New-York tribune., 1870-12-06
WHAT I KNOW OF FARMING.
XLYlII.
RURAL DEP0PULATION.
pY HORACE GREELEY.

the census Of 1870 VIII return no Hoie lui'oiS a"
the State Of Eew-YOIk, and probably somo tower
I'm New England, than were shown by the Census Oh
,seo The very considerable augmentation of the
number Of our people will be found living who,S -
the cities and incorporated villages. uo"o'
-.ho,ho, Y,.ro ara more farmers IN the
State Of New-York to-day than there "eIc ~ 80
tbongh the total population has meantime uo"o'0U
Non, farms have been transformed INTO cou""S
seats for city bankers, merchants ana ""S0''
othcrs have been consolidated, so tna' "h"' "o'o
sorncrlv two or three now constitute nut one anu
4ho,ob yer,hody saws Our farms are too large ior
,,,r c,rit,l1 1--WE run over too much land %e'
g. vet can hear Of few farms that have beeh' or
ar, oxpected 70 be- divided except INTO village ur
citv Lots. while the prevalent tendency lsstin the
otber way An inefficient farmer dies heavily IN debt,
or IS sold out 10y the sheriff: his farm is rarely
divided between two purchasers while il is quite
often absorbed into the estate Of some thrifty neigh
or; and thus small farmers selling out and NOV
inc westward much ofteneF than large ones. Such
are the obvious facts now for some OF the reasons:
l. OurStatc, like New-England was originally all
bu. covered by a heavy growth of forest The
removal Of this timber involved very much hard
work, most Of which has been done in this century,
ard much Of il 10y the present generation. When L
first traycrsed CEautauQua County, forty-three
years ago from two-tlhrds TO threc-lourths Of her
acres must have been still covered with the prmeval
forssi-a taU. heavy growth of Beech, Maple, Hem
lock. White Pine &c. which yielded very slowly to
tie efforts # tLe average chopper. Many pioneer
gave balflis working hours f0r twenty years to the
clearing oil of Timber, Fencing cutting ont roads,
&c, and had not sixty acres i'm arabic condition at
the last Outside Of the villages, the population OF
that county was probably as great in 1880 rs tits
to-day, though the annual production Of her
L 1fnV
farms arc now made; her remaining wood
lands are worth about as much per acre as her
tillagc; there is now comparatively little timber
cutting, OF laal-cleaing; and two-tlirds Of the
pioneers, OF their sons who inherited their farms,
have sold ont or ben sold out, and pushed further
westward. Meantime, Grazing Grd DairyinC have
extensively suIplaoicd G-aiu-grcwing, ard farmers
who found more work than they could DO on GO or
So acres, now manage 100 TO so acres with ease.
do not say that they oughtnot TO farm bettcr only
state the facts that they thrive ly this dairyfarm-
ing. and are not exhauatng their lands. And what
is true Of ChauGuqua is mcasUrabiy tue Of half the
rural Counties in our State.
H. Formerly wood was the only fuel known TO our
farmers, while immense quantities of it were burned
in our cities. 40 the salt-works, &c. At present,
wood is scarcely used for fuel, except kiudling in
any Of our cities, villages, or manulctC les, willie
very large, and rapidly extending. All this reduces
the demand for labor on our farms and in our for
ests, while increasing tho corresponding demand in
the Coal Mines aud on the railroads LuZerne
County, PmuaylyaIia, Las doubled her population
within the last twelve or fourteen years a. 4 this at
TIE expense Of our u.ral districts.
Iii. Cur agricultural implements and machinery
grow annually more elective, and at the same time
more costly. The outfit # a good farm costs FIVE
fold what if did forty years ago. The famer makes
ana secures his Hay fan more RAPIDLY and effectively
than his father did but pays far more f1r Reapers,
Mowers, RoIers &c: in other words, he makes Win
ter work abridee that Of Summer-matcs hundred
days work in some village or city, save thrice as
many dayB work ON his fG,m. This erhcnces his
proGts but wells OILY urban, while j, Chuiushes oul
rural population
" Much las been said Of the dcccncracy and
inuoasiu- Giariiiy Of fine Eev-EnI13d Puritan
stock Al This is shallow a1o GOsmd. There never
before were so many people who proudly traced
O. cir origin 10 % Ncw-Eucgud a1c s;ry as now.
= uar is t.ue iu lae premises is t.i-. Tho New
England stock is icc.migc very widely didusod,
and is Grinr place, TO a considerable extent,
10 other elements in its orriud hone.
Forty y..s AGO, at l,ast scyeuoicltis Of the
in'.btau,s of Go-t)n were Of New-Euglaud birth
al lineage nov, hardly half are so The descend
ans Jf tine Pilgrims are scattered Oh over cur wide
country while hundreds of thousands have flowed
I'm from Iesn9 from Germany, from Canada, 10 fll
the places tus Ic iuqJisaDi; and since most Of the
immi.Tanf- whether mIo OF out OF NcV-Lngland,
seek their future homes in the sprn g-t.me of life,
tbeif children arc mainly born 90 them ar rather
than lcforc their mi1ation. The lmkt have no
fewer children than formerly; but they are now
horn i'm Miuneoi3 iJ Illinois, in Kansas while
Hose born in Ncw-Enylaud are; for identical
reasons, IN largo proportion Of Irish or Of
& ,4diau pareltge There are Ncw-E lEiand town
slips whereof mos; of the heads OF families are long
past the priue O life: thcir children having left
tlca for amor, az rJctiyo localities and the work on
t,ar farms being now done mainly by toleign-
born employee As q general rule, the boys first
wandered OIL leaving tie girls only the alternative
Of following, or dying in maidenhood. Marked
dyer,ties 0l race If creed and Of education, have
thus Gar prevented any considerable intcrmiDgling
the Yankee with Tie foreimeleme by marriage.
And what is tIuc - NeW-Eugland is measuably true
pf our own state.
Ihave NOT intended BY these observations to com
bat the assumption that our people too generally
prefer other Cmp0yW,uts to farming. The obstacles
10 elective modern Agriculture-that is, TO Agricul-
turc prosecuted by tie help OF efficient machinery
presented by thar incessant alienation Of rock and
bog which chchaIc.e,iz,sN New-England and some parts
'fNew-York, have already noted and they inter-
pose % seriJus dlscouaging impediment to agricul-
tural progress. fam ifteIsected by two or three
yTaDps and brooks separated 10y steep rocky ridges,
and dotted over with pebbly knobs, sometimes
giving place TO a strip of sterile sand,
far moIe rcpnlsive to the capable intelli-
rent farmer Of to-day than it was to his grand
lsther So far as my observation extends, there
more New England farms on which you cannot. than
IN which you can, find ten acres in one unbroken
lrea suitable for paDing to Corn or sowing to Win
Ter Grain. Hence. Agriculture IN the East will al
gays seem petty and irregular when brought into
Li-L. ni