514 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Sept. 



of the s«me in a tub, then one of salt, and so on 

 lantil eomplcted. Lets it stand two days, givnig- 

 the salt an opportunity to penetrate the butter, then 

 work> and paeks. By this method less workinir is 

 found to lie neecssary, and the texture of the liut- 

 tev is not injured. Uses the Onondajia salt, three 

 pounds to a'tub of butter, and keeps in a niee, eool 

 room in the cellar, constructed fur the purpose. 



For the Keic Kni/I'ind Farm'-r. 

 ON ADVERTISING FARMS FOB SALE. 

 It has been my lot to be called on. to look 

 at farms advertised for sale. A friend or ac- 

 quaintance desiring to purchase would see an 

 advertisement in the newspapers describing a 

 farm and giving price, terms of payment, etc. 

 So far as the description and terms were con- 

 cerned, tlie i)lace would appear to be exactly 

 wbat he wanted. When visited, all the fan- 

 cied desirableness of tbe property could not 

 be found. 



No man who understands tbe value of farm 

 property for farmivfi purposes is going to be 

 deceived by aiiy gilding an advertisement may 

 place upon' it. ' He will look at the actual con- 

 dition of things, not at the remote capacity for 

 im])rovements it may possess for him to de- 

 velop. He knows that time and money are 

 both required to bring up tbe productive ca- 

 pacitv of lands. Every one who has had prac- 

 tical "experience in farming, is aware that it is 

 very much easier to run down and exhaust the 

 productive capacity of soil than to increase it. 

 AVhen the trouble and cost of brhiging up the 

 fertility of a farm is considered, very few will 

 purchase one that requires this to be done at the 

 outset of his occupation of it, especially if he 

 is dependent on his farming for bis subsistence, 

 as most farmers are. 



It is the interest of every one advertising to 

 state the C'yjctJ'ads, so far as it can be done. 

 If a person desirous of purchasing is led to 

 infer that a property advertiseci is more valu- 

 able than the actual condition will warrant 

 when examined, the disaj)pointment will fre- 

 quently disgust bim to such an extent as in a 

 measure to blind him to its true value. 



An experience of mine the past spring will 

 serve to illustrate tbe truth of tliis statement. 

 An advertisement set forth a farm for .'*ale at 

 a great sacrifice, with easy terms of payment. 

 The buildings were represented as good ; tlie 

 land early and productive, with large (jnanti- 

 ties of fruit of all kinds, and tiie whole en- 

 closed with stone walls, &c. I called upon 

 the agent who advertised the place and saw 

 the full (U'scription as given to him by the 

 • owner, whicli was even more satisfactory to 

 me than t!ie advertisement. The agent bad 

 not known the owner previous to his coming 

 to him to sell the property, and thought him 

 all right. I went to examine the property, at 

 considerable expense. AVhen 1 came within 

 sight of it 1 was incbned not to get out of the 

 carriage ; but as the road was loo narrow for 

 mo to turn around in, 1 had to go to the door 



yard for that purpose. Having got there and 

 being obliged to wait somewhere for a train to 

 bi-ing me to the city again, 1 concluded to look 

 over tlie place, thinking that it might possibly, 

 like a "singed cat," be better than it looked. 



1 exann'ned aljout all the lots with a spade. 

 Found a light sandy loam, six inches in dej)th, 

 on a subsoil of clear sand, suitable for a ma- 

 Sdu's use. Fruit of no account ; walls very 

 poor and much of them down ; not a barway 

 in condition to stop an animal on the place ; 

 cattle tied in the barn and feeding for the 

 most part on swale hay and brewers'' grain, — 

 the latter hauled from Boston, sixteen miles 

 away. In fact, the whole concern was niiser- 

 able, and had been miserably cared for. The 

 house appeared neglected, and looked as if it 

 had not had a house-keej)er in it for a dozen 

 years. The locality was described as being 

 pleasant and in a good neighborhood. The 

 house was on a hack road and not a neighbor- 

 ing one to be seen on it, though across lots and 

 swamps, on a main road, there was one house 

 in sight ! 



In all candor, I will affirm that plenty of 

 farms can be bought any day for one-half the 

 price asked for this one, which so far as situa- 

 tion and productive capacity are concerned, 

 excel it in every particular. There is not any 

 doubt that this place would be more likely to 

 find a purchaser if it had not been extrava- 

 gantly extolled in the advertisement. It was 

 the most aggravated experience I ever had of 

 the kind, and not soon to be forgotten. 



Another wrong of frequent occurrence is 

 that the agent who advertised the place is not 

 promptly informed of the sale of the property 

 or some portion of it. I have been victim- 

 ized several times in this direction, — once dur- 

 ing the present week. Two years since a 

 large place, with very valuable wood on it, 

 attracted my attention. I concluded if I 

 could get a man whom I knew to be an excel- 

 lent one to handle wood and lumber to join 

 me, I would buy the place. I went to see the 

 agent 'at a cost of two days' time and ex- 

 penses, and arranged to buy if the advertised 

 facts in reference to the place were confirmed 

 on examination of the premises. Two more 

 days' time and expenses disclosed the fact that 

 forty acres of the best of the timber had been 

 sold for over three monilis. The most pro- 

 voking part of the imposition was, that the 

 party when exj^ostulated with by his agent for 

 his wrong doings, appeared perfectly oblivious 

 as to having done anything improper, or ne- 

 glecting to do anything that he should have 

 done. 



So long as such practices continue, those 

 desirous of purchasing farms will be slow to 

 be influenced by statements made in describ- 

 ing them. No one has time and money to 

 squander in silch profitless pursuits. 



A word more to those desiring to sell their 

 farms. As soon as you have decided to sell, 

 go to work and put your premises in good 



