Vol. LV. No. 2424 . 
NEW YORK, JULY r 1, 1896. 
*1.00 PER YEAR. 
AN OLD-TIME OHIO FARMER. 
RECORDS OF A BYGONE GENERATION. 
Old-Fashioned Farming Brought Up To Date. 
Mr. Peter Porter, of Ross County, Ohio, was born 
November 3, 1811. He has always been a farmer, and 
now owns 1,000 acres of land located in his native 
county. At the age of 85, he still mounts his horse, 
makes the rounds of the farm, and claims that he can 
do a better job than any of his hired men. His 1,600 
acres have been paid for with money made at farming. 
He still makes the farm pay while following nearly 
the same methods in vogue 57 years ago ! 
Mr. Porter has outlived all his children except one 
daughter. Years ago, he divided his farm into four 
parts, and made 
his will. Three 
parts he still 
works himself, 
while a son-in- 
1 a w controls 
the fourth. Mr. 
Porter’s wife 
has been dead 
13 years. All 
through her life 
she was a real 
companion and 
helpmeet, giv¬ 
ing council in 
all important 
matters of busi¬ 
ness and farm 
work. I have 
thought that a 
story of Mr. 
Porter’s farm¬ 
ing, told in his 
own words, 
might be inter¬ 
esting to R. N.- 
Y. readers in 
these days 
when we hear 
so much about 
the “good old 
times ” of our 
fathers. 
“ The Good Old 
Times.” 
I n speaking 
of his boyhood 
days, Mr. Porter 
says: “There 
never were 
much poorer 
people than we 
were. I can re¬ 
member when 
my brother and 
I could cut only seven shocks of corn in a day. I went 
to school, all told, about one year. When 23 years 
old, I went to school 38 days, which was worth more 
to me than all the rest of my schooling together. 
Those 38 days’ schooling have been worth to me 
$ 10 , 000 .” 
“ Do you remember the first money you earned ?” 
“ Yes ; 1 rode one horse and led three on the thrash¬ 
ing floor, for which my brother paid me one cent a 
day. I cut cordwood for use in a distillery, for 25 
cents per cord. I can remember when young, strong 
men worked for $5 per month, and took their pay, as I 
call it, in chips and whetstones ; that is, tobacco, meal, 
or articles from the store ; plates, knives, forks, etc.” 
“ What kind of a harrow did you first use ? ” 
“My first harrow I made from a forked stick, bor¬ 
ing five quarter-inch holes for the teeth, and making 
locust pins for the teeth. When they got dull, I 
turned the harrow over and sharpened them with the 
drawing knife. I think that I must have now on my 
farm of modern make, $150 worth of harrows. In 
those days, we plowed with the wooden moldboard 
plow with a cast point and coulter. My father died 
before I was 10 years old. When 20 years old, and 
starting for myself, my mother had an old black mare 
that she let me have. I bought another horse for $30, 
the man waiting on me one year for the pay. About 
two years after, I bought another for $50 on a year’s 
time. Two years after I bought another for $65. I 
then thought that I was getting to be pretty well off. 
I was married at 29 years of age ; my wife being 27 
years old. I then owned two horses and five cattle 
In the thirties, I bought of one man a wagon for $115, 
a breaking plow and two seven-pound axes. I have 
parts of that wagon yet.” 
How the Farm was Bought. 
“ When did you buy your first land ?” 
“ In 1844, 1 bought 188 acres, and was to pay for it 
with 30,000 pounds of pork, 20,000 feet of first-class 
poplar lumber, and $100 worth of butter at 12 % cents 
per pound. The pork was to be delivered in three 
yearly installments of 10,000 pounds each. The lum¬ 
ber also was to be in three yearly installments of 
6,666 feet each. The butter was delivered at the rate 
of about $1 worth per week for two years My wife 
milked the cows, made the butter and delivered it on 
horseback at Chillicothe, seven miles distant, starting 
after her morning’s work was done, and returning in 
time to have dinner on time. Nor did she fail to do 
it during the two years. I have paid, in all, principal 
and interest, for land, $70,000. One claim of $14,000, 
when paid, amounted to $21,000. It is easier to make 
money now than it was then. I have sold hogs at 
$1.50 per 100 pounds ; I can get $3 now. I could buy 
a heifer a little before starting for myself, weighing 
400 pounds, for $4, and milch cows for $7 each. I 
have hauled corn to Chillicothe over hills and mud 
roads, seven miles, 18 bushels at a load, and sold for 
12% cents per bushel. I can get 25 cents now at home. 
Wheat sold for from 31 to 40 cents per bushel in the 
twenties. We ought to live better now than then 
and make more 
money. I have 
receipts to 
show that, at 
oue time, my¬ 
self, four broth¬ 
ers and two 
sisters paid $250 
taxes per year. 
A few years 
ago, when 
building a pike 
through my 
farm, I paid 
$ 1,200 a year for 
three years. 
“ L<’or 30 years 
1 have been 
growing 125 to 
130 acres of 
corn ; one year, 
I grew 200 
acres. One year 
with another, 
it would aver¬ 
age 35 bushels 
per acre. I have 
been on this 
farm 48 years, 
and have aimed 
to rotate crops 
as follows: 
Corn, two 
years, followed 
by wheat one 
year; then 
clover and Tim¬ 
othy two years. 
If the Timothy 
was extra 
sometimes I let 
it run three 
years. Several 
times during 
the past 35 
years, I have 
had sawmills on the farm. In fact, I paid for a part 
of the land with the lumber taken off from it. During 
the 48 years, my average sales of stock and wheat 
from the farm, have been $3,300 per year, a sum total 
of $158,000. This does not include what was grown 
and consumed by the family and working stock on 
the farm. In the rotation of crops, rye has been used 
to a small extent. 
The Live Stock; Its Profits. 
“ How many hogs do you sell each year ? ” 
“ I am scarcer of hogs now than I have been lor 30 
vears ; having, at present, 95 head. 1 have sold, the 
past year, 130. I usually keep my hogs till about one 
year old or a little over. For the last 30 years, count¬ 
ing stockers and feeders, I have had on the farm, ex 
AN OLD-TIME OHIO FARMER, WITH HORSE AND TOOLS. Fig. 150. 
