THAT “ ONE-HORSE JERSEY FARM.” 
A GOOD TEAM—CHICKENS AND STRAWBERRIES. 
—“ A little farm well tilled," 
—A good big mortgage killed, 
—A bank book nicely lilled. 
A Good Story Retold. 
Our older readers are familiar with the story of Mr. 
A. Johnson’s little farm at Lincoln Park, N. J. The 
R. N.-Y. likes to keep track of this place because it is 
one of the best object lessons in agriculture we know 
of ; so on a cold, blustering day in February I made 
my usual winter visit to the place to see what new 
lessons could be picked up for the benefit of R. N. -Y. 
readers. Mr. Johnson has only 18 acres in his home 
place. The land is naturally low and wet and so flat 
that tile drainage is impossible at any ordinary ex¬ 
pense. He has plowed it into narrow “lands” or 
ridges which give good surface drainage. His crops 
are strawberries, potatoes, cabbage, hay, fruit and 
eggs. The working force of the little farm is shown 
In addition to this he has on hand or sold since 
January 1 of last year’s crop, hay, cabbage, potatoes, 
rye, straw, etc., to the value of over $400, so that the 
entire value of the year’s crops was about $3,400. 
But what did it cost to do all this ? Every cent of 
cost has been put down. The total expense of work¬ 
ing the farm for the year was $1,900. The heaviest 
items being labor, $400; feed, $347; manure, fertilizers 
and seed, $146; provisions and groceries, $333 ; build¬ 
ing shed and fence, $134. Besides this it cost to pick 
and market the strawberries, $398. So you will see 
that Mr. J. has cleared $1,000 cash for the year besides 
his “board and lodging,” and this is a pleasant task 
that he has set for himself to do every year. Or, here 
is another statement that shows the financial success 
of the place. Five years ago Mr. J. still owed a mort¬ 
gage of $2,100. That has been paid and repairs and 
improvements to the value of $2,700 have been made 
while be has about $2,000 safely invested. That 
“ Are you goiDg to keep her now ? ” 
“ No, I shall sell her to a man who wants her for a 
breeding mare. I shall get two lighter horses. Now 
that my farm is paid for and I am ahead, I propose to 
take life easier, and drive out when I feel like it, 
though one good horse is enough for my work.” 
“ How about hired help?” 
“ I keep one man the year around. I have a young 
Swede who has been with me several years. He is 
shown in the picture with the horse and cows—the 
four make a good quartette. I pay him big wages, 
because he is faithful and quick, and understands 
our work exactly. Others would do as much work, 
but I pay for care and faithfulness. In straw¬ 
berry picking season I hire 30 or 40 pickers, mostly 
women and children. We have no children of our 
own at home, and, therefore, depend upon hired 
help entirely. We are ready to pay the best 
wages for faithful help.” 
WORKING FORCE ON A ONE-HORSE JERSEY FARM. Fio. 99. 
at Fig. 99. The most instructive thing about the 
place is the fact that Mr. Johnson became a farmer by 
accident, and the whole history of his farming shows 
how study and patient work will enable any man to 
get a comfortable home of his own. Mr Johnson is 
now about 60 years of age. He was a jeweler by 
trade. Some 23 years ago he bought this little place 
giving a good-sized mortgage on it. He bought it as 
an investment thinking the value would rise on his 
hands, but instead of that the “ boom” died out and 
he was left to pay a mortgage on unsalable property. 
He continued working at his trade in Newark, going 
home once a week, leaving a hired man to do his farm¬ 
ing, such as it was. Twelve years ago his eyes gave 
out and he was forced to give up his profitable trade. 
Then he went to his mortgaged farm and bravely set 
to work to make a living there. Did he succeed ? 
Well, see what you think of this statement of sales 
for 1892—Mr. J. has kept an accurate account of every 
cent spent or received for 12 years. 
PRODUCE SOLD IN 1892. 
Strawberries.$1,210 18 Ilay. $399 50 
Errs . 75(5 40 Calves. 24 53 
Chickens. (51 80 Pears. 151 90 
CabbaRe. 221 04 Suedries. 58 74 
Potatoes. 105 53 - 
means nearly $7,000 saved in five years—all taken out 
of the soil of 18 flat and wet acres. 
The Working Force on the Farm. 
How was this done ? Well, the hen and the straw¬ 
berry did a good deal of the work, while Mr. J. 
superintended the job. Let him tell about his helpers 
in his own words. 
“ How much stock do you keep ? ” 
“Two cows, one horse and a few less than 400 hens. 
The two cows are Jerseys and good ones. I don’t be¬ 
lieve it ever pays to keep a second-class animal 
around. For the original “mother” cow I paid $20 
when a little calf. I sold her for $75 when 12 years 
old. The two cows shown in the picture are five and 
seven years old. The figures above show what they 
did for me. Milk, butter and calves brought $176.78, 
besides all the milk and butter used in the family. 
That horse is 16 years old. I have lad her 12 years, 
and she has done all my work alone, except sometimes 
I have hired another horse to put with her to break 
sod. She has earned many a dollar hauling manure. 
They charge so much for a one-horse load, but that 
old mare will walk off with about as much as any two 
common horses could haul.” 
The Hen Has Paid the Rent. 
“ What breed of hens do you keep ? ” 
“ Brown Leghorns and black birds—a cross between 
Black Mincrcas and some black hens that resulted 
from crossing Brown Leghorns on the Whites. I find 
these Blacks are better layers than the Leghorns, and 
I shall breed more of them this year. My latest count 
makes 370 hens.” 
“ How long do you keep hens ? ” 
“ I have pullets, two-year-olds and three-year-olds. 
I keep them in separate pens so that I can see how 
they lay. They are marked with a toe punch—one 
hole for each year. I am satisfied it pays to keep the 
Leghorn fowl to lay three years. The pullets begin 
laying first in the late fall, and then the two-year- 
olds, with the older ones next. The older hens, how. 
ever, while they don’t begin laying so early, do con¬ 
tinue laying later before they moult. This gives us a 
supply of eggs in the fall when prices are high. The 
older hens, tco, lay larger eggs, so that, take it all and 
all, it pays to keep some of all three ages. An old hen 
takes a vacation only while she moults, while a pullet, 
does nothing for nearly a whole year. I use only two 
year-olds for breeders.” 
“ How much do your chickens pay ? ” 
