The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-10-28
NEW ENGLAND. FARMS.

States Afford Best Openings for Far
mers.
A Washington Letter to New York
Evening Post says:
What section of the United States
offers the best field for the farmerF'
your correspondent of to-day asked
James Wilson, the Secretary of Agrlcul-
ture. Il know of no better place for
farmers" he replied, than the social
ed abandoned farms of the Eastern
New York. If you look at the map OF
this country you will see that the best
farmingland lies in the Mississippi
valley. Take Iowa, my State, Tor exam
pie. There is not an acre of land there
which will not sell for more than $25,
and the average is about $40 Inc soil
is surprisingly rich. SO are the soils OF
Minnesota, Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin,
Eastern Kansas, and Eastern Nebraska.
But that land is now comparatively
Well-occupied. OF course there Is plenty
of land always for sale, and a young
man can do well by buying it, but this
requires some capital for start. There
is still some good government land in
North Dakota, but, unless the people
qull lIleli GhlIdN dBdllI gnu N''NlNAf -
ways of farming, the land already TILED
there will become worthless. West or
the one hundred and third meridian you
must not go; the soil is dry-too dry for
farming
"Will not irrigation in time make
that land arable?'
No, not to any great extent. The
Mississippi valley States are watered
from the Gulf of Mexico, but its effect
does not extend far west. The region
west of one hundred and third gets
little rain from the gulf, and the coast
range of mountains shuts off the rain
from the Pacific. Louisiana receives
so inches of rainfall every year, while
Iowa receives 30; so you can see now
the rainfall decreases as you leave the
gulf. There is now no general move
ment in farming, no rush to Kansas, to
Nebraska, or the DakotaS. OF course,
when any new reservation Is opened,
there is always q scramble, but that Is
only temporary, and little permanent
advantage remains to new settlers.
Some of our Northern people are going
to Texas and engaging in farming
along the southern border with profit;
but this requires considerable capital
So you will see from what | have said
that there are not the former alur-
ing prospects for the new settler out
West. Do not misunderstood me; the
West offers a vast and magnificent field
for farming, and millions more of peo-
pie can be accommodated there; but for
the farmer who wishes to make money
by the soil, / think the opportunity
afforded him in the East is very great"
What class of people would succeed
best in the East?"
THAT is the main point. You must
have country people-people who came
from the country, and not from the
city-people who like the country as /
do and dislike the city; who want to re-
main in the country, and never go to
town except on business, and that not
often. 1t will do no good to bring
people to these abandoned farms
from the cities of Europe. they win
fail as they have failed in the west,
and their failure will be more striking
because they will be near the great cit
les, subject to more temptations to
leave the farms for them than in the
prairie west"
THE soil will need much working
over, will it not?"
"Oh, yes. In the first place, it needs
more drainage, more tile. While there
are many good farmers in New Eng
land and New York, in general some
of the necessary devices used in the
west are wanting. And then there
must be constant fertilizing. The first
thing to raise is stock. The farmer
should bring up as much stock as the
farm will support. This from the start
will be a source of profit, and will as
sist in fertilization. The farmer should
then raise what the markets of Bos-
ton and New York want. These are
the best markets anywhere and that is
one of the great reasons why / believe
the eastern farmer will succeed. When
my father came over from Scotland,
he settled in the neighborhood of Nor
wich Conn., where he found market
for everything he could raise. We
made our mistake in going west too
soon-in 1855, before the market could
catch up with us. OF course the farm
er should not raise corn or wheat in
the east, but he can raise oats for feed
with profit. Let him raise bacon
hogs, beef-cattle, mutton sheep, vege-
tables, and airy products, and, above
all else, let him bear in mind the fact
that he must keep up the farm. Then
there can be no doubt of his success.
OF course, it will not be magnificent
farming, such as we have in the Dako-
tas. 1t will be truck farming to
great extent but it will ffaord as much
as the more majestic agri-
culture of the west. Those eastern
farms We're not abandoned because
they We're not productive, but because
of the alluring cry of the city and of
the big farms of the west. The rural |
Scandinavians would succeed admir-
ably on this land, just as they have
succeeded out west: but let the people /
of the European cities stay in the fac |
tories and live in their tucked-up quar- |
ters, which, after all, give them the
life they wish to live"
What is the general condition Of the |
farmer of this country to-day?'
THE farmer of the Mississippi val
ley is in clover. He is receiving twice !
as much for his cattle, three fourths |
as much more for his hogs, and vastly |
more for the cereals than he received |
three years ago. No class of workers
are better situated than the farmers" |