1912. 
THE RURAL, NEW-YORKER 
61 P> 
A PLAIN “BACK-TO-THE-LAND” STORY. 
Faith and Works on a Jersey Farm. 
“Back to the farm” seems indeed to be the watch¬ 
word of the hour. Then to see the greater number 
of those who come back fail, our hearts 
are moved in pity, and we feel that 
somehow or somewhere there is a cause 
for . these failures. Having been, once 
upon a time, both my husband and I, 
“backcomers,” and having for 15 years 
clung to the soil with our nails and toes, 
and now seeing in our own neighbor¬ 
hood the many failures of these new¬ 
comers, my brains have been set to 
thinking. It seems to be an established 
fact that with every good cause, there 
is at the same time set in motion an 
evil influence too. To this call of the 
soul to go back to nature, the greedy 
arm of the land schemer and speculator 
has been thrown out to grab. You will 
find that the minds of these newcomers 
are filled with thoughts of get-rich- 
quick; the “hot air” of these schemers 
having been supplied to blow them up, 
making them believe that in the future 
they would sell their lands in small lots, 
at a high price, or that they would get 
rich raising pigs, or making a comfort¬ 
able living with a few dozen hens, or 
else raise an acre of berries and make 
a fortune, etc. These people are so full 
of these wonderful tales (I believe the 
newspapers help these tales along too), 
that they will not even lower themselves 
to ask the old farmers around how they 
are getting along. No, they are made 
to believe that here and there you will 
find a successful one, but that the rest 
are too slow, and do not have a business 
method in their work, as they do in the 
cities, and therefore their advice is not 
worth having. 
It is well known that what is worth 
having is worth striving for. The be¬ 
ginner with small capital and no experi¬ 
ence will be met with some of the diffi¬ 
culties not unlike those that confronted 
our Pilgrim Fathers, with the Indians 
excluded from the picture. The high 
living will have to come down to plain 
living, and sometimes privation too; the 
muscles must be hardened to the health¬ 
ful exercise of farm work by the rub¬ 
bing of elbow grease. Then to be con¬ 
tented with small beginnings, and above 
all things, no matter how many dis¬ 
couragements, to be sure to clinch. For 
as a wise man has wisely said, “No 
beginnings of things, however small, are 
to be neglected, because continuance 
makes them great.” 
I will now try to give the details of 
our experience. To many the progress 
will seem slow, and the results not so 
wonderful, but we are contented. We 
work sometimes very hard, but it is in¬ 
dependent work. We are raising our 
children in the healthful environment 
of the country. Our home and living is 
plain but salutary, and above all we are 
close to the heart of nature, where at 
times the deepest lessons of life are 
learned. 
The year 1893, a panic year, my hus¬ 
band, then a young man of 23, was look¬ 
ing in vain for work in one of our 
great cities. In a year or so of idleness 
he easily squandered the few hundred 
dollars lie had saved, getting into mis¬ 
chief too. Before the last hundred was 
gone he had the wisdom to come to his 
senses, and changed his route. In the 
Summer he went as a berry picker to a 
farm, and at the end of the Summer, 
before going back to the city, he bought 
10 acres of woodland from the owner 
of the farm, who was willing to sell, at 
$20 an acre. He paid $150 cash, the 
remaining $50 to be paid as soon as he was able. In 
the Fall, having no relatiops whatever, he bid farewell 
to his city friends, saying “I am going down Jersey 
to clear my 10 acres of woods, and make a quick 
clearing too, for I shall blow the roots up with dyna¬ 
mite.” But he soon found out that it was elbow 
grease, and not dynamite, that took them out. His 
friends all laughed at him and predicted a speedy re¬ 
turn. This was in 1894, and was also the time when 
my people first came to the same town in Jersey on 
account of failing health in the family, I being one 
HOUSE OF A JERSEY BACK-TO-THE-LANDER. Fig. 228 
WHERE THE BACK-TO-THE-LANDER STARTED. Fig. 229. 
