80 acres of land, entered at $1 25 per acre. $100 00 Fencing 80 acres with post and board, (two boards only being put on)... 320 00 .... Breaking 65 acres, at $2 00 per acre.. 130 00 Seed, 130 bushels, at 12 cents per bus., (oats being very cheap that spring).... 15 65 Sowing and harrowing, at 372 cents per acre....................... 24 37 5 acres mown and fed before harvest, no account kept. Reaping 60 acres, at 50 cents per acre.. 30 00 45 00 120 00 $785 02 900 00 114 98 3000 bushels of oats, sold in January, at 30 cents per bushel... Balance in favor of crop.. In the foregoing statement I made no mention of the straw, which being cut before it was dead ripe, and gotten up without any rain, wintered, with scarcely any other feed, 25 head of cattle." Wm. Waite, Esq., Rock Island Co., in the spring of 1853, purchased 80 acres of prairie land, at $4 50; his account of the first year is as follows: 80 acres of prairie, at $4 50 per acre......................... ........................... ....................... Breaking 60 acres, at $2 50 per acre...... ... Fencing 60 acres, at $1 00 per rod, 400 rods of board fence Sowing and harrowing, 75 cents per acre.................. ........................... ....................... Threshing and cleaning, 1,100 bushels, at 10 cents per bush... $360 00 150 00 400.00 60.00 30 00 60 00 110 00 66 00 $15 00 15 00 25.00 20 00 100 00 Total cost of farm and crops... $1411 00 1100 bushels of wheat, at $1 15 per bushel,...... $1,265 00 1000 bushels of corn, at 28 cents per bushel.............. 280 00 Total amount of crops. 1545 00 ... $134 00 Cultivating, at $1 25 per acre ........................ ................................ Harvesting, at $1 per acre..... Threshing, and hauling 15 miles to rail-road, 1000 bushels, at 10 cents per bushel..... Profits of 60 acres, after paying all expenses... and 20 acres of land unbroken.-This farm is now worth $25 per acre. Jos. Reinhardt, Esq., of Granville, Putnam Co., gives the following ૐ 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 160 adjoining rods of the neighbor's fence), at $1.................... Second ploughing and harrowing at $1 50 320 00 105 00 Sowing 105 bushels of wheat, at $1 25....... 131 25 Harvesting, at $1 per acre.... 70 00 Threshing and transporting, at $1 80 per acre.................................... 126 00 Total cost $2127 25 Assuming, at a moderate calculation, every acre to yield 20 bushels, we have 1400 bushels, at $1 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: Ralph Anderson, Esq., of Silver Creek, Stephenson Co., estimates 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. "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. I submit the following items, which were set down as they occurred: To 10 bushels of wheat for seed, at $1 25.. Two days with cultivators, one horse, and one hand, at $1 50.. Three days stacking, with 2 hands........ Nine hands for binding and shocking, at $1 25.. Threshing 317 bushels, at 5 cents......................................................... $13 50 3 00 1.00 5 81 11 25 9.00 15 85 15.00 $74 41 ....$396 25 $320 84 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. $160 00 7 00 Ploughing, at $1 per acre....... 80 00 Sowing and harrowing 53 acres at 75 cents.......................................................................... 39 75 53 00 Stacking of the wheat......... ........................... 39.00 Seed of wheat... 88 00 Planting and cultivating Indian corn..................................... ......................... 50 00 30 00 Threshing 1100 bushels of wheat, at 5 cents.. 55 00 Other work and labor.......... 30 00 $633 50 The receipts were, for 1100 bus. of wheat, at $1.........$1100 375 1475 00 Gain........ $841 00 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.................... .......................... To 325 bushels seed wheat... Add the cost of making the farm. I paid for harvesting, threshing, packing, and delivering at the $230 00 243 75 1094 19 $1567 94 1650 00 $3217 94 Sold at the Clinton depôt, 43782 bus. of wheat, for...$4378 82 50 00 “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 |
