he cows and pigs. We do
not reckon labor in our expenses, as we must have had a gardener, even
if we had not so much spare ground, for our flower-garden and
greenhouse require daily work.

We hope we have convinced those who may think of having a "little
place" a few miles from town, that it may be made a source of profit
as well as of amusement, and that any trouble which may be experienced
by the lady superintending her own dairy and farm will be repaid by
having her table well supplied with good butter, plenty of fresh eggs,
(of the poultry-yard we shall speak presently,) well-cured hams,
bacon, delicate and fresh pork, well-fed ducks, and chickens. All
those country dainties are easily to be procured on a "farm of four
acres."

Nor must another item be omitted--health; for if you wish to be
fortunate in your farming, you must look after things yourself, and
that will necessitate constant exercise in the open air. We think that
we have given full particulars for the management of the cow and pig.

In the next chapter we will relate our experience of the poultry-yard.

CHAPTER VII.

OUR POULTRY.

We commenced stocking our poultry-yard in July, by purchasing
twenty-eight chickens and twenty ducks, for which we paid $16 58 in
the market. Some of them were too young for the table at the time we
purchased them, but were all consumed at the end of four months, with
the exception of seven hens and a cock, which we saved for "stock."
Thus in the time I have mentioned we killed ten couple of ducks, and
the same of fowls. These we entered in our housekeeping expenses at $1
37 a couple, though they were larger and better than could have been
purchased in a London shop for $1 75.

We must now proceed to reckon what they cost for food, and then see if
any balance remained in our favor. They consumed during the time they
were getting in order for the table, three bushels of barley, at $1 25
the bushel, one bushel of meal at the same price, and one hundred
weight of what is called "chicken rice," at $3 00.

The cost of the barley and meal was, . . . . $5 00
Rice, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 00
Cost of poultry, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 58

Making the total price, $24 58
Ten couple of ducks, and the same number
of chickens, would amount to, $27 50

Thus, at the first sight, it would appear that we gained but $2 92 by
four months' trouble in atten