18 A Bridge To The Past 
     
    
   
   
    
     interest at the rate of 6% on the last two instalments. He also had to pay all 
     
     quit rents and other public taxes and the cost of getting a “good and lawful 
     
     deed" when the final payment was made. Meanwhile he faced the possibili- 
     
     ty of paying “the penal sum of 600 pounds if he failed to carry out the due 
     
     performance of the terms of this agreement.” The unrecorded but addi- 
     
     tional cost of this farm was the brand new carriage that Mr. Burrows had 
     
     just finished making and in which he was travelling at the time. It had to be 
     
     given to the man who had the final say in this land transaction as a sort of 
     
     bonus to insure that the sale would go through. 
     
    
   
   
    
     There were sometimes other circumstances involved in the cost of a 
     
     farm that were not measured in dollars and cents. The oldest son in the 
     
     family often inherited his father’s farm but only after he paid a certain sum 
     
     to each brother and sister. In the days of large families this took half a 
     
     lifetime and caused many problems. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The young couple who moved in with older relatives and cared for 
     
     them while doing the work on the farm, with the understanding that the 
     
     farm would be theirs, were wise to have this promise confirmed in a legal 
     
     document. Otherwise their years of hard work would be for nothing when a 
     
     long lost son or daughter suddenly decided to claim the property. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Todays common practice of borrowing the cost price of a farm and 
     
     then paying back a certain amount each year was the general method even in 
     
     the late 1800’s. One farmer finding himself in this situation at a time when 
     
     horses were very valuable decided he would raise a colt each year and in this 
     
     way he succeeded in paying for his farm. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Property values in Wilmot Valley have increased greatly as they have 
     
     all across Prince Edward Island. The cost of a farm today, calculated at the 
     
     rate of $800 to $1000 per acre, plus the value of the house and buildings, is a 
     
     sizable amount. The large potato fields, the prodtuc1ive soil and the ideal 
     
     situation add value to this local area. The real estate agent who finalizes the 
     
     sale of one of these properties would have a fine commission His “bonus" 
     
     would far exceed the value of the shiny new carriage ‘hat changed hands in 
     
     the land transaction ofa century ago.