VOL. L. NO. 2169. NEW YORK, AUGUST 22, i89i. pr & f b£ e y£?£ ts ' 
sister, an excellent high-school teacher. At the time of 
our visit his wife, unfortunately, was absent, and but for 
this we would have secure 1 a picture of the attractive 
sitting-room where the family live. I say live advisedly, 
because this room is not kept closed and darkened, as 
thousands of such rooms are, and opened only for com¬ 
pany ; but it is open, light, airy and comfortable the entire 
year, and the family there pass their pleasantest hours. 
This man is a farmer worthy of the name ; and is highly 
respected by intelligent business men wherever he is known. 
His farm is his home In every sense of the word. He has 
made It by his own unaided efforts, and 
naturally he is proud of It, and he thoroughly 
eD joys it. When he began farming for him¬ 
self he subscribed for the leading agricultural 
journals then published, and he has taken 
three or four of the best, and read them ever 
since; and he says they have proved an in¬ 
valuable aid to him. 
As I have said, the soil of Mr. C.’s farm, 
when he began tilling it, was new and fertile. 
It is not exactly exhausted now, but it Is 
tired. It has been steadily cropped, without 
rest or fertilizers ever since it was broken up. 
With a favorable season it will still produce 
a fair crop, but In ordinary seasons the yield 
averages half a crop or less of very poor 
quality. It is naturally well drained, and in 
the hands of a live man would be a good 
farm. The owner lives in Pennsylvania, and 
Mr. C. pays him a yearly rental of $320, and, 
besides, pays all the taxes, which run from 
$40 to $120, according to the amount levied 
for road and school purposes. There are no 
fences on the place except those surrounding 
the cow and pig lots, and these are provided 
by the renter, as are the sheds and other 
“conveniences” seen in the picture. When 
the photograph was taken, the family were 
absent, which accounts for the lack of human¬ 
ity in the picture. 
The first year Mr. C. tilled the land he har¬ 
vested splendid crops, paid off an old debt, 
bought a steam thrasher and lots of other 
machinery, and flew quite high. He seemed 
to have an idea that the land was all cream, 
and would yield good crops with merely 
plowing and planting, for an indefinite period. 
But he soon skimmed off the cream, and now 1 
even the skim-milk is becoming very thin and blue. He 
takes no Interest in the place other than to get all he can 
out of it, and his landlord’s interest in it is the $320 per 
year he gets out of it. Neither will do a stroke to benefit 
the other in any way. The tenant asked for a dry and 
warm stable for his horses, and was told to buy one. He 
asked to have the house repaired so that it would shed 
rain and exclude wind, and he was advised to do the work 
himself. He asked for a reduction of rent for one year to 
enable him to clover half of the farm, and he was told to 
move off if he was tired. In turn he has cropped most of 
THE OWNER AND THE TENANT. 
A Cutting Contrast. 
“ Owner ” makes “ farming pay ” in comfort, happiness 
and improvement; *‘ renter ” makes out to exist; 
strife between landlord and tenant; can you see this 
picture nearer home ? 
Fig. 216 is the home of a man who owns his farm, and 
Fig. 217, is the dwelling place of a renter. We will call 
them Mr. G. and Mr. C., respectively. 
The farms upon which these two houses stand are^about 
them—was planted with his own hands, and with a view 
to making his home and farm attractive and comfortable, 
and supplying his table with an abundance of the best 
fruit that can be grown in this section. This man has 
always kept fully abreast of the progress in agriculture- 
in fact, he has always been a leader rather than a follower. 
He keeps himself thoroughly conversant with the most 
improved methods employed In every branch of his voca¬ 
tion, and promptly adopts or improves on all that are 
adapted to his situation. He has studied his farm until 
he knows every foot of it, and its capabilities, and he so 
THIS IS THE HOUSE THE FARMER OWNS! Fig. 2 16. 
two miles apart. The first comprises 240; the other 160 
acres. Both are common prairie land, and the soil of both 
was new and equally fertile when the present occupants 
began tilling It. At the present time the soil of Mr. G.’s 
farm is fully as fertile as when first broken up, and 
yields a full crop of anything with which it is seeded. By 
full crop I mean 30 to 35 bushels of winter wheat, 65 to 75 
bushels of corn, and 55 to 60 bushels of oats per acre, of 
No. 1 quality, in an ordinarily favorable season. The rota¬ 
tion practiced by Mr. G. is as nearly as possible : Corn, 
oats, winter wheat, pasture two years with sheep and 
cattle on mixed grass. 
Part of the farm is rather 
flat, but is now so well 
drained by wide, shallow 
ditches that all surplus 
water flows off in a very 
short time. It is very con¬ 
veniently divided by 
hedges, which are kept 
well trimmed and prove 
effective fences. 
From his 16th to his 
23d year the owner was 
a hired hand, working for 
farmers by the month. 
When he bought this 
farm It was a piece of raw 
prairie without a twig or 
stick on it. Every cent 
represented in the entire 
farm, the house, the im¬ 
mense barn,hay sheds and 
other buildings hidden 
from view by the trees, 
was made by plain farm¬ 
ing. Every tree, bush and 
vine on the place—and 
there are hundreds of 
manages It as to make it pay for every stroke done on it. 
The picture is an inspiration. It shows conclusively 
what can be done on a farm by well-directed effort and 
skillful management. We see the plain marks of intelli¬ 
gence, enterprise and comfort on every hand. The lawn 
tennis net on the lawn shows that pleasant recreation is 
not overlooked on this farm. The proprietor is seen stand¬ 
ing in front of his spacious dwelling, while seated on the 
bench are his daughter, who has just graduated next to 
the head of her class, and his niece, a successful school 
teacher, and standing behind his daughter is his youngest 
THIS IS THE HOUSE THE FARMER RENTS! Fig. 2 17. 
