REPORT OF MR. FRANCIS II. APPLETON.
509
duce but little of this, and of a poor quality. Under the circumstances it was natural that the tenant could not meet his rent, although it was very small, $2.00, $1.00, or as little even as fifty cents per acre. At the time of my purchasing the land they were about $5,600 in arrear, and a year later $2,170 in my own debt.
The question, therefore, was how to raise the yield and profits of these tracts, and to insure them permanently.
This was only to be effected by bringing to a close the leases of the small lots, which were to expire at four different periods, and by taking up their cultivation myself.
Since the fields, meadows and pastures consisted principally of drift sand and were exposed to inundations, while portions were swampy, it was necessary to shelter them from overflow, drain them and improve the soil by the addition of clayey loam or sand. It was also desirable to establish five new farms and put them in running order. The immensity of this task and the great expenses necessarily to be incurred called for the most careful consideration. I had to determine as to whether the gain by the undertaking would probably be sufficient to cover the rent previously paid and the interest on the money expended for improvements, for erecting buildings and for stocking the farms ; and whether after this there would be a residue over all.
Consideration showed me the impossibility of this if I made the mistake of constructing the farm buildings according to previous custom ;—if I made everything, so to speak, bomb-proof and magnificent, and conducted my cultivation in the same manner. The cost of such buildings, as I know from experience, is often so great that the interest on the sum expended is more than the previous rent of the land or its yield in the hands of the proprietor. This is partly because under the ordinary systems of agriculture neither the present high taxes nor the parish or district dues, nor the pay of artisans or servants can be met. Even where the interest on the capital does not equal the yield it is ever a large part of it.
To excuse the great expense of such buildings it is customary to speak of their permanency, of the small outlay required for repairs, and on the other hand of the constant renovation called for by lighter and cheaper buildings.