The Indianapolis journal., 1884-06-06
FACTS FOR FARMERS.

Take a map of the United States and the
census of 1880, and look over both, and you
will find that where the factories are near the
farms those farms are most valuable, best
TILED, most productive, pay best, and their
owners can pay best wages TO their workmen
In short, the best farming is near the best
manufacturing; the poorest and least profit
able farming is most distant from the factory.
These home manufactures have been built up
under our protective tariff policy, and it is
plain that the farmers are largely benefited by
them, and should, therefore, intelligently sus
tain this American policy.
To bring this matter home that census
gives the average value per acre of the leading
crops of Indiana at 1882, while the average
value in Iowa is but SO. 81, or over 80 per cent.
less. More factories, more home markets,
more saving Of transportation in Indiana is
the reason for this Pennsylvania, with great
mills and factories near her rich FARMS gives
$17 33 per acre, leading all the States in this
respect. Lancaster county, Pennsylvania,
with rich land and many factories near at
hand, leads all the 9, 461 counties in our land
in value of farms-$69, 004, 919-and in value
of farm products-$9, 800, 202.
Worcester county, Massachusetts,, smaller
and not so rich in soil, yet shows value of
$28, sos, 0O0 and products of those farms
products being II per cent. of the value of
its farms The manufactures of this small
county are valued at $S7 COL 900, wages paid
in factories $2O,0O4, 900, and the proportion
of the value of her products paid in wages is
greater than in any other country-skilled
workmen and good pay.
A New England man asks:
''What is the meaning of all this2 Is not
Worcester county rocky and comparatively
sterile2 Western and Southern farmers would
not think a farmer could get living on such
lands much less get living and pay higher
wages to farm hands than is paid ON the fertile
lands Of the West and South.
81 think there are few men acquainted with
Worcester county who would have guessed
any such results. | have asked many men to
guess where it stood, and few, if any, have
put her above 500 in the list of counties.
''The reasons for this are not hard to find
to practical man. Even these farmers con
sumo farmore per capita of Western farmers
produce than any customers they have out
side the United States.
"The Western farmers sell their produce
mainly to be consumed great distance from
home while the average distance of the
Worcester county farmers from their markets
will not exceed FIVE miles. The Western
farmer has to submit to deductions for trans
portation, storage and insurance against all
risks of every description; also for interest
and, neither last nor least, to charges for com
mission from all parties that are in any way
concerned between the farmers and the final
consumers.
'On the contrary, the Worcester county
farmer in almost all cases transports with his
own team and sells directly to the consumers
without the intervention Of middle mon, saw
ing also almost all the charges referred to
above that the Western farmer must submit
to because Of his uncertain and distant mar
ket"
Special circumstances may vary this but
the rule holds good on broad scale that the
farmer is best off with factories of varied
kinds near him. Indiana farmers have but to