Smyrna times., 1877-01-31
For the SmlTRd Times.
TUT UIc 'oUFUTNu IIIntS.
Farming in Delaware--No. 8.

Farming in Delaware--No. 8.
Those who have lived long enough to
note the change that has taken place in the
Improvement of land, and its increased
productiveness within the last forty years.
will be prepared to expect rapid improve,
ments and changes i'll the future. Take
the northern portion of Kent county-sav
Duck Creek, Kenton, Little Creek, Dover
and n. Murderkill Hundreds-and think
it will be conceded that they produce on
an average at least three times as much
grain per acre as they did forty years ago :;
and fruit that then was almost without any
market value now brings very large
amount of money into the State. Within
the last ten years the Delaware Rail Road
has received nearly two millions Of dollars
for freight on fruit, while large quantities
have found its way to market by other
means Of transportation. And while this
is destined to be a great increase in their
value, who shall tell what new sources of
revenue shall be opened up by the intro
ductiOn of other crops and other products.
now scarcely noticed, or thought of. 4
quarter of century hence the beet culture
and manufacture of sugar, coupled as it
will be with greater improvement of the
land, and increased value of stock, may be
source of income putting the present
yield of fruit and grain entirely in the back
ground. Perhaps the vast improvements
that have already been wrought out may
be better illustrated by comparing particular
farms or neighborhoods with n0w and then.
Take the mansion farm of your townsman,
Col. G. w. Cummins. l remember when
1t was too poor to command fair tenant.
Men thrown out of a farm would rent it for
l., tI
Il home, till a better farm could be pro-
cured. Now it rivals in its crops the best
lands of the State, and is capable of still
higher development. And improvements
of the same kind, if not in the same degree.
have been going on with most of the farms
in the section of country designated. Take,
as an illustration, the section of country
lying between Dover and Frederick.
Thirty years ago a desolate region of
shifting sands; now a highly improved
body of land, demonstrating to every
passer-by that there is independence and
comfort in almost every homestead. 1t is
a noticeable fact that the least improvement
has been in the neighborhoods having the
most natural advantages. While our
richer "neck lands have generally been
improved, more or less, there is no such
striking change as in sections where the
land is naturally not so good. God had
done so much for those neck lands that the
owners generally have not thought it worth
while to do much for themselves. Not
less marked has been tho change in the
general independence of farmers, and the
increased comforts enjoyed by themselves
and families. The days of corn bread all
the time Except a little wheat bread on
Sunday and bacon, potatoes and hominv
as the constant fare have gone by; a wider
range and more abundant supply of vegeta-
bles are grown. The art of canning and
putting the fruit up for winter use is better
understood, and the farmers, as a class, live
as we'll now as other classes do. / well re-
member that when a little boy, on my
fathers farm, land he was among the better |
class of farmers of his day. we boys would |
exultingly say to each other, whenever we
saw company coming, ''look out, boys, we
Will have biscuit for supper tonight" Pine |
tables. pewter dishes and spoons, un. |
carpeted floors, are things of past genera
ton, and the homes of most farmers begin |
10 show evidence Of culture, taste and re- |
hnement. All hail the on-coming dav |
when all these evidences of increased |
thrift and prosperity shall adorn and en- |
bellish the farmers home when the |
ardevous labOrs of the farmer shall be |
relieved and softened by increased home |
comfort and elegance, and the farmer, in |
the dignity of his God-given employment, |
proud OF his business. with higher culture, |
and fuller development of body and mind, |
shall stand amid his fellow men, the |
acknowledged peer of men of any class. c. |
DOVER, January Goth, 1877.