Milford chronicle., 1883-08-10

learn TO successfully cultivate vegeta-
bles requiring more than one years
cultivation? Why should lie plant
small fruits, grape vines, apple, pear
or other orchard trees. or learn the art
of pruning, md making them yield
steadily and productivity, when he
has no reason to think that their pro-
duce shall be his? Why should he ex-
pend money on fertilizers OF permi-
nent effect, when those of transient ef-
/ feet answer every purpose for his i'm
mediate system of farming? Why
should he fertilize the land with his
/ brains, the most potent and powerful
of all fertilizers, for the sole benefit of
another? He would be more than a
/ fool, he would be an idiot if he did so.
And SO he wisely grows corn, for he is
not a fool, year in and year out, until
the land is worn out and is let run into
scrub pines.
How can such a man be expected to
cheeTfully pay taxes for roads, schools,
aud other Improvements when he has
no certainty that the outlay will inure
to his benefit and that of his family?
How can he have any strong home at
tachments, when he leads sort of no.
madic life, pitching his tent from time
to time on various tracts of land? How
can such a man have strong patriotic
feelings when he is at various periods
of his life "A resident of Virginia, Mary
land or Delaware. How can he pre-
vent himself from having incipient,
cOmmunistic thoughts when he re, 8
no opportunity for bettering his c, ndi-
tion, and looks upon land owners, or
land grabbers as he calls thenI,as stand
ing in the way of his doing so and
thinks as he gives them their share of
the crops which he 8 raised, that
they are men only born to consume
food? How can such men help being
penuriOus and sharp to the verge of
dishonesty when they look on them
selves as a sort of Ishmelitish race ev-
cry mans hand against them, and
their hands against every man.
All this is Il great draw back to the
agricultural improvement and pros
perity of the state. 1t is true, there
has been a great improvement in the
agriculture of the peninsula within
the past fifteen years. But this has
been brought about by those who own
their own farms, and not by tenaut
farmers, who still,a they must adhere
to the old methods of their class. This
only proves the truth of our criticisms.
The large land owners are not however
Intentionally or from direct avericious
motives the authors of this evil. They
inherit from their English ancestors
the passion for large landed estates and
the customs incident thereto Dela-
ware and the rest of the peninsula
owing to its peculiar geographical pO-
sitiOn being aside from tue great lines
of trade, has hitherto been but little
known TO the outside world, and so,
has not had any considerable CONNER
cial or manufacturing enterprises, and
consequently no other sources of in
vestment for accruing wealth than
land. But all this is rapidly changing
and a new order of things is coming
in. Those who wisely adaIt them
selves to this will both greatly benefit
themselves and the state; those who
stand in the way of progress will even
tually meet WITH disaster. COnserVa-
tism may sneeringly say, "after us the
deluge," but the deluge comes never
the-less. 1t may with impertinent
put the old Cainitic query,
Am my brothers keeper" aud in
answer thereto comes the handwriting
on the wall, "ThOu ant weighed i'm the
balances and found wanting.u This is
a matter with which the State
can meddle without interfering with
the rights and liberties of individu-
ais. 1t is a social custom and can only
be cured by a social reform brought
about by an intelligent public opinion,
inducing the large land owners to offer
moderate sized farms at moderate pri-
ces with reasonably long terms of pay
ment. Our views in this regard we
shall give in a future article. j.