Birmingham age-herald., 1895-06-03
OF INTEREST TO FARMERS.

On the subject of diversified farming c. J. Freeland has the following to say in Farm and Home:
 Having attended school until 16 and having to support orphan sisters and brothers, in March 1888 concluded to go tothe farm our father had left us With $50 from rent I bought small horse; we also owned our own COW and some Leg horn chickens; borrowed money to buy a horse, wagon and harness The first year we did nothing but work and go in debt. Found the farm in delapidated con ,dition. old two-roomed dwelling house. smoke house, four posts stuck In the ground with boards nailed to them constituted a barn; the yard was ploWed by hogs, the fences were down, cattle running pell-mell over the place.. and some of the land was low and wet. All the knollS were planted and portion of the land cultivated. About ten acres were rented. At harvest oats, wheat and corn were sold, but not much real ized. It was diseouraging to me, be- ginner.
 As debts were incurred the first year no land was rented the second, but team of horses was bought and all the tillable land plowed. Having no meadow hay was harvested for a neighbor, talk ing a third for the work Trees were planted, improvements made and an acre of potatoes raised.
 The girls helped to keep down the sstore bill by trading Vegetables and chickens. Things looked brighter In the fall, so we built house, moved the old tone back and built sheds around it for a barn. With new debts and the old mortgage, we owed more than we could pay by the old style of farming, so the farm was tiledrained as the first step in advanced farming. All of the waste spots on the farm could then be planted. Concluding to raise hogs, large acre age of corn was planted. AS hog rais- ing required fence building and pastur- age, a piece of timber land was ob- tained to clear for a third of the rails. This was work we could do in cold weather, As the mortgage was not be- ing lifted fast enough. broom corn rais- ing in connection with hog raising was decided on. Twenty acres were planted and from 1t a considerable profit real ized. The bulk of my farming had con sisted of corn, hogs and broom corn up to the time of paying the mortgage. Having $500 and wishing to add more land to my 80 acres, l could find none for sale near the farm. l then concluded to go to Louisiana, where I bought farm at $7 per acre. Sold stock, imple- rrnents etc., at home, chartered a car and took mules, feed and furniture. The old farm was remortgaged to pay for the new.
 No time was wasted on improvements; rice culture was made a speciality from the start, and the first year the mortgage was paid and a cash balance was left over. The second year another farm of 240 acres was bought at $10 per acre. moved onto and the other two farms rented: With the rent of the two farms and what was raised, $4000 was realized that year and a two-story dwelling, a nice warehouse and a barn built. The third year another farm was bought near thriving town for $39 per acre. I was then considerably in debt, but with past experience, three irrigating outfits. rent etc, with the help of Providence, expect to be out of debt the coming season and have the three farms and improvements paid for have found that the best way to lift mortgage Is to find out what pays best and stick to 1t, be economical honest and industrious, but not to stint ones self, as the laboring man needs wholesome, nutritious food. Buy the best of clothes: they are the cheapest Do not go in debt for things you can do without; make speciality of one or two paying investments and stick to it. Take Q thoroughly reliable paper, such as Farm and Home from which I have taken many valuable items. Learn to profit by neighbors mistakes, as well as successes. Do not be taken in by every new scheme, but, as the poet says, Be not the first by whom the new to try, not yet the last the old to lay asde'
 
 The following good advice to butter makers is taken from Home and Farm: If you sell butter make in brick shape prints with your initials stamped in 1t or some other mark. Wrap each print in parchment paper. This is cheaper than cloth and keeps the butter better, besides many purchasers are suspicious of what use the cloths may have been put to before using. Cheese cloth is cheap but the butter sticks to it. Parch- ment paper Is cheap neat and presents handsome appearance, and comes off clean
 s It is imperVious to brine and will hold the butter if it melts. Brick shaped sprnts pack closely together, so the air cannot get at the butter and they take up less room than any other shape. They are easy to cut from for putting on the table, as a whole pound is too much for that use. Nothing sells butter like neat Appearance, so it pays well to take trou- ble with it. Build up a trade in this way and it will never depart from you. Good advice is often not needed but the following, over the signature Steele Bayou" written for Home and Farm is worthy of perusal, and perhaps after being read will prove inducive to others to try it:
 A largely increased acreage has been of the land is this year devoted to corn acreage at least 121a per cent. Many places the cotton acreage has been cut