FACTS AND FIGURES FROM ONE MAN’S EXPERIENCES THAT KNOCKED THE BOTTOM OUT OF HIS 
GENTLEMAN-FARMING DREAM BUT LEFT HIM UNDISCOURAGED—IS THE AMATEUR A SURE LOSER? 
Editor’s Note: The other side of the story, however painful, is usually illuminating. Here is the other side of a story. Its genesis is interesting. In House and Garden 
ivas run a series of Back-to-thc-Land experiences, against which a subscriber protested. He was a back-to-tlie-lander, but he had had no staggering luck and he was a good 
enough sportsman to say so. We challenged him, and he wrote these stories, giving us, without reservation of fact or figure, what came from his efforts. This month he tells 
of the first year. The second year appears in September. Was his just a case of hard luck? 
T HE marvelous results, published in many current magazines, 
of mere amateurs who have gone into the farming busi¬ 
ness and have made great successes—whereas the farmers who 
have been in the business all their lives can barely make ends 
meet—are both interesting and encouraging to those “back-to-the- 
landers” like myself, who have embarked the frail craft of their 
savings in a similar enterprise, and are endeavoring to pilot it to 
the haven of financial success. 
The following expense account of an amateur’s first year on a 
farm is not intended to act as a deterrent to others similarly 
minded, though it may serve to caution those who, with but little 
capital or experience, think to make a small, worn-out farm self- 
supporting. 
When, after an active life of thirty years, ill-health forced me 
to give up my profession, I naturally turned my thoughts to farm¬ 
ing as an occupation and amusement. I had been brought up on 
a farm and was somewhat familiar with its enjoyments and its 
requirements. During my active professional life 1 
had not been able to save a great deal of money, but 
I was in possession of an income of about $250 per 
month, and I had about $1,500 in cash which I could 
invest. I had also about $2,000 invested which I did 
not wish to disturb, as it was bringing in a fair 
return. I could live quietly on my income If I 
wished, but I needed an occupation to interest me 
and occupy my time, and I wished to increase my in¬ 
come. I was carrying, also, a fair amount of life 
insurance. 
It was natural that, upon looking around for a place 
in which to settle and take up my occupation of farm¬ 
ing, I should expect to find one in the neighborhood of 
my family home, in one of the Middle States, and I 
confidently expected to do so; but on taking up the 
search for a place that would be suitable and agreeable 
for me and my family, I found very soon that land 
values in desirable localities were far beyond my 
means. With a great deal of reluctance, therefore, I 
was forced to look at a distance from my home neigh¬ 
borhood for my farm. We decided that we should like to be near 
water, so we investigated locations on the shores of Chesapeake 
Bay. It was important to have railroad facilities, and that ex¬ 
cluded most of the Western Shore. From an atlas I found sec¬ 
tions on the Eastern Shore of Maryland that had both railroad 
connections to Philadelphia and boats to Baltimore, thus giving 
the advantage of two markets. I wrote to the postmasters of 
several towns whose locations seemed to comply with the con¬ 
ditions, asking each that he give me the name of a reliable real 
estate agent in his town. After getting in touch with them, I 
visited several places and looked at the farms offered for sale 
by the agents. I did not decide at once, but weighed the matter 
carefully, comparing the sites, and finally found a small water¬ 
front farm that complied fairly well with my specifications. It 
was on a large river but a few minutes’ walk from the wharf 
of a steamboat line to Baltimore, and about six miles from a fair¬ 
sized city, from which the railroad went to Philadelphia. The 
The amateur soon realizes that a great share of farming is preparatory and done in the coldframe 
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