Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1881-01-21
AGRICULTURAL.
FARMING IN NEW ENGLAND.

| times cannot fall 10 note the Iaci iiliil al
10 period since the panic of 1873 have
! the prices for farmers products been So
| good as at the present time. 1t now
| looks rs if farmers might be able to reap
the rewards due them after these long
years of enforced economy and prlvation,
| provided they are in shape to adapt them
selves to the circumstances by which they
are surrounded. Prices for nearly all
kinds of farm products are fully twenty
per cent higher than two years ago.
This is due largely to the retaining pros
perity of all our business interests. which
interests were set III motion by the good
haryests that hountIful Providence gave
us, and also due to the good markets
which the necessities of foreign nations
gave This ought to be II satisfactory
state Of affairs to the husbandman, and
the rough school, with the stern teachers
he has had, ought to have prepared him
to avail himself TO the utmost of the
prospects ahead. L claim that no class
of men has suffered the signs OF hard
times as much as the farmers of New
England, and at the same time it has been
a benefit to them, for being unable to
buy the corn and products of the West,
| they have had to raise their own supplies,
thus serving practically rs an illustration
of how protection may add 10 home IN
dustry.
Having seen good deal OF New Eng
land during the past year | am convinced
from what l see and hear that farmers are
raising more crops of all kinds than ever
before, and that they are doing it cheap
er, and at 4 greater profit than they ever
supposed they could. There was time
when the majority Of eastern farmers
thought they could not afford TO raise
corr in competition with the West. This
opinion is changed, and now many are
raising all they use. In former times
they bought their corn. They find, too,
that the profit Is not only in the corn
raised but also i'll the greater crops OF
grass induced by improved cultivation
and tillage Not only has the cultivation
of corn increased, bat more wheat Is
raised, both winter and spring, with very
fair success the former III Maine, and
latter in the Connecticut valley.
An increasing attention is being gwen
to sheep. and III many sections sheep arc
now kept where ten years ago they would
have been rarity The same Is true in
fr1it-culture of both large and small
kinds peaches and grapes particularly /;
more attention is given TO them, and fair
prices obtained. Sorghum Is securing
attention i'll some sections, and expert
ments have demonstrated that IL good
syrup can be obtained at comparative
small outlay, and that ii sells at n good
profit. One new industry, which Yankee
ingenuity has enacted, Is the making Of
apple Jelly This, for time. must in
crease, us it gives large returns fora small
outlay. Perhaps the greatest gain has
been in the improved quality and quaint
ty of our dairy products. This Is due
not only to the improved methods intro
duced, but also the growing intelligence
among our farmers. who are led to study
the demands of our markets better, and
to provide for them.
The returns from the last census show
us that the population of the six New
England States is tritie over four mil
lions that while the per cent of gain for
the whole country is about thirty, III
New England it is only about fifteen
With our manufacturing Industries pros
trated with surplus population with
out work, and in view OF the fact of the
millions of acres Of cheap lands and
cheap rates to the West, the wonder is
that we have done SO we'll. The agricul-
turel towns show much less lossof pop
ulation than in that OF the decade pre-
ceding this All these are facts encour
aging to the New England farmer. They
show him that in spite of the fact Of COM
petition with cheap lands, ''bonanza'
farming, and cheap freiglts, We can hold
our own nay, more, We can make mon
ey, and live in the land We love. We can
see that when intelligence and industry
are applied to our rough farms, they are
made to blossom like the rose and
that when the taxes and labor bills are
paid, there is enough left to give us n
liberal support.
But this is not enough. As ! said be-
fore, the times are improving, and 1t
seems TO be the opinion of some good
business men that we have just begun Il
new era of prosperity that may last few
short years Let us, then, who have had
hard shedding" now that we have got in
a better road, remember the team that |
carried US through, and make hay while
the sun shines" More manufacturing
means more money more money more
luxuries and high living, and this means
better prices to the farmer 1t is well on
these closing days of the old year, to take
new account of stock to make plans
for a better trade, which we will be sure
to get if We look for it. At the same
time the old advice not to keep all our
eggs in the same basket is good, for
with diversified production, We are al
ways sure to have something that will
bring fair price. Let us remember,
too, that quality is better than quantity,
and what we do raise let us do it SO well
that when On the market, cheap rates
from long distance will not affect our
prices This, and raising that for which
thore is a demand, will give us good re-
turns Cor Country Gentleman.