statement of the first year's crop of 80 acres, which he purchased at an original cost of $15 per acre: 80 acres prairie land, at $15. Breaking 70 at $2 50....... $1200 00 175 00 320 rods fence, (480 rods would have been necessary, but for 320 00 105 00' Sowing 105 bushels of wheat, at $1 25.............................................. ........................... 131 25 70 00 126 00 Threshing and transporting, at $1 80 per acre......................................................... Total cost Assuming, at a moderate calculation, every acre to yield 20 bushels, we have 1400 bushels, at $1 25......... ............ $2127 25 1750 00 Hence, the 80 acres, after the first harvest, will cost only...... $377 25 Relying on my own experience, I have based the above calculation upon the highest cost, an average price of wheat, and the low produce of 20 bushels per acre, although I myself have reaped 25 bushels, and many others from 30 to 35 bushels. I also assumed only 70 acres fit to be broken, as, among 80 acres of prairie lands, there are in most cases 10 acres of lowland, best fit for meadows. Every such acre may be safely supposed to yield 2 tons of hay, worth from $2 to $4 per ton, which amount does not form one of the items of my calculation. Jno. S. Peironnel, Esq., of Peru, gives the following statement of a crop from 10 acres, purchased by him April, 1855, at $30 per acre : J. S. PEIRONNEL, To 10 acres of land at $30 per acre............................................... "6 months' interest... 8 75 2.50 2 75 8 75 28 90 24 00 Ralph Anderson, Esq., of Silver Creek, Stephenson Co., estimates the costs and receipts of 34 acres, as follows: A correspondent of the Alton Courier, writes the following from Shipman : "I saw a communication in the 'Courier,' over the signature of Amand,' in which it is stated that Col. Wm. B. Warren, of Jacksonville, had a crop of wheat which netted him $20 per acre, clear of all expenses, at present prices, and that the wheat crop of Mr. Constant, of Sangamon County, netted him $17 per acre. 66 They were certainly profitable crops. I threshed my crop of Maryland white wheat, a few days ago, a small one it is true. The thresher measured 317 bushels, the most of which was measured by him into the sacks of farmers, for seed, at $1 25 per bushel. I have been asked a great many times how many acres of ground that crop of wheat grew on (with numberless other questions), and my answer invariably was, about eight.' I have since measured the ground, and there was a little less than 72 acres. lowing items, which were set down as they occurred: EXPENSES. To 10 bushels of wheat for seed, at $1 25.. I submit the fol Two days with cultivators, one horse, and one hand, at $1 50.. $13 50 3 00 1 00 Cutting 7 acres, at 75 cents.................... 5 81 Nine hands for binding and shocking, at $1 25.................................. 11 25 Three days stacking, with 2 hands... 9.00 Net profit...... .$320 84 Which would be a little more than $41 49 per acre. W. R. Harris, Esq., of Palmyra, Lee Co., makes the following communication concerning the management of his farm: "I commenced here in the spring of 1847, with a capital of $700, with which I purchased twenty acres of timber, and one hundred and sixty acres of prairie land. The first season I broke up fifty-five acres, with a pair of horses and one yoke of oxen, breaking two acres per day. The third year, I added eighty acres to my farm, and hired fifty acres broke at $2 per acre. The fourth year, I hired ten acres more broke, at $2 25 per acre, which gave me one hundred and fifteen acres under cultivation. This is all that I have had under cultivation, and I have sold the product this year for over $2000. I have now been engaged here for about eight years, and my capital of $700 has increased to between $8000 and $10,000." Charles W. Murtfeldt, Esq., of Oregon, Ogle Co., gives the following account of the management of 80 acres, purchased by him at $20 per acre, and planted, 53 of them with wheat, and the remaining 27 with Indian corn: 10 per cent interest on $1600, being the purchase money of the 80 acres, at $20 per acre................................................................................................................ Taxes.. ...... Ploughing, at $1 per acre........ ................ ..... Sowing and harrowing 53 acres at 75 cents.... Seed of wheat...................... $160 00 7 00 ........................ 80 00 ........................... 39 75 53 00 .................... 39 00 88 00 1 75 50 00 30 00 55 00 30 00 $633 50 The receipts were, for 1100 bus. of wheat, at $1.........$1100 Harvesting Indian corn.... Threshing 1100 bushels of wheat, at 5 cents........................................ ......... Gain..... Rev. Jno. S. Barger, of Clinton, De Witt Co., in a letter dated 22d Jan., 1855, states the following facts in relation to the management of his farm: "From 1848 to 1850, I purchased in De Witt County, and nearly adjoining Clinton, 400 acres of fine farming land, through which the Illinois Central Railway passes; and in the vicinity three timbered lots, containing 140 acres, making in all 540 acres, at a cost of $1513 19. In the spring of 1853 I determined to make my farm, and accordingly contracted for the breaking of 300 acres, at $600; also for making 400 rods of fence, at $4 75 per 100 rails in the fence, equal $494 19; making altogether, $1094 19. Having obtained the privilege of joining to 720 rods of fence on adjoining farms, I thus enclosed 360 acres, and had 280 prepared for seeding. "The breaking was done from the 27th of May to the 9th of July. The greater portion of this ploughed land might therefore have been planted in corn, and harvested in time for seeding with wheat; and thus I might have added considerably to the avails of the first year, had I not been 80 miles distant, engaged in the labors of the Jacksonville district. ............................................. I paid for seeding 300 acres I paid for harvesting, threshing, packing, and delivering at the ............ Sold at the Clinton depôt, 43782 bus. of wheat, for...$4378 82 $230 00 243 75 1094 19 $1567 94 1650 00 $3217 94 50 00 4,428 82 3,217 94 And you have the net proceeds of the first year......... ................... 1,210 88 1,094 19 2,305 07 Making the entire avails of the first year..... "Furthermore, to do justice to the productiveness of the soil, and to show what the well directed efforts and judicious management of a well-trained and practical Illinois farmer would have done, it should be stated that, at least in my judgment, some 1500 bushels of wheat were wasted, by untimely and careless harvesting and threshing, equal to $1500 net proceeds. Then add $55 33, excess of payments for ploughing and seeding only 280 acres, which a skilful farmer would have known before making his contracts, and you have a loss which ought to have been a gain of $1,555 33. This amount saved, would have shown the avails of the first year's operations, on 280 acres of the farm, to have been $3,860 40. "Now, sir, if one under such circumstances, with but little more than a theoretical knowledge of farming, has succeeded even so well, having hired all the labor, and mostly at very high prices, how much larger profits might have been realized by a skilful and practical farmer, devoting his whole time and attention to his appropriate occupation. How much more successful thousands of farmers and farmers' sons, on our eastern seaboard, and in the Eastern States, might be, were they, or could they be induced to move on and apply their skill, industry, and economy, in the cultivation of the rich and productive prairies of Illinois." The "Prairie Farmer," of January 24, 1856, contains the following letter of a farmer residing in Warsaw, Hancock Co.: "I purchased these acres of woodland, three-fourths of a mile from town, for the purpose of making a fruit orchard. By the time I could get it cleared and enclosed, the season had so far advanced that I could not plant trees-so I contented myself with putting in such a crop as the advanced season would justify. About the 20th of June, I finished planting three acres of white beans, two of corn, pumpkins and garden vegetables, and half an acre of potatoes; and later, say about the 1st of July, I sowed about two and a half acres of buckwheat. "In the autumn I harvested the following crops, worth, in the market at home, the prices annexed: Pumpkins, cabbages, tomatoes, melons, sweet potatoes, &c....... 14 00 Total........ ..... $150 00 66 This, it strikes me, was a tolerably fair result. I did not expect to do much, as the season was so far advanced when I commenced; yet I have demonstrated to my own satisfaction, that with a good season next year, and fair prices in the fall, I can make my little farm of ten acres bring me $300— besides growing an indefinite number of young fruit trees; and that too without going beyond mere ordinary farm crops. H. H. Hendrick, Esq., of Batavia, Kane Co., calculates the value of a farm of 160 acres, as follows: "A small farm would be worth more per acre, with the same improvements, than a very large one. For example, take 160 acres, purchased at $10 per acre: First cost of 160 acres, at $10 per acre....................................................................................... .$1600 00 Breaking one hundred acres, at $2 25.. 225 00 160 rods fence on front side, or road, $1 per rod...... 160 00 4000 00 1,250 00 450 00 Amounting to... It is probably now worth $25 per acre, which will be.................................. Or, at $20 per acre, still leaves a balance of..... "It is probable that the fence may be built for a little less than $1 per rod; but as I have made no allowance for cross fences, yards, &c., and calculated only half of three sides, and one whole side for the road, I think the excess of price will not more than pay the expense of building the necessary fences inside. I have also left sixty acres for meadow and pasture. If the purchaser have means to make the necessary improvements, or most of them, I think he would do well to settle on such lands." The "Prairie Farmer," of February 14th, 1856, contains a very detailed account of the management of a farm, by Mr. Wm. P. West, of Blackberry, Kane Co. This account, which has but this present |
