26 
CEDAR BRUSH PENCE, ETC. 
for their guide; the interior each one would 
prefer arranging to suit his own taste or conve- 
nience. 
To some, much of the above may seem out of 
place, and over fine talk and show for farmers. 
But why so ? Thousands of them in our happy 
country, we rejoice to say, can afford a handsome 
house and beautiful grounds ; then why should 
they not possess and enjoy them when this is the 
case ? We really do not know who has a better 
right than the followers of that noble and inde- 
pendant occupation — tilling the soil. Is the far- 
mer to be a dull, unimprovable machine, or 
a mean clod-hopper from generation to genera- 
tion, and all the days of his life 1 
•■•-» . 
WHAT DOES IT COST TO GROW AW ACRE OF 
POTATOES? 
We have taken some pains to get estimates 
from practical men in different sections of the 
country, and here are some of the results. The 
labor and seed rated at customary prices. 
Forman Hendrickson, near Allentown, N. J., 
estimates the labor of preparing the ground, 
hauling manure, cutting seed, planting, culti- 
vating, digging and harvesting at $15, and seven 
bushels of seed, $3 50. Ayerage crop, 130 
"bushels. Land loamy, made rich by peat and 
lime. 
Thomas Hancocks, farmer, near Burlington, 
N. J., estimates as follows : — 
7 bushels cut seed, - - - - $3 50 
1 day, with 2 horses plowing, - 2 00 
2 days hauling manure, - - - 4 00 
1 day 2 men and boy and team planting, 3 00 
* day harrowing, 2 half days plowing, 
and 1 day hoeing, - - - 3 75 
3 days digging and 2 days covering, - 3 75 
Crop 200 bushels. Land sandy loam. $20 00 
Benjamin Cooper's estimate at Camden, 
N. J. :— 
1 man and 2 horses plowing, 2 men 
and carts hauling manure, and 1 man 
and boy cutting and dropping, in 
every third furrow, the manure spread 
and plowed in 1 day, - - - $5 25 
* day narrowing, and 1 day cultivating 3 00 
2 days hoeing, 1 50 
l-10th of crop for digging, - - - 7 50 
2 men and team 1 day to put crop in 
cellar, 3 00 
20 bushels seed, 10 00 
Crop 150 bushels. Land sandy. $30 25 
Rent of land worth $6 an acre. 
Estimate at Chester, Penn. : — 
15 bushel seed at 62*,- - - -$9 37* 
1 day plowing, - - - - 2 00 
Hauling 30 loads manure, - - - 2 50 
2 days' work spreading ditto, - - 1 50 
4 " cutting seed and planting, - 3 00 
1 " and team harrowing and culti- 
vating, 2 00 
6 men and team digging and securing, 5 75 
Crop 150 to 200 bushels. Land 
clayey. 
$26 12* 
Estimate of Wm. Webb, Wilmington, Del. : — 
1 day fall plowing, - - - - $1 50 
20 loads stable manure and 20 loads 
night soil, hauling, - - - 7 50 
1 day spring plowing, - - - - 1 50 
Furrowing or working drills, - - 25 
1 day cutting seed, ... 75 
2 " planting, 1 50 
Ridging and rolling, ... 50 
Harrowing, cultivating, and hoeing, - 1 25 
14 bushels seed, at 50c, - - - 7 00 
Digging 230 bushels, at 40c, - - 9 20 
$30 95 
Estimate in Sussex County, Del. :— - 
15 bushels seed, at 37*c, - - $5 62* 
Half day plowing, with 1 horse, - 62* 
Hauling sand on swamp land, 2 men 
and yoke of oxen, two days, - 3 25 
4 days' work planting, - - - 2 00 
Harrowing, cultivating and hoeing, 2 25 
Digging, by partly plowing out and 
securing, 3 50 
Crop 200 bushels to acre. 
$17 25 
CEDAR-BRUSH FENCE. 
This is quite a common fence in Virginia, and 
is occasionally seen in New Jersey and Delaware. 
If well built, it is a good and durable fence. It 
is most usually made in this way : first, throw 
up a ridge of earth about a foot above the level, 
and in this drive stakes on a line two to three 
feet apart, three and a half to four feet high, and 
then wattle in the cedar limbs, beating them 
down with a maul as compactly as possible. 
This fence will last good as long as the stakes 
endure. Some leave the stakes about a foot 
above the fence at first, and drive them down as 
they decay, adding more brush at the same time, 
and thus the fence will last fifteen or twenty 
years, with less repairs than a common rail 
fence. 
Keep tour Stables Clean. — Cleanliness in the 
stables and yards is as essential to the health, 
comfort and thrift of your stock as to yourselves, 
children and servants. Standing in cold muddy 
yards, and lying down in the filth of stables, espe- 
cially during severe weather, is a direct loss of 
food and condition. If dry and warm in cold 
weather, animals will thrive better on one half 
their accustomed food, than with all, if these con- 
ditions are neglected. 
Consumption of Cotton in the United States. 
— This is estimated at not less than 650,000 bales 
the past year, 500,000 of which were consumed 
in the eastern states, and the balance at the south 
and west. This will not seem at all incredible, 
when it is known that there are upwards of 
250 cotton mills already in operation south of 
Mason and Dixon's line. 
