Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1889-05-17
DAIRY COLUMN.
A Farm Heavily in Debt.

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vice, | want TO come in for my share.
Will try and state the case in as
few words as possible. Given, $50
acres good land, nearly all cleared,
one and one-quarter miles from coun.
ty seat $500 population,) IA miles
from Lansing, the state capitol, 2
good houses, barns 50x60 and 30x4O,
wind pump and tanks, ice house, hen
house, all fruits in abundance, 2
good springs, good fences, work
horses, /, 3 year old colt, 2, year
old, yearling, As sheep, 25 hogs, :
cows, 10 head of young cattle, 60
hens and 3 turkeys; on this property
a debt to pay of 100000 7 per
cent, with unlimited time. Tell me
can it be done?
Have this spring purchased a
Cooley creamer. There are three full
men, and old man, and a twelve year
old boy to do outside work, no help
hired in the house. A regular fam
lily of IL to support off of the $50.
Part of the firm say it can be done
and the other part say it cannot.
/ wish to sell out and leave. Have
chance now to trade for a Va
farm.
think you are doing a grand and
noble work for dalrymen, | should
as soon try to 90 without cream for
my coffee, as to try to succeed at
modern dairying without your valu-
able paper. Mrs.
AS the statement shows the debt
on the land is $44.44 per acre; the
real capital of the firm is the stock
and tools (which we assume are paid
for,) and the credit and character
that gives the firm "unlimited time"
We also assume that the work-per-
sons who constitute the family,
are also the ''frm," and therefore all
they each earn, save necessary ex-
penditure for clothes and food, can
be paid on the debt, instead of be-
ing taken off the farm to support
others, and pay others debts.
If these assumptions are all true,
then we should say, Though it is a
pretty large debt to handle,) that
with health, industry and pluck, the
firm, if they feel at home and can
work tremendously, will win, and
we would rather stick, under such
circumstances, than to try any Vir-
ginia scheme.
But in undertaking to pay that
debt, the first thing we would do
would be to sell horses, As sheep
and part of the hogs; and invest
every dollar of receipts In good COWS
and work into the keeping of 100 of
them; build silos to feed them from,
just as fast as possible and not IN
crease the aggregate Indebtedness of
the farm. 1t will take better man
agement and longer time to reduce
Indebtedness with sheep and hogs,
than with COWS, if it can be done at
all. There is too much "mixed''
farming on the farm, not as indicated
by the variety, and the dispropor-
ton of horses to cows. We will
draw no comparison between the
horse and dairy business, as, with
plenty of capital for either, we re-
gard it hard to decide which is the
better business for those who have
tastes so they could do either. But
an estate in debt, wants quick re-
turns, and can't afford to wait for
the income arising from growing
horses. The COW pays every day,
and that is what folks in debt need.
While we believe the debt can be
managed in the above way, we will
say that to help Tighten the risks of
the struggle, we would sell so acres
of the land the first good opportu-
nifty, and keep a sharp look out for a
capitalist who would be willing to
loan at per cent, for that interest
now commands plenty of loans on
good farms, that have good interest
paying owners on them.
With the intensive farming it will
take to pay the debt on that farm at
all. 100 acres of it is enough for
the ''firm, land they should sell twice
as many dollars worth from it then
as they do now from the whole $50