702 
July 31, 
Tlie first requisite is to have considerable energy 
and not be ‘afraid of work. When a man is working 
for himself it is altogether different from working 
for another; he doesn’t seem to feel the labor, his 
muscles get hardened so the work becomes more of 
a pleasure. I always took pleasure in working for 
myself, but if I worked for another person for wages 
it would be different. Living in the city is now 
very expensive, rents are getting very high, also 
all kinds of eatables. A man with a family living in 
those congested flats of four or five small rooms, along 
with many other tenants, goes to work for the day; 
the wife gets tired alone all day, so she goes out, 
taking the children, perhaps; buys candy, ice cream, 
soda and a few nickelodeons and perhaps a trolley 
ride, which take a great many nickels. They have 
all got to be well dressed every time in going out; 
in fact there are many ways to take all a man can 
earn, even if he gets good wages. In going to the 
country you get away from all those attractions. 
The facilities of getting back and forth to the city 
arc so good that once in a while they can go to 
the shows. The health of the family would be much 
better; the children would have more room to play 
without fear of being run over; they can then wear 
out their old clothes. In looking for a farm be sure 
of getting one a few miles from a good-sized city 
where all the produce you raise you can get a good 
price for. Don't be lured by advertisements of farms 
to be sold cheap that are located so far away from 
a good market that everything you raise has to go 
by rail to a commission house. Those two take all 
the profits. There are plenty of farms you can buy 
for what the buildings are worth. They are mostly 
down East. You don’t want them too far away 
unless you want to go into raising cattle, hay and 
grain. Manure and labor arc so high now it will 
not pay on a large farm, whereas if you have a 
small place near a city you can raise many different 
things and retail them, getting all the money there 
is in them. Even if you sell to the groceryman you 
realize more than sending to a commission house. 
All the eggs you can raise can be retailed at the 
highest price. A person can make a good living 
and more on 10 acres of ground provided the soil 
is all right. Don’t get much stony or clay land; 
a good stiff sandy loam and a stiff subsoil is the best. 
If the subsoil is gravelly it is leaeby, and you lose 
the manure and suffer with the drought. Don’t be 
afraid to apply plenty of manure; the more you put 
on the more money you make. To loosen up the 
soil sow rye in the Eall and when it gets a good 
growth in the Spring plow it under. Endeavor to 
find out what fruit trees do the best in your vicinity; 
then set out an acre or two. It appears that all the 
sweet pear trees, such as the Bartlett, Clapp’s Favorite 
and the Beurre pears will not succeed now in this 
part o.f New Jersey; the blight has killed off almost 
all. The Kieffer does well and bears heavily; it is 
somewhat inferior for eating, but fine for canning 
and cooking. They sell and pay well. 
(To he concluded next week.) 
ANOTHER “GET RICH” SCHEME. 
Where in this wide world can you invest .$200 with 
no risk of losing it, and where, within one year, the 
investment could lie sold for $1,000? Safe investments 
usually pay live per cent, six per cent, or at the most 
ten per cent annually. On account of the wonderful 
new discovery of lands that will grow the imported Kuma- 
tra and Havana tobaccos, it is possible to make this 
great profit. Such an opportunity comes but once in a 
lifetime to each individual. Seldom ever does it come 
to tlie poor man who lias little to invest. This is the 
exception. Because here, tlie man or woman who has 
$200 to invest will have a warranty deed and abstract 
lo a five-acre tobacco farm delivered to them, and there¬ 
fore become tlie owner of the farm and you get a town 
lot near the proposed big factory. 
We do not print this in any effort to show “where 
in this wide world” such as investment could be had, 
for, frankly, we do not consider it possible to find 
one. We have been told of such great profits in 
connection with ginseng, Belgian hares, orris root and 
gold bricks and “green goods.” One man, we are 
told, has a large tract in Wonderberries expecting to 
sell the fruit at a high price per quart! At any rate 
be will not wonder where be buried bis money 
later on. 
The present wonderful investment is offered by the 
Alabama Sumatra and Havana Tobacco Co. If any 
concern has larger ideas built on smaller facts we 
want to know where the combination can be found. 
1 bis concern offers land in Southern Alabama. This 
land may cost $10 per acre, but this concern offers it 
at “the exceptionally low price of $200 per acre!” 
