. 



The great dilficulty in our farming operations is the scarcity 

 of good help. I put it on the basis of scarcity, not cost, of 

 labor, as is frequently done ; for I think the relative wages of 

 farm laborers to-day are no higher, when compared with the 

 prices of farm produce, than they were when good men re- 

 ceived fifteen dollars per month for the season of six or eight 

 months, and extra help could be had in haying for half the 

 present price. A partial remedy for this is found in the use 

 of horse labor for many operations which were once done bj 



