LEARN HOW TO GO BACK TO THE LAND 49 



the first season. In six years they were out of debt and 

 the boys were entering college. They have risen to dis- 

 tinction in professional life. The aged father still owns 

 the two farms and is in comfortable circumstances, but he 

 has never made any money from grain raising. 



Had it not been for some special lines such as fruit and 

 poultry, which he was driven to by dire necessity, he 

 would have lost what he started with and would have 

 been forced to cast his sons adrift without even a 

 common-school education. The sons are city men, but 

 they own farms and conduct them on diversified lines. 

 They have their land to fall back on in case of reverses 

 in their other vocations. 



This story could be duplicated in ten thousand cases 

 where farmers failed abjectly until they began to diver- 

 sify. The special opportunity just now is for a line of 

 produce which finds a ready market in large cities. The 

 constant cash demand and the good shipping facilities 

 give farmers in the older states an advantage over those 

 who are located farther from the trade centers. 



A person of limited means, who is operating a small 

 tract near a city, should aim to supply a given number of 

 customers with fresh eggs every week the year through. 

 If hens are properly cared for, a flock of 200 will yield 

 a revenue of $25 per month in eggs and $10 in broilers. 

 Add to this $35 an income of $15 from ducks, making 

 the poultry department earn a total of $50 per month. 

 Chickens and ducks are delicacies when eight to ten weeks 

 old, and help to distribute the profits over the season. 



About once a month, through cold weather, there ought 

 to be dressed pork for private customers. Pigs that 

 weigh 150 to 200 pounds are desirable for this class of 

 trade, and command good prices. They can be disposed 

 of in sections. There is a keen demand for country 

 sausage, and the small farmer should make it now and 

 again in winter. Twenty pigs will net $300, or an average 



