Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1876-12-30

Farming i'm New England. 4
The Commissioner of Agricul-
culture says that the business of
far ming in the New England
States is reasonably profitable
Although great deal has been
written to the contrary, the New
England States is reasonably prof
table. Although a great deal has
been written TO the contrary, the
New England newspapers accept
this opinion as substantially cor
rect. As in every other section of
the Union, there are some farm
ers i'll the New England States
who get poorer every year, but
there are others who make money.
For instance, an energetic agricul-
turist ia Maine, who owns six
farms, gets an annual profit of ten
per cent on the original cost of one
of them, and from three to five
per cent on the cost OF the others.
We presume that there is no man
in Maryland, the owner of six
farms, who could make any better
showing of profits from his land.
We notice that the farming pop
ulation of the New England
States is divided into precisely the
same classes that obtain South of
Mason and Dixon's line. The
Boston Journal mentions the
"grocer farmer" who spends his
time discussing better methods !;
road farmers, who sow their seed
by the wayside and the fowl de-
YOUR it; mixed farmers who do a
little Swimming and much bragg
cling in additional to their regular
business fast horse farmers who
run the agricultural societies, SOW
late and raise meagre crops for the
benefit of their creditors, and easy
going farmers, who cultivate the
benches of the country stores much
more diligently than they work
their fields. None of these classes
make any money in New England
or elsewhere. Nor would the
same men succeed in any other
business that requires energy, in
dustry and constant vigilance. We
are somewhat surprised to learn
that thirty-one per cent of the
farming area of the New England
States is wood land. Maine has
nearly half as much forest as clear
ed land, and the wood land and
waste land of Massachusetts one
third of the whole. Even little
Rhode Island, with its 49,, 1903
| acres, has 169,399 acres of wood
land. No doubt a great deal of the
timber in the territory designated
as "wood land' is of little value,
and good deal of the ground is
allowed to remain uncleared be-
cause it is either too sterile or too
rough for farming purposes; new
eltheless the fact remains that
more than one-third of the land in
the most populous States of the
Union is covered with trees and
bushes. We believe that the wood
used in the manufacture of light
carriage wheels in all the large
manufactures in this part of the
| country is cut from the New Eng
land forests.
The census reports put down the
average value Of the products of
agriculture in 1870 at SAB for ev-
cry man engaged therein. The
value of the agricultural products
of the New England States for a
year was $3.50 to each man, so that
profits of farming in that region
ranked above, rather than below,
the average. 1t must not be in
ferred from this that the soil is fer
tile and the crops luxurious. On
the contrary, good deal of the
land is both rough and sterile, and
it is only by careful cultivation
that fair crop can be raised. But
the prices obtained are far higher
than in any other part of the
Union. There is a good local mar
ket everywhere, and nearly every
thing is consumed near the place
at which it is raised. This re-
duces the cost of transportation to
a minimum, and greatly enhances
the farmers profits. There has
been good deal said about the
migration and deterioration of the
farming population of New Eng
land, but with these facts before
US, we think it highly probable
that ii is more likely that the
waste lands will all be reclaimed,
than that the present tillable area
will he lessened.