Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-07-20
PROFITS IN FARMING.
427. 900 NET FROM 800 ACRES or
LAND NEAR NORFOLK.
IA 600 nom TIN Acres Of TcbaccS-fhs
Prices Of Land that Yield Such Re-
turns-Facts and Figures.

eouthern States, says Norfolk CORE
epondcnt of the New York Sun, than the
enormous profits which some southern
farmers reap every year. He has read from
his earliest youth up about the rundown
appearance of southern farms--their bush
grown fence rows. the dilapidated
buildings. the lazy niger farm hands.
and the slouchy owners smoking
their pipes on the great house porch
while the weeds grow mp and all but bury
them-and he cannot conceive OK any Froht
being made by such farmers Moreover,
he has read about the crops mortgaged in
advance Of the maturing and the enor-
nous interest paid on the loans thus OBJ
tanned, and so he looks upon his own neat
home, his well-rolled meadows. his sleek
stock. and his full grain-bins and hay
nows. and thanks God that his lines have
been cast in pleasant places, and perhaps
that he is not as other men. even as the
poor devil Of typical southern farmer.
But let the dairyman from Orange
county, the hay-crower OF the Mohawk
Valley. the corn-grower of the Ohio Valley,
and the wheat-grower Of the Dakotas. not
10 mention the boomers OF Nebraska ana
Kansas Oklahoma. and Texas. come "a
Norfolk, and then. after looking over the
Chesapeake bay farms, take turn through
North Carolina, and get knowledge II not
wisdom.
There are farmers and farmers, and some
Of the southern farmers can make more
money smoking q pipe on the porch on the
shady side of the great house than others
can grubbing roots. loading hay. husking
corn. or riding O reaper IN the heat OF the
afternoon sun For instance, there IL
Farmer Ballentine. of this county. His
farm is 400 acres IN extent, but he
has been farming only. 800 acres, be-
cause the other hundred was only
bought last year. and it is not cleared
up vet. II lies about a mile from the
city limits. 1t rs a level piece Of ground
and the coil il mixed. being partly clay and
partly sandy loan. Farmer Bailentine
runs that farm not from a seat on the
porch Of the great house, but from his Of
fee in the Ballentine block. one of The
bandsomest brick structures in the city:
built by the farmer out of potatoes and
tale and spinach and Strawberries and
cabbage. The story of Farmer Ballentine
will serve 10 illustrate what other southern
men have done.
FARMER BAILENrINE's STORY.
He wns Tarheel by birth. was a nativs
Of Currituck county, N. G.. but has lived
In this county so long that people here
count him good enough Virginian. As a
Young man having no rich inheritance, he
went North and learned the machinist
trade, remaining there for eight years, the
greater part of that time being passed IN
Albany. Then he went back 10. North
Carolina and short time before the. war
moved to this county. He brought here.
including farm implements, household
utensils. and cash, capital OF about 81 800,
il liberal value be allowed to the
outfit. He bought part of the land
which he now owns and set some colored
hands 10 work. They were slaves. of
course. and therefore less profitable than
free help: as everybody down here now
admits. But Mr.. Ballentine prospered so
that when President Lincoln freed the
slaves he took S27 900 worth of human
chattels from Mr.. Ballentine. The war
left Mr. Ballentine with nothing but land.
Still be might have been much worse off.
He kept on cultivating the land, hiring
the darkies. where he had previously
owned them. and making money faster
than ever. 1t IL commonly said by
socialistic speakers that no man can make
million of money in the span of u life
time save by speculation that is tainted
with unrighteousness, but If MIR. Ballen-
tine lives ten years longer he will have the
million having made il out of the soil and
by investing the profits in such real estate
as was offered to him at what seemed q
reasonable price, and in improvements on
bis income this year from 800 acres of land
alone is about S27 900. according to his
books. which he willingly showed to Sun
The process by which 81 500 has swollen
to $500. 900 is as simple as pulling weeds.
Mr. Ballentine confines bis crops to round
or Irish potatoes, kale, spinach. cabbage,
and strawberries. These crops are chosen
because found well suited 10 the soil.
They are rotated thus: Beginning say
with spinach crop that natures late IN
the fall, he cuts and ships il along through
the winter as the market New York and
Boston, will take IL until April. In the
spinach. fields he plants potatoes IN rows
four and one half feet apart, with rows of
Strawberries between the rows of potatoes.
The potatoes are ready for the market the
last of June and are dug and shipped,
leaving the field to the strawberries until
the next year. when in May the strawberry
crop comes on and IS picked. When picked
the field is ploughed up and kale follows,
the intention being to put in another crop
OF somet hing as soon as one crop has been
Carnered. The idea of allowing field To
lie falow is considered ridiculous in this
county.
In the matter of fertilizers Mr.. Ballen-
tine IL liberal but close buyer-liberal to
the land, and close with the dealer. This
last year he paid S6,702.02 for guano and
Wv ioI usn-scrhp. IN No1lolh Eualo Sells
for $50 ton cash down, or $50 to be paid
after the crop is sold. Mr.. Ballentine buys
in such large quantity that by paying
cash with the order he gets fair per cent.
of the $50. The amount purchased was
spread over 100 acres of potatoes, so acres
of kale. 30 acres of spinach. 20 acres of cab
bage. and so acres of strawberries. Just
to show what he could do he gave little
extra attention TO one four-acre bed of spin
aeh in GA flnra1
lilo barrels from the one patch, making
the neat sum of $500 an acre. That. so far
a. learned by the reporter, was the largest
profit made by any farmer from similar
extent of land about Norfolk.
ADVANTAGES OF THE LOCATION.
The chief advantages which Mr. Ballen-
tine finds in this vicinity as q location for
q farm are its convenience TO the markets
Of New York and Boston, the abundance
Of good. cheap labor, and the kindly eli
mate spinach cut on Monday morning IS
on the market Tuesday night in good con-
dtion. II is shipped either by the Old
Dominion Line of steamers, the Boston
Line. or the Cape Charles route of the
PENNSYLVANIA railroad, road not long
since built down the length of the Vir-
ginia peninsula for the express purpose of
catching the truck trade of the Chesa-
peakc bay country. kale, cabbage. aud
fpludtn are W lHdlht IpI ttutS
Q barrel Strawberries are carried for
cent basket. Mr.. Ballentine. who has
been on Long Island TO look at the COM
peting truck-farms there. says he gets his
crops TO market at a much less expense
than Suffolk county farmers do. and that
he can, in fact. compete in that respect
with farms living so near to Brooklyn that
they are worth 1000 an acre. Because of
low freights the farmers about Norfolk
ship Thousands of barrels aud crates of
string beans, peas, radishes. tomatoes,
sweet potatoes, and. in fact. all sorts of
vegetables and berries to New York with
immense profit.
The laborers are oil negroes. and Mr.. Bal
lentine praises them highly. The men
work for Sl2.50 a month. or IS cents q day.
The women. who are about as good field
hands as the men, get 90 cents day. They
board themselves at these prices The
hands hired by the month have neat white
washed cottages furnished them. Mr.. Bal
lentine keeps about fifteen hands employed
by the month. The rest come from the
city and work by the day. He employs
two white men as foremep or super
intendents. and they have great houses, to