INTERIOR OF BELOW-ZERO OPEN-FRONT HOUSE. Fig. 230. 
loan of $400, to build a four-roomed house, and he 
had to borrow over another hundred to make ends 
meet. In November the house was fit for habitation, 
and our housekeeping began. The following Winter 
with the help of two men he cleared seven acres. 
1 he wood he cut and the little sewing 
I did gave us our living for the time. 
In the Spring, having no horse of our 
own, the plowing, planting blackberries, 
and cultivating of these seven acres cost 
us about $200. The following Summer 
we pulled through by picking berries for 
the farmer who sold us the land, and 
my husband by working out all he could, 
and at the same time working his own 
place in the hours of the early mornings 
and late evenings. In 1897 we got our 
first crop of berries, which cleared $100. 
Our expenses were slowly increasing, 
for we had to have a horse, wagon, 
plow, cultivators, and other innumerable 
things that are needed. The year 1898 
the crop was fine, but the prices being 
low we only cleared just about half 
what we ought to have had, the amount 
being $300. Three or four years after 
this were very discouraging; we still 
had to try to get all the outside work we 
could, and during the Winter for two 
years, my husband was compelled to 
work in the city, and I and the children 
kept house in the country. Then we 
began to realize that we needed more 
land, and bought at one time 10 more 
acres which cost $300, and at another 
time 40 acres of woodland which we got 
very cheap. 
1 ry as we would our expenses were 
always greater than our income, and 
consequently our mortgage grew, but 
the place is growing too, for it is worth 
now over twice the amount of the debt. 
One cow costs us $100 a year to keep, 
using all the milk we want for the fam¬ 
ily; the surplus milk, which I sell, and 
the calf the cow gives us in a year, 
brings in about $70. The gain is only 
in the manure which builds the land up, 
making a safe deposit upon which in¬ 
terest will be drawn later on. By keep¬ 
ing and caring for 70 hens in a year the 
gain, free from all expenses, is about 
$70, and the manure. We are keeping 
sows too, the first sow we had paid well. 
If the rest we are now started with do 
as well as the first our income will in¬ 
crease. We have now about 20 acres 
of farm land and the rest all in wood; 
15 acres are set out in different kinds 
of berries, and if the expectations corre¬ 
spond with the outlook, our place will 
be free from all incumbrance in two 
years. Faustina di fabuizio. 
New Jersey. 
R. N.-Y.—We should say that Mrs. 
di Fabrizio is a worthy helpmate. Fig. 
228 shows the house described above, 
while Fig. 229 is a good Tepresentation 
of the woods where the start was made. 
HENHOUSE WHICH STOOD 20° BELOW ZERO. Fig. 231. 
of the failing ones. The beginning of 1895 I met my 
husband, and towards the end of this year , we were 
married. Previous to being married, by picking ber¬ 
ries and working around, he managed to pay for his 
land and got a clear deed. On this clear deed the 
building and loan association was willing to give a 
KEEPING SUMMER BOARDERS. 
I am a young widow with a large 
comfortable farmhouse, good garden and 
fruit and a liking for cooking. A small 
river runs through the farm where good 
fishing and bathing is afforded, and al¬ 
together it seems as though I am missing 
a good opportunity for making a little 
extra money by keeping boarders, but 
my friends discourage me, though they’ve 
never tried it themselves; say there is 
no money in it; that there is no such 
thing as pleasing a Summer boarder and 
other things equally discouraging. I am 
willing to work hard to make a success 
of it, but of course I do not want to if it 
does not pay, and for this reason I 
would like to hear from those who have 
made a success of the work. What is 
required, in a general way, in the way 
of food, room, entertainment, and anything else re¬ 
lating to the subject. ohio subscriber. 
R. N.-Y.—The Summer boarder business requires 
great patience and tact, as well as hard work. It 
will pay where one is suited to it, and has a good 
location. We would like experience and advice from 
those who have tried the business. 
