Vol. LXXIV, No. 4357. 
NIOW YORK," DECEMBER 18. 1915. 
WEEKLY $1.00 PER YEAR. 
a re s o m e 
good New 
A Plain Talk About Dairying 
Advice to a Back-to-the-Lander 
I intend to buy a farm in 'New York. 1 have a 
steady position at a good salary in the.’city,' but it 
takes it all to make ends meet, apa if I felt sure. I 
could make ends meet without working myself to death 
I would prefer a farm. I have -$1,500 ; of this 1 figured 
to get a farm for $3,500. 1 see a-great number of 
farms for sab* at that price or cheaper, but.it sevens 
impossible that a farm at that price cmrld support'a 
family. I am not at all familiar with con'ditions in Ne\v> 
York on the farm, but intend to go there rogt-.y ar and 
try to become familiar with 
them. I intend to keep a 
dairy as I think that is the 
best way to keep the soil 
up in fertility. Is there 
any way I can find out 
what the profits should 
be on a dairy farm of 
100 or 150 acres at the 
above price, or how many 
cows or what stock could 
be kept on a farm of that 
size? Would it pay bet¬ 
ter to get a higher-priced 
farm and go in debt? I 
read a good deal about 
the profits of farming, but 
I cannot believe it. It 
seems out of all propor¬ 
tion to the price of the 
farm. I am one of those 
who are interested in tin 1 
back - to - tin 1 - land move¬ 
ment. I.. A. 0. 
Illinois. 
T here 
pretty 
York farms of from 100 
to 120 acres in the dairy 
sections that can be 
bought for $3,500, but 
of course the situations 
are not the best, neith¬ 
er is the soil or build¬ 
ings. I should expect a 
good many drawbacks 
in connection with a 
150-acre farm 
price. 
In the first 
A. G. makes 
common error in not re¬ 
serving anywhere near 
enough capital to equip 
his farm in even the 
most economical man¬ 
ner. lie says that lie 
would prefer to keep a 
dairy, therefore I will 
suggest a few things 
that might help him to 
get an idea of what the 
cost would be to make 
a very modest start in 
dairying on a farm such 
as he speaks of. 
Fifteen cows would 
be about right for the 
average farm that $3,- 
500 would buy. Also, 
they would probably be 
as many as our friend 
and his hired m a n 
would care to m i 1 k. 
These cows, in various 
stages of lactation and 
different ages, might be bought for $900. Three 
1100 or two 1400-pound horses (if not too young and 
valuable) could hi 1 got for $300; $00 might fit them 
with harness, $100 would buy a heavy and light 
wagon, and $G0 more might do for sleighs. 
I would suggest a riding plow for a “baek-to-the- 
at that 
place, L. 
the very 
lander,” besides, the hired men like them best. This 
would cost $45 more, and a spring-tooth drag will 
lie at least $15'more. Of course it would be well 
to have a disk harrow and a smoothing harrow too; 
but if you can afford but,one by all means get the 
spring : tooth. There are fields on these New York 
dairy farm's tod stony for the disk. 
If you get into a good neighborhood, (as all 
neighborhoods are in this section) you can borrow, 
a land roller, a grain drill and a corn and a pota¬ 
Christmas Morning on the Lonely Road 
to planter. So we will not include them. One can 
get along with a common walking cultivator, and 
one of these and other small necessary tools would 
cost about $25 more. Then one must have a mowing 
machine, a rake and a hay-rack for his wagon. 
These will cost about another $100. One can get 
along without the side-delivery rake and the loader, 
and probably Smith or Jones will lend you his ted¬ 
der, if you need it badly. ■ 
When it. comes to cutting the small grains, you 
can hire a harvester, also a corn harvester, and 
machinery for filling the silo. These tools cost so 
very much that few men even in this best of coun¬ 
tries would-care to lend them free of charge. I 
think that the things I have mentioned will foot 
up to’about $1(500, and there are a lot of things that 
j * I have probably for¬ 
gotten. Of course if one 
was to go about the 
business in the right 
way to make the most 
profit out of it, he 
should buy purebred 
cows, and mucji better 
horses, and an outfit of 
machinery that would 
quite take all of the 
$4,500, to say nothing of 
buying a farm at all. 
Now that we have got 
our equipment, and a 
hired man who will cost 
from $450 to $500 more 
(board included) we 
are ready to begin opera¬ 
tions—and reap the har¬ 
vest. The cows should 
be milked regularly at 
intervals of 12 hours, so 
we will begin at 5 A. M. 
Then, if you can milk 
and do your other 
chores in the hour after 
5 I*. M. you will have to 
work but 13 hours a 
day. But don’t get in 
from the fields before 5 
I’. M. for if you do, the 
crops will sutler, and 
the consequence will be 
more grain to be bought 
for the cows. 
If you are lucky in 
getting good cows, they 
may give you an aver¬ 
age of 8.000 pounds of 
milk per head. (But be 
sure to milk them prop¬ 
erly, or they will dis¬ 
appoint you). The milk 
may bring you $1.50 per 
hundredweight, so there 
is a chance to get $1,800 
out of your cows. This is 
quite a lot of money, but 
don’t buy an auto quite 
yet. The cows are about 
all that you will get any 
money out of, because 
they will eat all that 
you raise—and then 
quite a lot besides. 
One thing that I for¬ 
got was another $100 
for seeds, lime and fer¬ 
tilizer, and make it $200 if you can afford it. 1 
would suggest 10 acres of small grains, like oats 
and barley, and 10 acres of corn, five for the silo, 
and five of State corn to husk and grind for the 
cows. Take good care of these, and after you and 
your man have raised plenty of potatoes and other 
