The morning call., 1891-12-12
NEW ENGLAND NOT DrcAY1NG.

For several years articles have appeared
from time TO time in the newspapers re-
counting the abandonment Of farms in New
England in consequence of the competition
OF more productive farms in the West and
the chea pening of railroad transportation.
a pretty general belief has prevailed that
the old race Of Yankee farmers was dying
out, and that the rising generation was
moving 10 the prairie lands of the central
valleys, or TO other promising localities. 1t
was made plain by agricultural reports that
New England had ceased to figure among
the grain-growing sections of the country.
and that ii was no longer feeding its own
people. Annoyed by these developments.
the New Englanders have for the past year
or two devoted some study to the considera-
ton of the subject Vermont and New
Hampshire have complied lists Of the aban-
doned farms within their borders, and have
advertised them, with statement of price
and description of the land-the effect
beng in many instances to attract new
settlers. Now, the Agricultural Society of
Massachusetts has done the same for that
State.
1t appears from the reports which were
based on these inquiries trat there has been
much eXaggeration in the stories of New
England decay. In Massachusetts, it turned
out that the abandoned farm land only
constitutes 3.i5 per cent of the total farm
acreage OF the Stale, and 0,S7 per cent of the
value of that farm acreage. 1t is to be
found chiefly in the western counties, where
agriculture has never been very profitable.
The average size of the abandoned farms is
about eiShty-six acres; the average price
asked for them is SS94, with buildings-that
iS IN q fr 40
without buildings, say Sc 80 per acre The
trouble, of course, is that these farms are
poor land. which will not support a family
In the old days. half century ago, grain
and the staple agricultural products were
grown On them. and realized prices which,
with much cheaper living than at present.
enabled the farmer to make both ends meet.
When the Western Reserve supplied the
Eastern markets with cereals the New En-
CHAMBERS took to raising cattle and did well
for some years. But Of late their pasture
lands have been unable to compete with the
Western ranges, which now supply the
East with dressed beef. This has led to
more extensive development of dairy
products in New England Within the past
twenty years the production of butter in
Massachusetts has trebled. and the produc-
ton of milk has increased tenfold. The
production Of wool has fallen off to nominal
figures, but there has been an increase in
the number of sheep and lambs raised for
market.
The Agricultural Society's report makes
two things plain. There has been no such
exodus Of people and abandonment of land
in New England as have been reported :;
and the drift Of population and the creation
of new centeTs of production render it
necessary for the New England farmer to
adapt himself to altered circumstances and
conditions of industry. He must do as the
English farmer has done, IL he expects to
hold his own against the wheat of Califor-
mia and Dakota, and the beef of Iowa,
Montana, Colorado and Texas. He must
discover line OF usefulness in which be
can compete to advantage.
That line is plainly marked out Hemust
antagonize cheap production with higher
agriculture, and cheap beef with better beef
at higher prices. In food production, as in
everything else, there is always plenty of
room at the top of the ladder. There will
always be a demand for the highest grades
of all classes of products. In the markets
of New York. Boston and London stall-fed
siXyear-old beef will always command its
value, even when the market is overstocked
WIN CuCdp SAdoo-Icu l!Iet-NedI-OIQ meat.
Five-yearold mutton, carefully fed on nu-
trtious pasture, will sell when lean, scraggy
two-yearold sheep are drug. The Massa-
chusetts farmers have struck gold mine in
their diaries if they bestow upon them the
care and skill which all Industries require.
They have an object lesson before their
eyes. Some years ago some fine New York
cheeseS were sent to England They took
the market away from the famous old
Cheshire and Stilton cheeses, aud our cheese
exports swelled to large figures. English
men consume cheese, and they wanted
American cheese. But the English dairy
man walked up. They revolutionizsd their
methods and copied our processes. After
while they bettered our example and pro-
duced a better cheese than New York did
Thus they got back the market they had
lost, and our cheese-makers, who were too
indolent to keep step with the march OF i'm
provements, found the demand for their
product fall eff year by year.