The Penn's Grove record., 1891-07-10
JERSEY FARMS ABANDON
El1

/ I4obO NNAAhA
that part of the annual report OF the
department, which deals with the inn
portant subject of farm values, and the
abandonment of farms in New Jersey.
The information has been sought for
by the farmers for years, and is particu.
larry interesting because New Jersey
claims to be one of the first agricultural
| States in the Union, and its geogrsph-
ical position between the two metropoli-
tan cities has given rise to much specu-
lation as to the effect Of high taxes and
southern markets.
The report says
"During the year a supplementary in
quiry into the extent of the agricultural
depression was undertaken as to wheth-
the payment of taxes or the abandon.
ment of farms was the cause, and what
effect it had upon the value of agricul-
tural lands. The assistance Of local as
SCISSORS was asked to collect this infor-
nation. Returns were received from
21S townships, which include nearly all
the rural districts in the State, outside
I.of Hudson, Essex and Union Counties,
to which little attention was paid be-
cause of their strongly marked urban
character. But eleven townships are
missing, namely Egg Harbor township
in Atlantic County; Boiling Springs, at
Harrington, in Bergen County; Upper
Cape May, Maurice River, Cumberland;
Sayersville and Woodbridge, Middlesex;
Morris, Norris County, and Ocean and
Union, Ocean County. Not more than
half of these, strictly speaking, are
farming districts, while tax sales seem
to be exceedingly rare, not over twenty
farms covering 1892 acres have been
sold in 1889 and 1890, and these COIL
fined to the counties of Atlantic, Ber-
gen, Cumberland, Monmouth and Nor
ris. Agricultural hard times are re-
Elected in the degree of promptness with
which taxes are paid. In AZ townships
there was an increasing hardness re-
ported. Atlantic, 3; Cape May, 2; Mon
mouth, 4; Ocean, 2; Camden, l; Bergen,
l; Cumberland, l; Mercer, 2; Middle.
sex, 2; Morris, 3; Burlington, 7; Glou-
eester, 2; Salem, B.; Hunterdon, 3;Som-
erset, 3; Sussex, 2; Warren, 6. In
many of the remaining townships the
tax burden bears more heavily now
than formerly on the farmers.
OF all the counties heard from, Salem
is the only n that reports no abandon
ed farms which so far as known are
scattered over forty-six townships, and
number 313 with an estimate decrease
of between $4,000 and 10000 acres or
less than one per cent of the total i'm
proved lands in farms in the state, and
below nine-tenths OF one per cent of the
number of farms. pesuming that the
census date for 1880 are approximately
correct.
This, and also the fact that less than
one-fifth of the townships are affected,
would seem to point to the conclusion
that the abandoned farm movement has
not yet set in strongly in New Jersey.
Much less SO than in some of the Eas-
tern States, where such information is
available. In Hunterdon County, our
representative agricultural district,
containing somewhat more than e
tenth OF all improved farm lands in the
State, but n farm OF 70 acres in West
Amwell township has been unoccupied
for two years. In Salem there is none,
while in the remaining five largely rural
counties of Burlington, Gloucester,
Somerset, Sussex, and Warren, the cul-
tivation of 1876 farms with an estimate
acreage of 1900, or seven-tenths of the
improved agricultural land, is reported
to be abandoned. The latter three
counties, both i'll the aggregate and
separately, make a poor showing, con-
tanning one-third of the reported mum.
Der of abandoned farms, 101, and acre
age of 6261.
Many of these farms are not entirely
deserted, but are used for other eurpos-
es than cultivation, as in The case of
some of those reported from Warren
Township, Somerset County, oil which
cattle range. The reason for abandon
ment is given from 256 farms; 10 of
them were deserted because of mortga-
ges, which absorbed more than the pro.
fits to be made out of farming; for 8
cases, taxation is reported to he respon-
sible; 2lO farms could not be prolltab,y
worked on account of poor worn out
soil, location or a similar cause, while
death, ignorance, and poor management
are said TO account for % failures. 10
the latter two causes a number of cor
respondents think should be credited a
large share of the unprofrableness of
farming.
The table shows that in Atlantic
County there are IS abandoned farms
covering and acreage of 2755: Cape
May Is, 2O00; Monmouth 5, 215; Ocean
16, DIG; Camden 3, no acres given; Pas
sale 10, 1884; Bergen 20, 1856; Cumber.
land "a, $40; Mercer 10, 6SS; Middlesex
Il, 456; Morris j, 1870; Burlington 80,
993; Gloucester 3, $50; Somerset go,
2090; HunteIdon /, 10, Sussex 80, 323s;
Warren S, 953. Total 3l3 farms. 1s..
4S7 acres. There are 34,307 fmms in
New Jersey, with ii to,al acreage of
1927 Average price per acre, SOS.
In Atlantic County, 1879 farms, 1o5,-
126 acres, value $50 per acre; Cape May,
547 farms, 52,032 acres, value $40; Mon.
mouth, 2567, 2l2,6l7, SIS; Ocean, s31.
S7,442, S3l; Camden, $50, 81, 792, $40;
Passsie, COG, S6,9l5, SIS; Hudson, AS,
1921, SSl5; Union, 757, 3s,429, S206;
Bergen, l7l0, 94,O06, s135; Cumberland,
2230, 156,237, $40; Mercer, 1912, l2O,-