Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1871-11-08
agricultural.
Where TO Buy a Farm and what Crops
10 Grow.

10 Grow
We are often asked for advice from those
who contemplate the purchase of land for
farming Such advice is really most difficult
and unsatisfactory to give. In the first
place, If we recommend one district we shall
seem to be unjust to another which is quite
desirable; and again if we select a region
for It's fertility, our purchaser may throw in
our face the chills and fever or the mos
quitoes he has found there or, if another
tor its healthfulness, we shall be held ac-
countable for the shortcomings Of sterile
soil.
consequently, we shall confne our advice
to general principles, or, indeed, to one gen
eral principle, which seems to US to be the
most important of all in a purely business
point Of view, and. of course, 1t is only this
aspect OF the case that we can be expected to
consider. This principle is to strike for the
near vicinity of manufacturing town. If
possible, of = large and growing One-sOme
place that has now, and promises always to
have, large element OF working people. It
Is a mistake 10 consider that an especially
good market where there are rich AMI luxuri-
Gus people To be supplied The poor eat
much more than the rich on the same prn-
cipe that white sheep eat more than black
ones; because there are more Of Thorn. If
we want good and reliable market, we must
seek one where there are muItitudes to be
fed. It is much better to sell ten thousand
cabbages at five cents apiece than one hun
dred cauli1Owers at fifty cents apiece. The
fifty dollars would he a small item, the five
hundred dollars a large one. The only safe
rule is to grow what the masses require, and
to grow it as near as possible to the masses
who are 10 consume it.
Whether the business Of the farm is TO he
be the growing Of vegetables and hay, Of
mi n cat m los No IN.
vast public viii buy for dollars where the
select few Will buy for cents. " neither the
farm is ID be a large one or small one makes
no difference it Will be well to give up some
real advantage in other respects for the sake
of that key to the best success large and
growing market. Let US not select town
that has stopped in its growth (for some day
we may wish to extend our busiuess,) but
one that is old enough to have an assured
prosperity, and one which Is receiving from
distance such supplies as it is intended to
prOduce (and, of course, such as can prOfta-
bly, be produced under the circumstances
there otfering). If it viii TIC necessary u
compete with the local farmers then the case
is doubtful one: but If we are to compete
with distant farmers, whose produce must
not only pay them a fair price but must also
pay one or two commissions on the way, a,
well as the cost OF freight, handling, and de
probation of value or loss, then we shall have
a good prospect of getting large prices foI
all we may raise. We have TO consider a,
against US the better quality and the lower
cost Of the land on which the imported pro
duce Is grown, and our necessity for buying
manure largely. To offset this we have the
saving of tlmeand expense of transportation
cheaper labor, and an abundant supply 81
manure, which although it calls for outlay
Of money, gives the very decided advantage
that it keeps our land in an improving con
dition, while that of our western competitor
is losing value year by year.
Such products wheat and corn, which
require broad acres and which can be trans
ported over long distances without mucl
cost or waste, are not so well suited to on
purpose as the heavier and more perishabl
crops.
All manner of common vegetables, hay
mangOld, carrots, milk, eggs, &c.-thing
which are in daily requisition, and which ar
either too bulky or too perishable to be cheap
" brought from far away-these should OC
eupy our attention to the exclusion Of muc
that farmers now raise, even within the cor
pOrate limits Of manufacturing cities. W
will not say absolutely that easter
farmer cannot afford to raise corn, but "
will say that he cannot afford to raise IL
the exclusion Of other crops that would pa
him better. If he has an unlimited cou
mand Of labor then he may (if he have Ian
enough) grow corn to any extent, but # b
is give up whit would be more profitabl
because he cannot spare labor for both tia
and corn, then he will find ii cheaper to bu
imported grain The same Is hardly true
hay, since 80 large part of the work Of e
curing 1t Is done by machinery that the extT
price u homegrown loose hay will pay f
all extra labor employed in the harvest. :
far is this the case that hay is to-day one
the most profitable crops ION good land) tn
Is grown in New England We call to min
at this moment, a field near good mark
for hay, that sold at auction, few yea
since, for S377 per acre. 1t had no prOspe
tive value for building purposes, qui
cut of the line of march OF any improvement
and was simply good grass land The pa
chaser informs us that it pays him annual
IN grass alone more than seven per cent.
the cost after allowing for all the cost
labor and manure.
In going into new neighborhOod such
We are now considering, we are quite like
TO find the milk and butter supply mo
nearly equal to the demand than the supp
of vegetables, and it is usually these III
will prove the best ready money crops
would be good plan to watch the incomi
freight trains at different seasons, to see whi
that We might proftably grow, they br
most largely from abroad. In most cases
shall probably find cabbages especially ear
Ones), potatoes and onions to form the ci
staples and we shall rightly conclude II
such crops these Will be most prohta'
for US to grow If not, supposing to
in search OF a good market, such a. a mar
featuring town is most likely to furnish.
may safely conclude that the local iarm'
have discovered (Which farmers are OFT
~ O.. ~ q . 90 lie st ut Ie
luxtw a., 30 "tu b IT, tU'1 < q
AGs4Ga ~ WITH az, L1iIDS IL tAeW