Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1889-10-18
PAST IMPROVEMENTS AND FIt
TJRE NEEDS

W. Edt1r:- Trusting you will allow the 10 .ub.
space in your valued paper, will write 3D. t..
lines on the above subject This Is truly .u. I.,.
of progress and improvement The change i.,f
have taken place in the last half crutlr, I.i,.
been great. and the question naturally au..- iiI
what Of the futurrf Great advancement Boa.
been made In every department Of business .,nI
scientific discoveries, as well rs boz m-rhaullI u.
yentions which have brought about wuuI,.mI
changes all over the world and Their. is uo -I..
thing as standing still Tine tide GOES backward
or forward II there is no progress the Tendency
is backward, hence the effort for improvement
Yet IN the great struggle to improve aud pr,,rr-,
some seem to fall out Of line Feeling sati>r, ,fU
present attninmrnts or possibly Influenced DO,
pure 9.lnshness but still thi, IS truly au age ..
progress. Education and inventive genius ,auuut
% backward Learning and labor vie togrth.rt
help forward improvements Men ur this genera
ton are awak" 10 the nrcessitir, Of the times.
they do not propose to leave all improvement.
for future generations to make as they Will have
their own work to do Nearly every branch uf
business is being pushed by improved mrtI,...
Old mills. Old machinery, and many of th. .I
systems have l-.rn and are being discarded lnI
something bitter takes their place
Farming implements have b,.en improved tuI
much Of the work that man used To- do i- uYA
done by hur~r power. hence the demand f.r
horses giving new encouragement to rat-,- them
When railroads were tltkt talked Ut the uUtHuu.Uf-
Ut the enterprise used the argument that hnr-.
would h. useless If railroads Wrr, built. U..,
would not pay for raising. But horses ,'vcnl I-.
in BITTER demand every year, uptWithstauiu.fh r
progress Of railroads
The great changes aud improvements that have
taken place. Ia the last half century In the -..,u
titic and mechanical departments are more uitI.
ed than in the agricultural, yet Their. hu, b,-..
great Improvement IN the style and mtut-.
lnrnt Of farming. and many "A farmer la, hrut
pace with the tide Of improvement. II it 0. d
fact that some farmers succeed and their farms
made productive. does it not demons rat. that
every farmer can improve his farm 10y carr auI
industry.
It is true that not all Of our farming land, ,r-
favurably situated II is also true that sornr .l
our New England farms have grown poor. yet this
Is not 50 general as som" pretend to believe u
safe To- say that there are thousands of abauduurl
farms in Vermont that would be- good aud pr.
durtive farms to-day " they had been PROPERLY
cared for The h.-st Of farms neglected Tor tr,,
wears Will become dilapidat,d aud look furhrilm.
vet the soil remains the same.
The soil Of our Vermont farms t. NOT exhausted
and their is doubt but industry and proper ,r-
would change many Of TIN. abandoned farms into
productive fields, aud the waste places would
again h. hullt up. our native Americans arr ga
pablo Of doing great things when they are dis
posed, but the facts are, our young men 90 thr
last few years have left the farms for the larger
towns or for the West. aud they will cuntiu. 90
de- So unless the people living IN towns that ar-
favored With railroads maxi an effort 10 help lh.
back towns. Many ut our young men Will upt
stay 10 town Tar remote from railroad YET it
true that the want ut railroads is not the only dis
| rUurAgiug tlfn'lltN Ia Young farmers
| other serious difficulty has arisen Loan cumpt
ni-s have br'n organized all through New Iii.
laul Tor the purpose ut encouraging our money sI
men tu invest they money West. with thu. fa-,I
mating prospect 81 biz interest. The Surpli, uou.,
has gone and Is going To build mp the West tu tho.
great d-triurut of New England farming All
the spare money in every town is thoroughly pick
| ,-l up and s.-ut away. Big interest Is the watch
! word with many Of our moneyed men, and h-n,,.
