“P’s” Pay the Grocery Bill on This Farm
By Mrs. Mary L. Ballew
Clark County, Arkansas
By “p’s” I mean potatoes, peanuts, popcorn, pumpkins, peppers, poultry, pigs, peaches, plums, pears, and peas.
Of course, there are exceptions to this rule when “bad luck” hits a fellow. But no honest-to-goodness farmer will be downed by “bad luck.”
In 1915, we bought a home and 4 acres for $500. We had just finished paying for a small farm of 66 acres, so my husband had to borrow $450 for the home.
We planned to grow most of our food. A large garden supplied vegetables year-round. Those not consumed during the season were canned and dried.
We invested a small sum in a Jersey cow and a purebred brood sow. The cow gave us plenty of milk and butter, and a reasonable amount to sell. Two yearling calves sold for $70, which was more than we paid for the cow. The sow brought a litter of piglets, two of which we sold for $10. We kept the rest for meat.
I rented an incubator and hatched early chickens, turkeys, and ducks. I sold early frys. All the early eggs I stored for higher prices at Christmastime. I sold $15 worth of turkeys.
We had a few fruit trees and a 3-acre Bermuda pasture. On the pasture, my husband kept a mare, which brought a mule colt that sold for $125.
We met the debt in two payments, and paid a large doctor bill besides. The place was ours. Three years later, after we had improved the residence and built new fences and a poultry house, our neighbor, whose property joined ours, wanted to buy our place. We sold it for $1,000.
“We can buy a more convenient home, raise “p’s,” and soon pay for it,” we said. And we did. We now own 96 acres of good farming land and a comfortable country home.
Every year brings added success and increased responsibility, which becomes a welcome burden because of our belief and confidence in the farm. Here we have rest, recreation, and recuperation. We keep our lungs filled with fresh air. We make occasional trips to the city, visit our friends there and see movies. We have our annual vacation, which is just as essential to the farmer as to the city man. When our work is done, we go fishing, hunting, and picnicking.
We are out of debt, and we are going to stay out of debt as long as we keep our health.
Butter-Making Method
By Mrs. M.L. Ginsbach
Plymouth County, Iowa
We turn our separator so the cream tests around 40 percent. After the foam is stirred down on the cream, and it is cooled, it is mixed with other cream that has been taken care of in like manner. I stir thoroughly at each mixing, and have my cream mixed for at least 20 hours be-fore churning.
I set it in a warm place to ripen, letting it come to a temperature of 58 degrees (Fahrenheit) in summer, and about 60 to 62 degrees in winter. After I place it in the churn, I add butter color.
If my cream gets thick and sticks to the side of the churn, I add water of the same temperature as the cream.
After draining off the buttermilk, I give the butter a rinsing with water (warmed but slightly in winter) by replacing the lid on the churn and giving it a few turns. I then drain, add more water, and work it with a ladle. I drain again, and salt to taste.
