FARMS. 107 



excepting three acres, in doing which I have carted off over 

 three thousand loads exclusive of those used in walls and their 

 trenches ; two brick cemented cisterns have been built to 

 increase my supply of manure ; fruit and ornamental trees and 

 shrubs liave been planted round the house ; and I have also set 

 four hundred currant bushes, and a few grape vines, rasp- 

 berries, &c. 



About three acres of tlie peat meadow have been broken up at 

 a large expense ; I have cut the ditclies wider and deeper, and 

 have cut the outlet down two feet, through solid rocks, for one 

 hundred and twenty feet. 



The end and object of all this labor, has been the production 

 of fruit and grass, ultimately to bring the whole forty acres 

 into these crops, and to secure the same with the least possible 

 expense. 



The total cost of all improvements exclusive of my 

 own labor and interest, was on the 1st of April 

 last, $3,847 59 



Add the amount I paid for the farm, . . . 3,100 00 



Making the cost on the 1st April, 1858, . . . |6,947 59 



As regards the crops, expenses, &c.,I refer you to the follow- 

 ing accounts, which have never been kept with a view to their 

 future publicity, and all I claim for them is, that they are cor- 

 rect so far as they go. Such omissions as I am able to detect 

 will be pointed out, and such explanations made as seems to be 

 required. In none of these accounts is there any charge for my 

 own labor or services. This, so far as the crops are concerned, 

 would add but little to the cost ; neither is there any interest 

 charged on the value of the land. The ivhole labor on the farm 

 is charged under the several heads at cost ; the board of laborers 

 at thirty-three and one-third cents per day ; the labor of a pair 

 of oxen at ninety-six cents per day ; that of a horse at the same ; 

 seeds and all incidental expenses of cultivation under the head 

 of cash; manure at one dollar per load of about thirty-two cubic 

 feet ; guano, &c., at cost and charges. The crops, so far as 

 practicable, are measured ; the charges to family are for chop- 

 ping wood, cultivating a kitchen garden, &c. ; the manure 



