The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1639 
Investing, Proceeds From a Farm Loan 
The Mississippi Agricultural College last year offered prizes for the best story of 
how the money obtained as a loan from a Federal I.and Bank was invested on a 
farm. Naturally tins offer was limited to Mississippi farmers, but some excellent 
essays were secured. Two of them are printed in Extension Bulletin A r o. 10, of 
the Mississippi College, and we reprint one of them below. It is a good statement 
of a farm investment. 
T HE money borrowed from the Fed¬ 
eral Land Bank of New Orleans, 
La., is secured by my farm of 102 acres, 
and by a fire insurance policy on my 
residence. 
We had been married 17 years and had managed 
to rear two delicate children to the ages of seven 
and twelve years, respectively. We were not indebted 
to anyone, and owned our little home and farm free 
from encumbrance. A tropical storm destroyed all 
our prospects for food or money crops in the Sum¬ 
mer of 1016. The opening of the new year was 
dismal. We were compelled to buy corn both for 
bread and for feed for our team. After talking the 
matter over with my wife, it was determined that 
we should plan our efforts with the view of obtaining 
a loan from the Federal Land Bank. Accordingly 
we purchased a piece of land well sodded with 
Bermuda grass and several varieties of clovers. An 
old sawmill had been located upon this tract, and 
much material well suited for our future use was 
left there. We at once renovated the 
soil and planted it to corn, beans and 
peas. The field having been heavily 
cowpenned, we obtained an abundant 
crop, and at the same time left the land 
in fine condition for the new sod which 
we had planted for the 101$ pasture. 
We owed $500 on this land, and were 
required to list the indebtedness when 
making our application. Just before 
receiving our check, however, we sold 
scrap iron and wood to the amount of 
$550 from this very same land, and 
were, therefore, relieved of the ex¬ 
pense on our loan of settling the ven¬ 
dor's lien against us. We therefore had 
left exactly $1,500 after paying for our 
stock and other expenses to the Land 
Bank. 
We had made an abundant supply of 
hay and corn stover and several hun¬ 
dred bushels of corn and peas. To this 
we must add about 30 tons of velvet 
beans. Our hogs had died until we 
had only one brood sow. She brought 
10 pigs about the middle of January 
and we exerted ourselves to give them 
a chance. Our prospect for homemade 
meat and lard is now good. We are 
fortunate in having two cold storage 
plants near our farm where we may 
have our meats cured for four cents the 
pound cured weight at any time of the 
year. Tt is our plan to feed the young 
hogs until about April. 101$, and kill 
them when they will dress around 250 
pounds each. We have eight of this 
kind and sufficient youngsters to con¬ 
sume the skim-milk from our dairy. 
My first investment was $900 for 20 
purebred Holstein cows. This, however, 
did not pay the full cost of the cows, 
but I gave in exchange as part pay six 
cows and four calves of the scrub 
variety. I gathered material from the 
old mill tract before mentioned suffi- 
cient to build and equip a 
barn for my cows. Being an all-round 
man and pretty handy with tools. I built the barn 
with the assistance of my regular hired man. It 
was about this time that a large army camp was 
located in my territory, and I determined to make 
the best of it for my business. I at once formed a 
connection with a reliable concern to handle whole 
milk. They are now in position to handle 30 gallons 
per day and pay 60 cents a gallon for it. Of course 
the milk must be of such class as to pass Govern¬ 
ment inspection. That is my protection. My cows 
average a yield of 27 lbs. of milk a day. and I use 
approximately 270 lbs. for home consumption, feed 
for calves, pigs and chickens, and for the local trade. 
My dairy barn cost me only a small sum. as r 
bought absolutely nothing but nails, cement and 
roofing. The whole cost to me is $103. I bought a 
second-hand milk-room outfit, consisting of milk 
scales, separator, tester, cans, steam boiler and 
engine for $150. 1 had all the steam pipes; and water 
pipes I could use for any purpose which I had 
gathered from *ihe old mill tract, so that my barns 
and stock, together with equipment, cost me only 
$1,153, plus my labor and my hired man’s, X feed 
each cow three pounds of cottonseed meal a day, 
the other concentrates consisting of velvet bean meal 
and cornmeal. The roughage I have in abundance, 
therefore, allowing for waste and damage, my con¬ 
centrates are taking only 7cents a head a day. or 
$1.50 per day for the entire herd. The concentrates 
are worth more than that amount, but my system of 
accounting contemplates arriving at the net earnings 
of my labor, and must not be considered here. A 
greenhouse has been constructed by the dairy lot, 
in which it is my intention to grow all the early 
plants needed for my own use and to sell perhaps 
$100 worth to the trade. Every particle of fertilizer 
is saved and spread on the thin land to make more 
feed for the cows. My barn is screened and no flies 
are permitted to remain long in the stalls. The 
veyor and deposited in a shed, well screened. I 
spent $47 more of the $1,500 for these matters and 
for the purchase of a pump to lift the water for the 
good wife, cows and stock, and turned the remaining 
$300 over to my partner to invest for her special 
benefit and satisfaction. 
