Maryville Jan 28th 1885

Dear son

Yours read yesterday but I don’t know how to answer about mule colts, for I don’t know of any for sale, but think if I should talk of buying that I woud here of several shortly, I enquired for young cattle about Christmas, and I could have bought 50 head in a few days bought 5 did not want more I saw A. Coker yesterday, he is keeping stable at Knoxville and thinks colts could be bought, very low. I was offered colts last fall fairly low, but don’t think that there was many sold Alf Keith sold 2 good ones at $65.00 but stock is lower now than then. A. C. tells me that about 120 mules & horses left Knoxville, the last few days, average price about $100

the paper say Lawrence has gone with stock Kirby & Watson are about starting they bought an old mule at $100 from Sterling, I think good mares can be bought at about $125—some lower but mares of the Pencheon stock are held very high, milk cattle are from $18 to 30 not many so high as 30 now there are plenty for sale

Calvin will plant a little corn and sow a little oats on the land that I bought, he is cleaning up and preparing the meadow for mowing I don’t know who will mow it yet he thinks that he cant get up more than his own, he ways that I can get it put up very easily for 1/3 of the hay, we might go and mow it ourselves with some help I wrote to L. M. Sherburne N.Y. about Bermuda grass-seed Prices are pretty stiff 100 lb or more $125.00 80 lb $68 25 lb $38.50 10lb $16.80 5 lb $8.75 1 lb $2.00 it takes 8 lbs of seed to the acre I was told by several men at Raven Den that the best grass in all that country, to raise stock in, was about 40 miles west of there near the Missouri line, among the men, has an agent of the Nashville lumber co, he said that he knew as much about a few states, in that section as any man and he recommended the same place without knowing what others had told me, he had been prospecting for timber in several states for a few years, said there was good farming land also in that section

did the rock carrier work well did you move, is there a prospect of much building over in the new town, any sawing lumber over there, is the track on that R R laid near there, all well very cold to day, write

E. Johnson