Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-08-13
Wholesale Farming.

waru CONTAMINATION. hailr0ads, express anu
telegraph companies and the countless man.
moth corporations all over the country are
indisputable evidences of the fact Hence
We may look for the same tendencies applied
to farming. What are the results 1t is
certain that the defects Of system of con-
Oentrated capital and wholesale production
come to the light here more plainly than else
where. 1t may be well on the western prai-
ries to carry on system Of Wholesale agri-
culture and our present discussion does not
touch that point, but simply IN Vermont.
There are many directions in which this
question may be regarded and perhaps as
profitable method as can be followed is that
Of a comparison OF the past aud present.
Formerly the soil was divided among much
larger number of owners than now. As the
period Of discomfort came into the lives of
some they would sell out, and under the iu-
Auence Of the "western fever" many neigh.
borhoods were wel-nigh depopulated. After
wards what was consequence Of the above
mentioned ndeucies--buying out ones
peighbors-became the settled policy Of peo-
pie who were anxious to gain, but unwilling
to risk. They reasoned thus: I'VE have
few hundred dollars and we wish to invest
it securely. If we put it into bank, that
may fail if into railroad, we may be
cheated out of it, if we lend it to a man, we
may lose it. There is no safety unless we
put it into land, and if we have it in land we
want the land where we can look after it.
That is at home. So will buy out my
neighbor, or sell to him aud go and buy big
ger. In days long since goae, the Hebrew
prophet denounced, "woe unto them that
join house to house, that lay field TO field, till
there be no place, that they may be placed
alone in the midst of the earth" The woe
which is denounced is no special providence,
unless, indeed, that were superadded.
There is almost no possibility of obtaining
SO rich results for labor hired, as from labor
owning the SOIL A small proprietor who can
work upon his farm aud can labor with the
the help as well as oversee them, can make
all the hours count as tho larger proprietor
cannot. BY the force of an example con-
stantly with the meu as well as by precept
and command he secures habits of care and
economy. 1t is at this point that the failure
comes in all large industries to secure perfect
results The amount of waste IN
large manufacturing establishment is pro.
digious in many instances, and is always a
drawback on their advantages over smaller
ones. Nobody who has ever had any expe-
rience with SHRED help" has any doubt on
this subject. 1t is true that there are many
exceptions, but the rule is that ii hired la.
borers are not watched they are wasteiul. On
large farm il is much more difficult than
anywhere else to regulate this matter. 1t is
true such person may be discharged, but
where are you able to secure better help
Then there is the inevitable trouble of"break-
ing in" new hand besides the risk Of hav-
ing worse one. OF the two evils choose
the least This has helped on another diff
Guilty. There are many places in this state
where farms have been doubled and some
portion had formerly been quite productive,
but under the new culture it becomes almost
worthess-"is run out, simply from lack of
culture. THIS is often the case with the added
farm. Here the purchaser having no ac-
quaintance with his new possession and not
feeling inclined to cultivate it because he
"hasn't help" makes pasture Of it. Aud
very poor pasture it sometimes makes, for
he lets il all run to brakes. The writer
knows Of acres on a certain farm, which are
worth absolutely nothing in their present con-
dition, but which once were very productive.
The statements just made will fit scores and
scores of farms as every one will testify after
a lille reflection.
But the influence ofthis system Of conduct
reaches further. 1t is the beginning of a
caste system 10 which wealth is the basis
OF all systems Of caste, that which is based
on wealth is most despioable. Yet it is just
the point toward which the present system
leads. The large owners constitute one class
the small owners another and the laborers
another while the foreign-born laborers are
crowded down to the bottom of the social
scale.
But it is felt in the schools of the state
In proportion to the increased culture and
education Of the time the common schools
away from villages have retrograded. A
winter school Of barely respectable character
for the advanced scholars. generally only two
or three in the district, and in the summer
a school for the little ones. Where twenty
FIVE years ago there was a school Of forty oI
fifty there will often bo found less than fifteen
II these facts were doubted, the write
D would put in his own experience and hi
! observation which touches many districts
1t is true that the families Of people ar
smaller now than formerly, but the iamilie
! are not as numerous as formerly, and tn
' Weather ones are unwilling to send thei
children to the common school Of the home
!, After all, you are asked, "What is tn
n way for me to do2 Shall l let my money Ii
n idle7 or throw it away ?" BY no means
But the Investment of savings in reproducing
< wealth directly is by no means a necessity
a This is the parent iallacy of it all. No
!. only is it no necessity to invest surplus capi
t tai in reproductive industries, but it is Oite