The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-08-07
HOW THE FARM WAS PAID FOR.
The Cow and an Apple Orchard Did

1t.
IF a man buys a farm and pays for
it, it is generally believed, in this sec
ton, that the money must be obtained
by some other means than farming.
If a man pays a mortgage with ia IN
products, he is considered "lucky."EI5
is true that with the class legislation
we have, our lawmakers being mostly
professional men, it is impossible for
a farmer to become a millionaire. but
this is not desirable. Extremes Of
poverty and riches are evils. Both are
enervating. The middle classes are
the life of a nation. In order to be-
able to life a mortgage with the least
friction, a farmer should have besiSrs
some natural ability, two qualifS q
tions, persistence and a habit of reaGr
ing agricultural publications.
l bought a farm fifteen years ago,
paying $1,000 down and giving q, mort
gage for $4,000 1 have paid the mort
gage with the products of the farm. L
made blunders. and profited by them
For instance, when l began, L raised
oats and sold them. 1t is done todaN
in my neighborhood, but L do not do it
I soon found that l could not pay the
mortgage by selling raw material, but
must furnish a finished product. I
raised beef until it became unproft-
able, because of western competition,
and several years ago l got some Jer-
Sey cows. They are good mortgage
filters. Although 1 cannot agree with
writer's who claim that it costs plefe
to make d pound of butter than q
pound of beef, still there is a good
margin of profit in making butter.
1 have twenty Jerseys and grades, be-
sides calves and yearlings. They av-
GRO cra6 1ocy IL.
ter, which at 24c. per pound is $62SS
per cow. The skim milk was worth
S12, making SASS. [ raise the heifer
calves from the best COWS, and aim to
improve the quality by breeding.
Another source of income has been
an orchard of 225 apple trees. Some
of them, although not more than ten
years from setting, have yielded two
barrels of apples. This orchard is on
a rocky, wet piece of land, of no value
for any other purpose. Three years
ago it was underdrained. The grass
is moved and used for mulchiug.
These three acres Of land are as good
something of a job to take care oA
an orchard, TO graft and prune, sprays
dig bOrers and protect from mick
but that is what L aim for 1 have
made money in selling produce By.
sending it away, instead of selling 10
local dealers and taking store pay.
A barrel of apples or box of butter
will often bring enough more than
to pay the extra expense Of shipping,
and the same is true of buying [
have found that 1 can buy grain, pro-
visions and other things as cheap as
the traders, though they did not tell
me so. l am about a mile from a.
village, and another source of income
has been selling vegetables. The first
early potatoes at 81 per buSheI are
profitable, while the late crop may be
a loss, or a partial one. L have never
ought to have done so instead of max
ing so many improvements. The farm
would hardly sell for enough to pay
all the expense that has been put into
ii, but do not want to sell it. neither
does my wife, who has helped to pay
the mortgage. The occupation suits
me. 1t is said that the man ennobles
the occupation, not the occupation the
man. If this is not true, but the re-
verse, then there is no occupation
more ennobling than tilling the soil.
If I shall not be able to leave my
children a great amount of money, I
we'll be pleased if I can leave them
a love for agriculture, so thar they
will appreciate the verses of the poet,
who said:
Happy the man whose wish and care
A few paternal acres bounds
Content to breathe his native air
In his own ground.
Whose herds with milk, whose fields with
bread.
Whose fiocks supply him with attire.
Whose woods in summer yield him shade.
In winter fire.