! the result. \ man that wishes Ia borrow few
] hundred dollars To help huN farm cannot obtain
"A dollar even with good security. The money las
/ gone where big interest is promised
This system is sappng the life out Of New En-.
| land. and is becoming dangerous element tl
/ Vermont industries, but even with this fearful
drain Of Vermont capital. which will no dpubt
continue, regardless of her prosperity. the indus
| trious and resolute farmer would work his way Co.
success If he could have chance IL move his pro.
duct Ia market without heavy expense. 1t Is to-
I late ~ the day 10 expect that farming has much
attraction far remote from railroad Let lis
look at the facts they really exist and So, what
can h, done To- help revive a new interest in Nrr
/ mont farming. There Is much tn b.. done To sta,
/ the downward tendency Of our farming interest,
| Every individual has a work to do, and cannot
/ justly shirk the responsibility. II is an easy mat
ter for those enjoying luxury and plenty tn say
their less fortunate fellow men, b+ yt warmed AMI
clothed. aud yet not lift a finger or say word Co
I help them.
! our farmers. and the people from our nrghb,r
/ ing towns showed at our late fair what they can
/ do They showed Us their products; hardly an
article exhibited but had it, origin uu thu.
/ farm our ntighburs overlooking our refusal To-
/ help them Ia a railroad. came TO help Ms but the,
]
/ little favor; they had been denied railroad which
( they 80 much needed. Vet they wished and hop.-I
/ 10 come Ia Brattlrboru by rail Wilmington and
] Nhtlngham people much prefer to meet the p-u
/ pie Of their own county. The Rradsburu rut, is
far from satisfactory to them Should that ruaI
/ ever be extended Ia Wilmington, and the Brattl,
bOrO and Bennington road be built the traffic aud
. trade would tend this way, as the most natural
outlet. and BrattlebOro should at once SEE. the. inn
portance of making "A united effort to help ON so
/ important an enterprise if We have any desrc ta
/ see our farming neighbur> prosper With tins
road built, our whole county would lt benefited
. Wilmington and Nottingham arr the best farm
. ing towns in the county. and the hard aud soft
timber on the line. aud near it, is Immense There
Is yet enough left Of those towns for foundation
Ia build up hrst-claSS farming interest Ii docs
not seem reasonable and Just that should with
hold the small pittaucr required tu give. the long
/ talked OF enterprise a start. Let rs show oar
good VIII, ana trust Ia other roads to carry for
ward the work Great responsibility rests on the
larger towns, and If they will not help the back
towns to some advantages they must not ,.Nl-4.f
much ts'hrtt from them.
The life and prosperity of our nation drI-.nd
! largely upon the farmers, and there is no reason
why farms IN New England should h. given tip as
I worthless when II is fact that many that are
thoroughly acquainted, and have farnrd il iu the
/ West, concedr that farming with small capital
/ can be done In New England rs pruhtably and
successfully rs in the Western states, aud with
| less priyatiuns
Vermont seems to be somewhat awake. Ia the
! Importance Of making move To- improve hr.
farming interests, and other New England state,
are taking up the subject with renewed attention
One OF the first steps t. b taken is to give. thu.
back towns railroad facilities; M matter if thu.
/ ruads do not pay the owners a direct iii, drnl.
they get II indirectly ON the trunk lines rs it IL
/ Well understood that they get their best profit
! from short lateral lines, which arr. important
feeders. OF late reference has been ma,it. in tho.
! Boston Herald Ia the subject Of "a road from
hcenr To raitlrhuru, or rather an extension OF
the EoStun X Maine to Brattlehuru This would
give us another outlet to Boston, which We so
| much need. The distance would liz about the.
! same via Keene Nashua and Lowell tn Boston As
10y Millers Fails II there is thing Ia the prog
ect, they would, with little announcement push
on To Wilmington | do not vet believe That
Bratteb0ro can afford to shut her eyes and fold
her hands and feel satisfied without doing all sh,
can {" help roll on the wheels Of progress
EDWARD CROSBY
West BraIIlebOrO.
Mrs. Keller and daughter Of Fremont.