There isn’t any use being small about figures when 
they cost nothing, so this concern takes a plunge. 
On a eonservafivc estimate, we expect to harvest at 
least 400 acres of tobacco the first year. It should yield 
at least 1,200 pounds to the acre, and assuming that it 
does not average over that amount, there would he 480,- 
THE RUKvVL NEW-YORKER 
000 pounds of cigar wrapper tobacco, which estimated at 
the low selling price of $1.50 a pound, would make a 
gross income of $720,000. The cost based on actual 
facts would be approximately 25 cents per pound, or $120,- 
000, leaving a clear profit of $600,000 for the first 
year’s crop, sufficient to pay a dividend of 25 per cent 
on the capital stock of the company. 
The second year they assume that 1000 acres will 
be in tobacco, bringing $1,800,000 and the third year 
they “assume” to cut up a nice melon of $2,500,000 
for their stockholders! 
These wonderful statements have attracted many 
persons. Some have had the good sense to write the 
Department of Agriculture for information. The fol¬ 
lowing facts from the Bureau of Plant Industry 
ought to cool them off like a dash of cold water: 
In Elorida, where the circular claims so much 
money has been made by the tobacco growers, a high 
THROUGH A LOCOMOTIVE “SCREEN.” Fig. 404. 
grade product can be secured, still the majority of the 
men who have undertaken the culture of this class of 
tobacco have lost money, and only those who have 
had long experience have made a success. The aver¬ 
age price received for this class of tobacco by *the 
Florida growers is about 35 cents per pound, with an 
average yield of 1,000 pounds per acre. The average 
cost of production is about 30 cents per pound. Of 
course, some crops bring higher prices; for instance, 
the 1907 crop in Florida was disposed of by the grow¬ 
ers for from 30 to 90 cents per pound, while in 1908 
the crop was disposed of at prices ranging from 10 to 
45 cents per pound. 
There is a big difference between 35 cents and 
$1.50 a pound, and, of course, no beginner could 
grow as fine quality as those experienced Florida 
growers. It seems to be a case of the old game of 
hooking suckers this time, with tobacco on the hook. 
We often wonder when people will stop putting 
up their money against a “sure thing.” The game 
runs all the way from “Wall Street” down to the 
county fair. Most people have noticed the “weight 
guessers” at fairs. They guess at your weight, and if 
they come within three pounds of it you pay five 
cents. A writer in the New York Times tells how it 
operated at Coney Island, the New York pleasure 
resort: 
With two friends I went to Coney the other day, and 
each of us was weighed in a chair. Each paid tlie five 
cents, because the weigher guessed beforehand within 
three pounds of the weight recorded. But before going 
to the weighing clmir we each bad been weighed on Fair¬ 
banks in the city before we went to Coney. Contrast our 
real weight with the weights indicated by the chair 
scales: 
Real Chair Weight 
Weight. Scales. Guessed. 
A . 160 158 155 
B . . . 132 138 141 
C. 106 112 114 
You will notice that bad the gucsser's machine given 
our exact weight he would have been a loser each time. 
But note how neatly the weight indicated in the chair 
scales came within tlie three pound guess limit. IIow was 
it brought about? 
Those men simply went up against a sure thing—as 
A TRACTION HAY BALER. Fig. 405. 
all do who invest in schemes where the other fellow 
bandies all the money and all the wires. 
It rains here about three days in each week, seriously 
interfering with thrashing, and oats and bay harvest. A 
recent rain and windstorm did some damage to corn 
and oats. The soil remains too wet for best growth of 
corn. Some thrashing is being done between rains; 
wheat is yielding 12 to 20 bushels per acre and better. 
But little Timothy hay has been cut yet, lint tlie mea¬ 
dows give promise of good yields. To-day (July 17th), 
is clear and farmers have hopes of getting to work 
again next week. w. e. d. 
Hillsboro, Ohio. 
THE CONSUMER’S DOLLAR. 
The Cattle Grower’s Share. 
We are frequently asked to state what part of a 
dollar paid by the consumer goes to the farmer who 
produces the raw material. In some cases this is 
easier to state than in others. For example, if a 
farmer is being paid two cents to 2 l / 2 cents a quart 
for his milk, and be knows that much the same milk 
is being sold in the city at eight to nine cents, be can 
easily see how much of the dollar comes to him. 
