A FARMER FROM TOWN. 
MR. JOHNSON’S ONE-HORSE FARMING. 
A Cure for “ Oslerism.” 
Part I. 
There are many persons living in the cities, getting 
along in years who, as Dr. Osier says, are losing their 
usefulness at 40, and at 60 should be chloroformed. These 
persons, mostly mechanics and small dealers, have been 
or will be thrown out of employment by the combination 
of corporations or trusts. A number of these men are 
desirous of getting on small farms, where they can be 
independent of anyone. As I have been there, I thought 
that my experience in the matter would be of benefit to 
many. I had worked at the jewelry business for 35 
years, in Newark, N. J., receiving good wages most of 
the time. My health was poor; I had frequent sick 
headaches, caused by confinement in the factory and not 
getting sufficient ex¬ 
ercise. Having a de¬ 
sire for country life, 
and thinking it would 
improve my health, I 
purchased a small 
farm of 18 acres for 
$2,300, giving quite a 
mortgage on it. I 
moved on it and soon 
found I had run up 
against a snag. The 
person who owned it 
previously had other 
land to work, and did 
not work this, as it 
was considered too 
1 o w a n d w e t. My 
farm was lower than 
the farms on three 
sides of me. It was 
perfectly flat, full of 
wet holes, overrun 
with briars, weeds, 
five-fingers and tree 
stumps. I was told 
by neighboring farm¬ 
ers to get it seeded 
down to grass. As I 
could raise no Win¬ 
ter grain, I might 
pick out two or three 
acres for potatoes and 
garden truck. The 
first season proved to 
be a wet one. Along 
in May I hired a man 
to plow a few acres. The water followed him in the 
furrow; it was on in June before the land was dry 
enough; too late for corn, so I sowed the whole piece 
to buckwheat, of which I had a fair crop. 1 he house 
was old and out of repair; the only other building on 
the place was an old barrack boarded up for a barn. 
The reason I purchased such a place was that at the 
time it was the only one available to be close to my 
wife’s relatives, who had farms in the vicinity; she was 
born close by. 
I was discouraged the first year or two, but deter¬ 
mined to make the best of a bad bargain. By the time 
I got up proper buildings, farm tools, wagons, horse and 
cows, etc., I ran up my debt to nearly $3,000. As the 
farm was so unproductive I continued to work at my 
trade for several years, going to town Monday morning 
and returning Saturday evening. I hired a man to run 
the farm, and it actually took all my wages and what I 
sold off the place to run it. I was getting $25 a week, 
but during those few years I was getting the farm up 
in good condition. The farm being flat, I dug a ditch 
through the center lengthwise and across. T then plowed 
the ground in 20-pace lands, plowing towards the center, 
and always one way, never cross-plowing. It would 
raise the center of the land nearly two feet higher than 
the open furrow between the lands, so when it rained 
it would run off to the furrow and pass to the ditch. I 
always planted in rows; by that means I got rid of all 
the wet holes. The ground being low, I was not trou¬ 
bled much with the drought. Making good wages at 
my trade, I was afraid to give it up, thinking if I was 
deprived of the income I would make a poor showing 
from my farm only 
With a debt of nearly $3,000 hanging on me, I was 
unable to pay any of it off so long as I worked at my 
trade and ran the farm by proxy. My family and I 
got tired of living the way I did, being home only Sun¬ 
days, and an odd day off once in a while. Having been 
reduced in wages when business was dull, when it re¬ 
vived I asked for a raise. The boss refused, saying I 
STACK OF ALFALFA HAY IN OREGON, CONTAINING 400 TONS. Fig. 26. 
business I find to be always a profitable crop. The price * 
of eggs and chickens rules higher now than a few years 
ago. A person now, from good management and ample 
room, should clear over all expenses from 300 hens 
about $400 to $500. It is the pleasantest business of the 
whole farm work. A person in poor health could easily 
attend to it, and it would be beneficial to him. There 
is always a good demand for strictly fresh eggs, but to 
obtain the best results a man should be near a retail 
market, where he can retail them to families, but I would 
advise new beginners to “go slow” in starting. There 
has been many a failure caused by persons starting in 
heavily without experience. Three years ago a man 
who had lost his usefulness on account of age, and was 
discharged from the railroad, purchased next to me two 
acres of land; put up a small house, expended a few 
hundred dollars in chicken houses and fences, bought 
100 Leghorn hens at $1 each, and started in to make a 
living on hens alone. 
He thought he under¬ 
stood the business 
thoroughly, and asked 
no advice. He got but 
few eggs, had no luck 
in hatching and rais¬ 
ing young chicks, and 
did not realize enough 
to pay for his feed. 
After one year’s ex¬ 
perience he gave it up 
and left. 
To succeed start in, 
the first year, with 25 
or 30 purebred fowls, 
raise about 50 young, 
making 75 for the 
next year, which is 
plenty to gain experi¬ 
ence. There is great 
loss in raising young . 
chicks after hatching. 
If brooded under hens 
you have to encounter 
the wet weather, rats, 
cats and lice, often 
destroying the whole 
flock. I have a good 
incubator, but prefer 
to hatch under hens, 
take the chicks away 
from the hen soon as 
hatched, and raise 
them in brooders. No 
animal or wet weather 
get at them. I 
was getting old, and losing my usefulness. I was then 
49 years old, which was several years older than when 
Dr. Osier says a man loses his usefulness Knowing 
myself I could turn out as much work as I ever could, 
I then and there determined to give up the jewelry trade 
and devote my whole attention to my farm, if I could 
no more than make a living. I dearly loved a country 
life; that very thing I considered was the great stimulant 
to my success. 
On the first of April, 1882, I gave up my trade to de¬ 
vote all my attention to the farm. I bought manure by 
the carload from New York and Newark; went into 
raising strawberries, potatoes, cabbage, chickens and 
eggs. I had set out a few years previous over 100 pear 
trees, about 20 apple, a few peach, plum, cherry and 
quince trees. The first year I more than paid all my 
expenses. In eight years I wiped out my entire debt, 
besides expending over $2,500 in buildings and a large 
windmill plant. For 10 years my average sales were 
over $3,000 a year, one year $4,000. That year, from 
four acres of strawberries, I sold $2,600 worth, and 
nearly $1,000 worth of eggs and chickens. The chicken 
have enclosed wire runs. Be very careful in feeding; 
that alone kills off many. Don’t feed soft raw meal 
for the first two weeks; feed crushed wheat, pinhead 
oatmeal and millet seed. Cut up fine with a knife some 
fresh grass. After two weeks mix in fine cracked corn 
and a little fine cracked charcoal. Be sure to give plenty 
of fine gravel for grit. Always look at the chicks for 
lice; they breed very rapidly, and if not taken in time 
will soon kill the birds. If raised in brooders the 
chicks have no body lice, only the big grey head louse, 
which you have to look sharp to see. To kill these 
pests melt some lard, put in a few drops of kerosene 
and grease on top of head. Don’t grease around the 
throat or on body; it will surely blister and perhaps 
kill the chicks/ I have lost many that way. Dust the 
throat and body with sulphur and insect powder mixed. 
Be sure to keep their coops and runs clean. Get some 
good poultry books and magazines, and use good judg¬ 
ment. There is much to be learned in the chicken busi¬ 
ness ; you can never know it all. I have been at it over 
30 years, and am still learning. If properly conducted 
it pays well. Save all the droppings, and by mixing 
Vol. LXV. No. 2922. 
NEW YORK, JANUARY 27, 1906. 
WEEKLY, $1.00 PER YEAR. 
