Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1885-09-25
OUR FARMING INTERESTS.
Will villages Grow n Farming is
Neglected.

subject through your columns. Farming ie
the foundation upon which the success Of all
other business depends, and no section Of
country can thrive or make much progress
where II Is neglected. II fields and farms
are forsaken the manufacturer and merchant
suffer, as q thrifty farming community Is the
support Of New England villages and the
main-spring Of all other business. Without
this element villages must eventually suffer.
Goods cannot be sold unless customers can
be found 10 buy them. 1t Is true that ex-
changes are made by merchants and meohan-
les, but back Of this the farming community
stand as a safe, sure and reliable support for
all other classes, and when men become so
deluded az TO believe and urge that great
effort should be made to encourage manufao-
turing in their midst, they seem 10 forget
that goods cannot be sold when made, II our
farming community disappears; yet the cry
is often raised for more factories, more
shops" more mechanics" The citizens are
appealed to for aid to encourage new manu-.
faoturers TO come in subscriptions are often
obtained by over-persuasion to help start
some new enterprise when In fact the ooun-
try IL flooded with the same kind of goods in
tended 10 be made. People often run almost
wild at the prospect of new business being
started, without for q moment considering
who will buy the goods. No manufacturer
can stand II for long time II his goods do
not sell. He is obliged 10 disappoint bis help
and stop work from the fact there is an over
stock of goods on the market.
Yet the e-to build up a town by intro
ducing more factories continues, and many q
man leaves the farm for a shop 10 be disap-
pointed. Farms all through southern Yer
mont are abandoned, and the onoe pleasant
homes among the hills are deserted, and the
once we'll populated neighborhoods become a
wilderness, and so the process Of depopula-
ton goes on. Still men are striving TO leave
their farms for shop or q store. 1t seems
that a moment Of sober reflection would show
us that manufacturing Of all kinds is over
done. Should the process Of leaving the
farms for shops and factories go on, the
farming interest Of this part Of our state must
ere long be ruined, and In that event the vii
lagos will not be self-supporting. New shops
and factories will not save them. When farms
and homes are deserted villages will begin to
realize from what source their former sup
port came, and the more shops they have the
worse they will be of il they have no farm
ing community to back them. Right here
the question arises why Vermont farms are
so extensively given upI No doubt the ans
wer will be, The land Is worn out" II this
is fact, 1t follows that this part OF our state
must soon become almost depopulnted, and
who will buy the manufacturers goods, and
what will be the fate Of the little villages II
left alone 10 pick each others bones.
But it is not fact that our land Is worn
out end become worthless. II one half the
labor could be put on our Vermont farms
that our forsfathers performed in clearing
and subduing the forest, and building houses
and roads, large portion Of our land could
be made to produce an abundance TO reward
the laborer, while his privileges and comforts
uunnf1 he onual IN fhOaa hA arI ~
the sound OF the whistle to meet their daily
needs. The great inducements held out 10
the farmers's sons 10 go to the villages has Af-
fected our farming interests seriously and
future generations must suffer the conBe-
quences. While few men OF this generation
may receive riches for their short lifetime,
ths masses will grow poorer II this system is
| continued. Some may for time gain great
satisfaction in view Of an increase of shops
and men in their midst, yet they seem to for
get that every man that leaves the farm for q
| shop or store makes serious loss TO the great
| whole az the farming interest suffers In pro-
| portion to the number that leave. In fact IL
is like "killing the goose that lays the golden
egg" as 1t Is an indisputable fact that farm
ing is the foundation OF all other business.
II our Jealous advocates OF more manufac.
tories would for moment apply the princi-
| Piles OF cause and effect, they would sooner
advocate encouragement TO those who would
take up deserted farms by voting TO cancel
| their taxes for term of years, and such other
| aid as they might stand in need of 10 start.
| BY such a course villages would maintain
their thrift and the manufacturer would find
sale for his goods. II half the effort could
be made 10 encourage the back-town farmers
that is made 10 build up villages, we should
/ soon see better condition of business. A
much greater effort should be made to build
narrow gauge railroads TO take the place Of
the old turnpike roads, as no young man at
/ this day likes the idea Of being 20 miles or
more away from railroad besides, he finds
/ it will not pay to cart his produce too far II
the people of this generation could see the
| importance Of q united effort 10 encourage
the farmers Of the back towns by rendering
aid to furnish them all the advantages possi-
BILE, 1t would pay big interest TO future gen.
i erations.
This is a subject which should come home
/ to every father, and 10 every individual In
this part OF our state, for 1t Is . serious one
The growth of q village depends upon the
prosperity of the farmer and the increase of
farm labor. Let the farming community de-
crease for 25 years as it has in the last 25,
what would be the prospect Add another
| quarter of q century, and 90 on, / ask what
would be the condition of New England vii
lages2 Is II not serious question for old
and young2 Should not the people of south
ern Vermont look facts squArely In the face
Business Is now dull all over our country,
and the question Ia often asked, "WhAt Ia
the cause 2" II can be reasonably answered.
To the careful observer II must be plain that
we are over stocked with nearly all kinds OF
goods The supply is in excess of the de-
mand. There are nov shops and factories
enough in this country, II they were all al
l a. - k..,so
number, and why this mighty effort to multi
ply them in little villages under great disad
vantages, and at the same time neglect the
farming interest Capitalists are beginning
to be shy of new projects, and we'll they may
be In a section of country where the farming
interest is so much neglected as II is in Wind
ham county. When capital and labor are ap
piled to help develop and sustain our bacl
towns, by giving them railroad advantages
and such assistance as they deserve, the en-
tire community will receive benefit Facto
ries and shops can then be sustained and vii
lagos will continue 10 thrive.
Many of us in the West river valley fee
that new life has been put into all the town
on and near the nArrow-gauge, and even thu
people of the village Of Brattleboro must fee
that this little road Is q more substantial ant
lasting benefit 10 them than the multiplying
Of shops could be. The towns on that lin
now feel encouraged, and the people are les
anxious TO leave for the more populous towns
They now feel that they are encouraged AM
protected. The little outlay has returned evel
to Brattleboro small part Of her former re
sources.
Brattlsboro, being centre for the farmer
, of WindhAm county, has made a steady growtl
] since the country was settled, and no adVan
; tages have done more to help It forward thai
the patronage Of the adjacent towns Thei
cooperation is still an essential aid 10 tn
Q growth of the town and village, and tn
watchword should be, Encourage the farm
| W.