33 



made to cross, having been underdrained, it was no longer needed 

 as a road. Now its place will be known no more ; but, instead, 

 will be seen straight rows of potatoes or winrows of hay in their 

 season. An unfinished drain has been extended, a main open 

 drain in the meadow has been filled with stones from tlie hills 

 above, and covered over with mud taken from four or five feet 

 below the surface. All these jobs seemed to need to be done in 

 order to have a clear, unobstructed field to work in. If past gen- 

 erations could have known what style of farming was in the future, 

 much of this labor might have been avoided. 



I keep a farm journal, by which I can refer to the business of 

 any day of the year. A cash book, in which are entered all the 

 moneys received as income, or paid as expenses. Also a debt 

 and credit account with each kind of stock, as cows, horses, swine 

 and fowls. I find, by cash book, that I sold in one year, ending 

 Nov. 18, 1865, of butter 1285 lbs., at a fraction over fifty cents 

 per pound, or ^(347.87 ; 2000 quarts of milk, mostly sweet 

 skimmed, at an average of five cents, or $114.20. During the 

 same time sold about 220 bushels of potatoes for $200. 



Most of the labor is performed by my father and myself. Last 

 summer I paid about $60 for labor by the day. This year have 

 paid for (110) one hundred and ten days Avork, about one hun- 

 dred and ten dollars, exclusive of board. I have to take an ac- 

 count of stock on the first day of April of each year, so that I 

 cannot give an exact account of this year's operations. The books 

 showed an income last year ending April, 1865, of $931,32, out 

 of which was to be paid rent, or interest on capital, and tiie labor 

 of myself and father and for work in the house. I have every 

 reason to expect this year's balance will be more satisfactory, as 

 the price of produce is about the same, while the grain I buy is 

 not much more than half as high. If it is no better, I shall have 

 to agree with jNIr. Pinkham, of Chelmsford, that farming wont 

 pay labor and interest both. If interest is reckoned, the labor 

 must be thrown away, and if labor is reckoned, the interest on 

 capital invested cannot be taken into account. 



But however small may be the profit of farming compared with 

 other branches of trade, I believe it will always be in proportion 

 to the skill and intelligence brought to bear, and that the concen- 

 trating of manure and labor on a small quantity of good land will 

 pay much better than the old system of skinning and gleaning 

 from many acres of inferior quality. 



A. W. Cheever. 



Wrentham, Nov. 20, 1865. 



