2 TMi<: > T KW BUSINESS OF FAEMING 



he will be confronted by the signs, "To Let" 

 and "For Sale." He will wonder what was 

 the trouble, for he remembers that he took every 

 precaution to verify his information. He pon- 

 dered over the balance sheets and footed up 

 the debit and credit columns of the farmers' 

 accounts. 



Every one is looking for a gold mine, and 

 big returns from a small investment in land 

 look about as good as a mine. Actual mines, 

 however, are limited in number, but the acres 

 of land are limitless and the production thereof 

 is governed by the demand. An acre of ground 

 will grow four tons of hay whenever the price 

 of that commodity justifies the expense of mak- 

 ing it do so. In the meantime it will yield 

 scarcely better than one ton. If a man makes 

 a thousand dollars a year profit from an acre 

 of celery or strawberries there will be a rush 

 to that mining-field. People will flock in, and 

 competition will turn the profits into losses. 

 The first man on the job had better sell out to 

 the newcomers before the big crops flood the 

 market. If his profits come from acres of ap- 