Naturally, the case is different witli products which 
are made over between the producer and the con¬ 
sumer. We understand that the average baker ex¬ 
pects to make 250 loaves of bread out of a barrel of 
flour at probably an average of eight cents a loaf. 
That means $20, while the wheat from which that 
flour was made brought the farmer considerably less 
than $5. Or take 10 pounds of wool or 10 pounds 
of cotton, and the price they bring to a farmer. Then 
let the farmer estimate what they cost as he buys 
them back in cloth or in thread, and lie will find that 
he is getting but a small part of the final dollar. 
Wc are asked particularly as to the difference be¬ 
tween the price of live stock and the finished meat as 
sold to the consumer. Here we have a difficult task. 
We are obliged to deal with averages, and cannot state 
the exact price for which this meat is sold or the 
amount of waste. The following figures are fur¬ 
nished us, showing -what becomes of the cattle as they 
pass through a slaughter-house: 
Average of 20 cattle: 
Live weight .1,232 pounds 
Dressed weight. 758 pounds 
Percent, dressed.61.24 pounds 
Hide .8614 pounds 
Offal : 
Tallow . 77 V 2 pounds 
Trimmings (including tongues, livers, etc.)34 pounds 
Casings .19 % pounds 
Tripe .21 pounds 
Tankage (green) .81 1-3-pounds 
Heads and feet.28 pounds 
Blood (dry) . 8 1-3 pounds 
Sinews. 2 pounds 
Sweetbread. 1-3 pounds 
The bide and offal of a steer are equal to about 15 
per cent dressed meat (in a modern packing bouse), 
making total value of above animals—in terms of 
dressed beef—approximately 77 per cent of the live 
weight. 
New Yoik Cuts of Beef: 
Chucks. 33.66 per cent. 
Rounds . 23~ 27 per cent. 
I-oins .15.74 per cent. 
Itihs . 9.55 per cent. 
Navels. 8.61 per cent. 
Flanks. 5-. 55 per cent. 
Suet . 3.62 per cent. 
100.00 per cent. 
These figures are taken from a reliable source and 
are probably about as correct as can be obtained. Let 
us suppose that the farmer sells one of these cattle 
weighing 1,232 pounds for $5.50 per hundred, and the 
animals would have to be extra good in order to 
bring that. This docs not mean that the farmer 
would receive exactly $67.76 for his steer, for there 
are certain charges to be taken out. In Chicago there 
would be a commission charge of 70 cents per head, 
yardage 20 cents and the cost of feed at $1.50 per 
hundred. These charges are the same for an old cow 
as for a good steer. A steer sent from southern Ohio 
to Chicago would cost about as follows: 
Yardage . $ 20 
Freight. 2 50 
Commission. 70 
Feed . 30 
$3 70 
This leaves $64.06 as what the farmer would re¬ 
ceive for this steer. The hide would probably bring 
16 to 18 cents a pound. The cuts of beef when finally 
sold in New York would run all the way from 12 
cents for chucks to 26 or 28 cents for the best rib 
roasts. Figuring it as closely as we can, estimating 
values on only a few items, we find that the steer 
would finally sell for a little over $150, so that the 
farmer would receive a trifle over 40 per cent of the 
final selling price. With the steer selling at five 
cents be would receive far less, because the price for 
which the steer would be sold in the retail market 
varies but little. To be exact, at five cents with the 
charges for handling much the same, the farmer 
would receive a trifle over 36 per cent, of the con¬ 
sumer’s dollar. 
The following figures ^re for a shipment of Iowa 
cattle sent 500 miles to Chicago. The 18 cattle aver¬ 
aged 1400 pounds each when they left the IowJi ship¬ 
ping point. When sold they averaged only 1315 
pounds, a shrinkage of 85 pounds each. Here is the 
account rendered: 
23,680 lbs. at $4 70.$1,112 
Freight .$53 70 
Yardage . 4 50 
Hay . 2 50 
Commissions . 9 00 
- 69 
96 
70 
Net to farmer...$1,043 20 
These steers being a little heavier than the 20 men¬ 
tioned above would bring more, but we put them at 
the same figure, which makes $2700 to consumer. 
This represents 38 cents on the dollar. 
