274 HOW TO LIVE IN THE COUNTRY 



The other side of the problem runs about this 

 way: you will probably need for help during the 

 currant and berry season to the extent of one hun- 

 dred dollars. For your horse and cow you will grow 

 your own fodder, but will have to buy mill stuff for 

 the horse at a cost of about fifty dollars per year. 

 One dollar per week is quite enough for this expense, 

 if your horse has plenty of alfalfa hay. The cow 

 with slops and June cut hay will require no mill feed 

 whatever. A good family cow is often an item of 

 enormous expense, quite balancing all that she gives 

 back to the family, but this is entirely unnecessary. 



We have to add from fifty to one hundred dollars 

 per year for fuel ; one hundred dollars per year for 

 groceries, including sugar and flour; a clothing bill, 

 according to the size and habits of the family. A 

 doctor's bill is rarely essential, where good diet and 

 common sense dominate. Items of food can be con- 

 siderably reduced by buying at wholesale. You 

 ought to add at least one hundred dollars more for 

 books and excursions. Add two hundred dollars for 

 sundries. 



In my judgment and with knowledge of what I 

 am asserting, a moderate sized family, with moderate 

 tastes and industry, can live well with an outgo of 

 from five hundred to seven hundred dollars per year. 

 If now we add five years more to our experiment, 

 we shall probably not be able to add largely to the 

 income from small fruits, but we shall be able to a 

 good deal more than double the income from large 



