The Portland daily press., 1877-07-30
The Future of New England.

Farming in New England is supposed to
ID kind of business that keeps one on the
ragged edge of poverty though it does not
actually throw him over. "Our poor old
soir' is the usual designation OF what land
there is between the rocks and it is dismissed
with sneer by people generally who never
fail to speak of the great western prairies as
the only place worthy of pillow and a hoe.
1t is not generally known that the "sterile"
soil of Connecticut will grow more wheat,
corn and other produce, and that farming in
New England can be made to give splendid
returns for the capital and labor invested.
Even in bleak New Hampshire we notice
that farmer has shown how land can be
made to pay if we'll cultivated, In the town
of jeffrey, N. H., John Conant, one of six
teen children, bought farm at twenty-six
with $1,c 70 given him by his father, and
from this, an through judicious, non-specu-
lative investments, he made so great for
tune that he has recently been able 10 devote
$100, OO0to charitable purposes. Here is an
instance of successful farming and though all
farmers may not be able to approach the sue
cess of Mr.. COnant, yet we believe that on
the average, farming pays better than most
any other kind of business. In business gen.
orally only one out of one-hundred succeed,
while in farming we much question that as
many as ten in a hundred fail of making
fair living and of securing comfortable pro-
vision for the evening OF life. The gains may
be slow but they are sure, and the successive
annual savings amount to competence in the
course of time.
We believe that the time is coming, if not
near at hand, when the farm will occupy
much more important position in New Eng
land than it has for many years past. We
now depend upon manufacturing and the
East has essentially monoplized that business
up to the present time, but now we must
share it with the West. In 1e49-50 we spent
a year in Iowa. At that time there was not
foot of railroad in operation west of In
diane and there YVES very little manufacture
ing of any kind in any of the Western States.
The people were almost wholly devoted to
agriculture. Ninteen years afterwards we
had occasion to 60 through the West again,
and even to casual observation it was evident
that various branches of manufacture has
sprung up, even beyond the Mississippi. Six
years latter we went again and were surpris-
ed to see how greatly the number of factories
had increased during that short time. More
over, we found that even in California differ.
emit kinds of manufactures had already start
ed. All this is apparent even to ordinary OBJ
servation, but in addition to this we have the
statistics which prove that manufacturing
enterprises are making such rapid progress
W6SbWdIu budb tuO ILdo1 hady do VIGIL udhO
warning and look much more respectfully up
on the soil than heretofore Nor is it alone in
the coarser arts, such as iron castings, agri.
cultural implements, and the like, that the
West completes with the Eset, but even in
watch making Elgin in Illinois, competing
with Waltham in Massachusetts,. The bulk
of raw material for manufacturing comes
from the West and the people there will not
long pay for sending it Eas: and then for car
rying it back again, when they can work it
there and save two transportations, especial
ly when by doing the work there they will
have better market at home for their agri-
cultural products. II, as now appears not
improbable, America will have large market
for its manufactured articles in Europe, the
East will chiefly furnish them, but if not,
then we shall have only certain parts of the
South and ourselves to supply, and for the
rest we must look for support to our farms,
therefore those are now serving the public
most are thee who are searching out and de-
monstrating to others the best modes of en-
riching and cultivating our "sterile" Soils
Bridqep0Tt Farmer.