Life, Organisation Association
February 11, 1848
When Bernardus was sixteen, he inherited the entire estate from his father. Although he saw this as an honour, Bernardus was nervous about maintaining the farm to his father's standards. The farm had suffered from decreasing soil quality, and other farms in the area competed with cattle. The most money was to be made with the production and processing of flax to make linen fabric, which would then be used by his mother's shop and sold to wholesalers.