ground was thin, but it lay on top of a friable clay which is fertile
when properly worked and enriched.

The farm belonged to an unsettled estate, and was much run down, as
little had been done to improve its fertility, and much to deplete it.
There were two sets of buildings, including a house of goodly
proportions, a cottage of no particular value, and some dilapidated
barns. The property could be bought at a bargain. It had been held at
$100 an acre; but as the estate was in process of settlement, and there
was an urgent desire to force a sale, I finally secured it for $71 per
acre. The two renters on the farm still had six months of occupancy
before their leases expired. They were willing to resign their leases if
I would pay a reasonable sum for the standing crops and their stock and
equipments.

The crops comprised about forty acres of corn, fifty acres of oats, and
five acres of potatoes. The stock was composed of two herds of cows
(seven in one and nine in the other), eleven spring calves, about forty
hogs, and the usual assortment of domestic fowls. The equipment of the
farm in machinery and tools was meagre to the last degree. I offered the
renters $700 and $600, respectively, for their leasehold and other
property. This was more than their value, but I wanted to take
possession at once.




CHAPTER III

THE FIRST VISIT TO THE FARM