Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1870-09-09

lgrltuI.urc In Vermont Profitable.
/. We copied last week statement by tn
Newburyport Herald, that " farms in Ne'
- England did not pay dollar above thei
= running expenses" and ventured to contra
dict the statement 20 far as this State is con
cerned. We pursue the question litt
further.
- II Is quite possible that the sterile SCI
coast of Massachusetts is SO, and it is a ques
ton if agriculture there as an inyestmen
was ever remunerative, except for the varied
a. industries which are mixed up with theil
=, farming, and by which every product o
X the soil finds the best and highest market
: at the door Of the Common producer and
- consumer.
+ But the statement Of the Herald certain
e ly is not true as applied to Vermont. The
census returns of lo6O exhibit Vermont as
standing at the very head IN the economies
= of agriculture, as producing more in value
per acre than any State in the Union; not
only that, but per capita, she is the richest
State in the Union, and as a sequence, her
industries and her wealth are most equally
distributed ; for it Is the equal distribution
of property and not the aggregation which
constitutes prosperity and strength in COM
munity.
As a rule, commercial and manufacturing
states or communities, rapidly aggregate
wealth but Vermont with about the same
population as Rhode Island has more wealth
per capita, and Rhode Island is hive Of
mechanical industry. Improvements and ac-
cumulaton here has certainly come from the
soil, for We have no other resources.
1t is safe to assert that Vermont has never
been more prosperous than in the last de-
caie, and We prove the assertion by these
facts; IN 1850 Vermont farms as q rule were
encountered by mortgages, whereas at this
date there are few farms that are not free.
Within that period farm Improvements and
farm stock have doubled in value, and farm
ers are not only out Of debt, but with more
or less accumulated personal property, gen
orally invested in government securities. 1t
is no evidence, therefore, that the decline Of
population in the farming districts exhibits
either a want of prosperity, or that agrcul-
ture Is not profitable in the East. The ten.
dency, nay. the very instinct Of our eastern
people, is TO enterprise and emigration, and
they not only seek the West as a new field
to be subdued and civilized. but every corner
Of this broad earth is invaded by her rest
less sons, and wherever they rest. they make
their mark. They are an aggressive people,
but their aggression leads TO the highest
civilization. Vermont sont forth more of
her sons than any other State in the Union.
except South Carolina, prior to the rebel
Lion; and the war, with the intense LOYALTY
OF her people drained her OF her youth and
middle-agad males. Tor SIZE sent to the field
one in @ - of he, entire population. and
scarce family that does not reverence .
the memory Of a martyr in the cause Of
freedom. This drain for the war begat Il
necessity TO sub. timte implements of agri- F.
culture, and was the cause of rapid intro
ducti'n Of macl inery to supply the want of
men, SO that at this date, not more than .
two thirds Cf the amount Of manual labor is .
required n agriculture that there was
ten years az ami yet We believe that
the next een=ul statistics VIII present Yer
mont as >howir no decrease in the quantity
Of hay. IT cere ais, or in thc number of eat
tie. borses anc sheep. notwithstanding that
by farm ec5no MES the use Of manual labor
has decreased 3 yer cent
It's perhaps true that Vermont hassingular
ad yautages o Ter Massachusetts, for agriculture.
Her mounta ms are the backbone of her terri
tory. With soil to their SUBMITS the wash from
their slopes to the Connecticut on the east,
and over the broad Champaign valley on the
west, Is perpetual fertilizer Her climate.
vigorous health to her people,
protecting the earth with abundant SHOWS in
winter and gentle. regular rains in summer,
ensures year by year equal anI generous
harvests
1t Il nevertheless true that farms are be- %
coming consolidated, small farmers are sell
ng to the larger ones but it is equally ..
rue Of every country excepting France,
where wise national policy encourages a
multitude of small farmers, which not only
makes France one of the most productive
mt socially one Of the happiest populations.
From these facts we confidently assert
he profit Of agriculture. as a pursuit in
Vermont, and We are tempted to believe that :.
arming in Vermont is quite as rcmunera-
i've as in the West, always provided that /.
are the same in both sections. =,
Assume the same amount Of capital invested
n either section, together with equal I'M
movements and comfort. with equal advan- :
ages Of schools, churches roads and uroy-
nifty to market. the results Of labor. and 81
be average of health. and We have no hesi-
alton in believing that Vermont invest e,
aents will not suffer by comparison Ger e,
ain it is that everything produced here &.
rings money, ana what one gains is thor IL
ughly protected 10y law in this law-l0ving tt
t,
II our friend Of the NewburypoTt Herald tt
will spend his summer vacation a1-ong the c,
ills and valleys of our state, and don't End OF
yerywhere progress, comfort and thrift, L
We Will pay his expenses for We believe d,
Ihen he has finished bis journey, be viii &c
INQUIRE, as We have often inquired, 1rhere II
re the Vermont poor2 We shall have 1T
leasure in reminding him of the expert tn
nee of the Vermont boy who emigratei to the tn
Vest, and after a few years returned to his 10
ID home, and who, when asked "Well John,
ow did you like the West?' replied in verse nj
18th more truth than poetry 20 f.,
Oh, ireary, windy, grassy plain ca
Where butiaos snd snakes prevail.
The one with horrid looking face, &c
The other with awful sounding tail su
I'd rather live on 80 Cancels Hump" PHI
And work as hard as any Niger, II,
Than where they never see a stump -,
And shake to death with fever'n ager.
The summary OF The Campaign.
We review briefly the remarkable cam