She gave the girls $50. and made the improvements 
in the house with the remaining money and added 
extra rooms made from the lumber and materials 
gathered from the old mill tract, at no cost except 
for nails and 15 squares of roofing. A 100-lb. keg 
of white paint went on the walls for $15 with her 
help, and the remaining cash, supplemented by $100 
which we had got for 10 selected oak trees from the 
self-same mill tract, installed a lighting plant, put 
in a system of waterworks, equipped a laundry 
room, a sanitary bathroom and toilet. The home is 
transformed. The farm is prosperous. The children 
have taken an interest in our affairs and everything 
is going well. 
The children invested their money in beautifying 
the yard and in stocking their poultry yard with a 
fine flock of Columbian Rock chickens. 
The demand for their eggs and stock 
has been greater than the prospects for 
supply for a number of months to come, 
and it is my judgment that every penny 
of the loan has made life more pleasant and enter¬ 
taining for the entire family. We have arranged t»> 
deposit a certain percentage in each of several funds, 
so that each department will be taken care of in 
a systematic way. There is really no financial re¬ 
turn from the yard, which is beautifully arranged 
in flower beds and grass plots, but perhaps the 
pleasant appearance makes it more in the range of 
possibility for wife and me to gather inspiration for 
greater effort and nobler achievement. 
Steam jets are arranged in such position as to 
make it possible to sterilize mangers, gutters, toilets, 
milk cans, and. in fact, everything that requires care¬ 
ful sterilization with live steam. We have rigged the 
engine to the cream separator, the wood saw, wash- 
ThL amount represents my estimated 
earnings, but must be reduced by 
amount paid my regular farm hand, 
which is $360. and I shall allow $290 
for extra help not now anticipated. 
First Page) which leaves a net income of $3,000 for 
my labor and the hire of my horse, 
which 1 must use in making the feed for the cows. 
Twelve per cent of this amount goes into a sinking 
fund to retire the indebtedness. The remainder is 
used for meeting the current family expense account. 
The entire net earnings of the children’s invest¬ 
ment is set aside for their entertainment and men¬ 
tal development. Already they are planning to attend 
a Chautauqua assembly next season, and if ill luck 
does not overtake our beautiful flock, they will have 
ample money to defray all expenses. 
Parcel Post and Food Bags 
P ARCEL post privileges create a demand for a 
shipping package which shall be neat, clean, 
cheap, impervious to ordinary moisture, and so light 
as to be cheaply returnable, and so used again and 
again. The ‘‘food bag." so-called, of waterproof can¬ 
vas, made in various sizes, sold by dealers in sport¬ 
ing goods, and used by campers and canoeists to 
store their grub, seems to fill the bill for certain 
produce demanded by the city consumer, which may 
be handled directly from the farm, if the distance 
iug machine and various other small machinery, and 
will iu the near future add a crushing 
mill for our feeds. Fine Winter grazing 
for calves, pigs, chickens and cows has 
been provided, and our business ap¬ 
pears to be well established. 
Below I make statement of invest¬ 
ment : 
Mr. Shale's Daughter on the Lily Bond. Fig. 5)0. (See First Page) 
splendid An Interesting Water Lily. Nymphaea Daubeniana. Fig. 5J)1. (See 
fertilizer and waste is conveyed in a swinging eon- 
Deed of trust to Federal Land 
Bank .$1,000.00 
Stock in Federal Land Bank.. $80.00 
Expense of appraisement and 
title determination.. 7.00 
Check received . 1,513.00 
Totals. 
$1,600.00 
$1,600.00 
Check received . 
Abstract of land title. 
Expense of local association.. 
Balance for investment. 
$1,513.00 
$10.00 
3.00 
1.500.00 
Totals. 
$1,513.00 
$1,513.00 
Net cash for investment. 
Twenty Holstein cows. 
,$1,500.00 
$900.00 
103.00 
150.00 
47.00 
300.00 
Nails, cement and roofing..., 
Milk room outfit. 
Pump and screening. 
Turned over to wife. 
Totals. 
Wife’s capital . 
Paint, materials and help... 
Light plant. waterworks, 
bathroom, etc. 
. $300.00 
$15.00 
235.00 
50:0<> 
Donated to children. 
Totals. 
. $300.00 
$300.00 
Children’s capital . 
Thirty Columbian Rock pul 
lets and cook. 
. $50.00 
10.00 
40.00 
Totals. 
$50.00 
$50.00 
Statement of Expectations from Investments 
Milk from 20 cows, averaging 27 lbs., 540 per 
day. 
30 gals, at 00c.$18.00 
10 lbs. of butter at 30c. 3.00 
$21.00 
Less cost of feeds bought on market. 1.50 
$19.50 
Less physic for cows (estimated).50 
$10.0ii 
I.ess probable lost time for dry cows dur¬ 
ing years . 0.00 
$10.00 
$10 x $3,650.00 net. 
