The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1884-03-05

of one-hslf of one per cent. Her sister
state, New Hampshire, has gained nine
per cent. All the other states show a gain
in ten years of percentages that are ex-
pressed by two and sometimes three fig
ures. This aspect of Vermont's alleged
"gain " suggests the spirit, if not the
strict letter, of Goldsmith's lines:
ON fares the land, to Fastening Ills prey,
Where wealth accumulates, and men decay;
Princes and lords may flourish, or may fade
A breath can make them, breath has made
But bold peasantry, their country's pride,
When once destroyed, can never be supplied"
The contemporary to which we have
referred begins discussion Of the agricul.
tural condition of the state by saying that
the number of farms increased about five
per cent during the last census which it
AYERS, "disproves the statement that the
big farms are absorbing the little ones"
Allusion is made to this matter to ex-
hibit the writer's logic at its best, and to
show on what painstaking investigation
he makes his statements. 1t is true that
the census shows an increase OF about
seventeen hundred in the number of
farms. 1t also shows an increase of about
two hundred and thirteen thousand acres of
improved, and one hundred and forty thou
sand acres of unimproved, land in farms,
which corresponds with the total increase
of land in farms given in the census tables.
=: ,.,t hos off 20
to have come entirely from reclaimed forest
or other lands. That this increase is
neither practical nor hardly logical dis
proof of "the statement that the big
farms are absorbing the little ones," the
following figures show In 1870, there
were lightweight farms under three acres
in 1880, FIVE in 1870, 1,7l9 FIRMS of three
acres and under TENN $780, LASS; in
1870, 1,99S of ten acres and under twenty
in 1880, 1,767; in 1870, 6,21O of twenty
acres and under fifty-in 1880, 1878; in
1870, 1O,761 of fifty acres and under one
hundred-in 1880, 1922; in 1870, 1884,
of one hundred acres and under five hum
dred-in 1880, 1875; in 1870, 1902, of
five hundred acres and under one thou
sand-in 1880, 5S5; in 1870, Is of one
thousand acres and over-in 1880, OF.
These figures would seem to prove very
conclusively that "the big farms are alb
sorbing the little Ones" with whatever re-
suits to the welfare of the state consolida-
tion may produce.
The statistics of farm products pub
lished by the St. Adams Messenger, the
journal whose statements we have been
reviewing, have been copied here and
there by the papers of the state and,
if silence is assent, accepted as full
and conclusive showing of Vermont's
condition. The figures for farm products
which the Messenger published were as
follows: "Of farm products, 100000
bushels more of barley were reported in
1880 than in 1870; 100000 bushels more
of corn 10000 tons more of hay and
100000 bushels more of oats. Wheat
buckwheat and wool had fallen off, and
rye was about the same. There was q
large increase in numbers of all kinds Of
live stock, except sheep. The butter
product was larger by over eight million
pounds, while the cheese product was less
by three million pounds. The number Of
manufacturing establishments was smaller
in 1880 than in 1870, but this decrease
was offset by large increase of capital
These, where correct, are the census fig
ures for the year 1879. Statistics for any
series of consecutive years would unques
: tionably show as wide variations in the
figures of most of the crops named. The
product of crops, CT corn and hay in par
ticular, is largely a question of seasons
of cold or warmth, of rain or drouth OF
frosts, as we'll as of markets. Where 6
J direct and formal comparison is possible
the gain in products is hardly common
, surste with the increase of $4,000 acre,
in cultivated area The alleged gain il
the corn crop, as quoted by the Messenger
is about 100000 bushels larger than tn,
: census shows; and, such as it is, much
wider variation in the crops of any two
J consecutive years might result from {
, late spring, or an early autumn, frost
, 1t is pertinent, also, in this connection
= to recall the fact that the corn crop O
7 1850, as shown by the census, was 2,032,
, 900 bushels, which was $4,000 bushel
, more than the crop reported in 1880
Vermont's improved condition, it is clear
: can not be proved by the Indian corn wit
, ness. The Messengers 100000 tons NOR
. of hay is a" gain" of three per cent il
3 ten years upon crop of million tons
3 a "gain less than might have beer
8 reasonably expected from 1,700 additiona
: farms, and "gain," moreover, that
single good shower or few days droutl
, in June may easily have made or marred
8 So, like the population, the corn and tn
other witnesses, hay also breaks down OF
: cross examination.
3 But the true testimony to the rea
: changes in Vermont farming is told b,
3 the dairy and wool statistics. The butte