Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1888-05-25
VERMONT AGRICULTURE.

Hon. F. ID. Douglas of Whiting il
writing for the Rutland Herald a series
of articles on the above topic, which arc
likely to prove valuable. The first one
follows:
The agricultural situation in Vermont
is not encouraging, and as the prosperity
of the State depends largely on the de-
velopment of her agricultural resources
the same may be said of her future pros
poets as State. Political, educational
and social progress is ultimately con
nected with financial success, and we can
not reasonably expect a high degree OF
prosperity in State where the individual
and aggregate wealth of its people is
steadily declining.
A large proportion Of our wealth is in
vested in farm lands and their products,
which of late have rapidly deprecated in
market value. The aggregate pecuniary
loss TO the State from the shrinkage in
farm values is already enormous, and
must soon seriously affect every other
interest.
We judge of the value of property by
the average price received for it in the
market. By this criterion, we cannot
quote the average price of farm lands in
the rural districts of Western Vermont
much, if any, above that received for
unimproved lands in the West when
we take into the account the cost of
the improvements found upon them and
also of those public Improvements, such
as highways, bridges, school-houses and
other public works, for the construction
of which these lands have been, and
those in newly settled districts must be,
taxed.
1t is high time that our people awake
from that RipVanWinkle sleep into which
they seem to have fallen and earnestly
consider what can be done to revolution
ize the situation and restore that conf
dence in the agricultural resources of the
State, without which she must perman-
emily decline.
No section of the country has possessed
higher reputation for fertility of soil
and amount and excellence of its agricul-
tural products than did Champain valley
in its early history, and it is of this sec
ton of Vermont that shall speak more
especially. This reputation was acquired
by its actual productiveness, rather than
by the fraudulent and deceptive adver-
Using now so commonly practiced by
land spectators in the West
As wheat producing section this was
long without rival, both in the yield per
acre of its newly cleared lands and in the
quality of the grain produced. This was
followed by a gradual deterioration,
and at last the farmers were compelled
to yield the palm in wheat raising to
Genesee valley and other newly cleared
sections. and finally to abandon the bust
ness as a speciality. From that time the
business of wheat production has gradu-
ally moved westward, until the plains of
Dakota and the Pacific slopes of Califor-
mia have come to be the banner sections
in the production of this staple. Yet, no
where this side of the Rocky Mountains
has the quality or yield per acre surpass-
ed those of the early wheat fields of West
ern Vermont. The boosted excellence of
the wheat producing lands of the West
is based rather upon its broad and level
fields and their peculiar adaptation to the
use of machinery, than upon superior
yields per acre.
The moving and grazing lands of
Champlain Valley were once equally cele-
brated. The amount and the quality of
the stock from this section was source
of wonder and admiration to dealers and
market men. The butchers of Brighton
claimed that they could tell the beef
raised here by its superior quality, and
the market reporters of that day were en-
thusiastic in their praise of the fat stock
from this section. In these reports we
find statements of the exhibition of
Western Vermont grass-fed beef by the
side of the best Western corn-fed product,
wherein the best judges pronounced the
quality of the former equal if not super
ior to that of the latter
This early productiveness and reputa-
ton have both departed, or are at least
confined to small localities. This has
been very naturally followed by cor
responding decline in the market value
of the farms in this section. This down
ward tendency was checked for many
years by the high market values of agri-
cultural productions, caused by the re-
bcllion, inflated currency, and heavy
foreign demand. 1t has been more re-
Gently accelerated by over-production,b by
cheap transportation of Western pro-
ducts, and by the comparatively high
cost of transportation for those of our
own section. Now that the former of
these influences has been removed, and
market values fallen to their normal con-