42 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



July, 1906 



The Nine- Room House, Plain but Comfortable 



sitate an additional barn, as the six horses kept now with 

 the cows occupy the entire stable. The success of the plan 

 is feasible, as the place can support thirty cows and 

 enough feed can be raised so that only very little 

 has to be purchased in additional dairy food, to 

 winter them over. Besides the dairy prospect, the 

 actual farm improvement received attention the 

 second spring. Six acres were planted in potatoes re- 

 quiring twenty-five barrels of seed potatoes. Three 

 tons of fertilizers were bought, to be paid for after 

 the harvest was sold, and used in planting the pota- 

 toes. An average of sixty-five barrels per acre 

 was yielded. The entire crop was sold to a New 

 York produce dealer at $1.25 per barrel net, the 

 dealer sending on the car and bags to the nearest 

 railroad station, three miles from the farm, so all 

 that was required was to dig, bag and haul the po- 

 tatoes to the station and load them on the car. 



A potato digger necessitating five horses to work 

 successfully was rented and with the help of four 

 additional laborers the crop was dug, assorted, 

 bagged and loaded in a few days. Only eight 

 acres were planted in corn, yielding on the average 

 forty bushels of shelled corn to the acre. Fifteen 

 tons of hay were cut at an average value of $16 

 per ton. The vegetable garden was extended and 

 every kind of vegetable grown in larger quantities. 

 The place being only fifteen miles from the coast, 

 with the summer resorts as a good market, this 

 end of the business with its fair profits and cash 

 sales was developed. Three times a week, start- 



ing early in June, a two-horse load, filled 

 with vegetables, fruit, butter, eggs and 

 chickens was dispatched to these resorts. 

 Business relations with hotels were readily 

 established and the products sold for cash. 

 The business increased rapidly so that the 

 home production was soon in some things 

 unable to meet the demand, and to keep up 

 this lucrative end, farm products had to be 

 bought in a nearby town having a regular 

 farmers' market; but even at that rate 

 from $20 to $25 per week was cleared for 

 four months. 



Almost the entire summer farm work 

 was carried on by a young son of sixteen 

 with a helper of about the same age, the 

 latter receiving $10 a month and board. 

 The only additional labor employed was 

 day labor for harvesting potatoes and get- 

 ting in the hay. In addition to the above, 

 time has been found for utilizing two acres 

 of sandy soil not doing well in grass, but 

 well for small fruit. These two acres were 

 set out in blackberries in the spring, and 

 this crop alone if properly cultivated and 

 intelligently handled will pay the interest 

 on the mortgage. The future of the ven- 

 ture is assured now, and the required 

 $2000 will be on hand at the expiration of 

 the time. Then the net results of five 

 years of arduous labor will be the owner- 

 ship free and clear of a combination dairy 

 farm with a herd of thirty or more, giving 

 a daily income of from $8 to $10 from the 

 sale of milk alone. The value of the place, 

 governed by the revenue obtained, will 

 have increased nearly thrice as to the orig- 

 inal price, besides giving an income which 

 will leave a handsome surplus yearly if all 



obligations have been met, making it not only a creditable 



but certainly a profitable business venture. 



Wife and Children, Who Gathered Peas and Beans, Picked the Berries 

 and Shipped Them 



