Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1901-11-18
Facts for Our Farmers.
SUBURBAN NOTES.

the larger Clues, DIS d l09''A' -
modern tendency toward surouroan
living and the almost phenomenal
growth Of cities. It is nCtlceaDie
about Springfield and Worcester ana
oil tho cities of New England, and Is
hard1v less the case in other sections
~ tho country The Country Gentle
man calls it the suburban type VI
agriculture, and goes on to say: Ihls
stvle of farming presents various
characteristics of q merely compare
tivo nature. such as the relatively
smaller farm, higher cost Oh ldhu'
large investment OF working caplta1'
more intensive methods, large produc-
ton and larger gross prohts. oohief
times the percentage OF pronC -
graater and sometimes less, thau IL
the oId-fasniOned rural farming. lHlS
TYNE of farming, which goes ON under
the smoke Of factory chimneys, may
fairly he called a refined style 0l
agriculture. 1t has all those char-
acteristics which go with what is
commonly called refinement o IN
dustry, or refinement OF society. 10
he sure. one has often to douot
whether refined society" is any better
than rural society; and it may still De
ouestion whether the refined type
of agriculture" of the city suburbs Is
hotter Or more satisfying to the
farmer than the good old frontler
struggle with the wilderness. Never
+he1ess. in the sense of being more
highly specialized of being more init
mateIv in touch with modern sclentlnc
discoveries, of being more Intensive III
methods, the suburban agriculture is
more refined.
Now the point which brings all this
I'm here is that the modern surDurOah
agriculture, like every other case OIL
refined farming, comes pretty near 10
being horticulture. Horticulture is
the refinement of agriculture in more
ways than some people care to
recognize. Take the neighborhoOd or
washington IS an example. In 1899,
the value of agriculture products for
the District of Columbia was as fol-
lows for the items named: Milk, cream
and butter, $186, O96; cereals, $7,O99;
horticultural products, $639,396.
Dairving. which, like horticulture, is
highly refined branch Of agriculture,
is the only rural industry which has
competed with horticulture in the re-
cent DEVELOPMENT of the District OF
Columbia. In the decade between
1890 and 1900, the number OF COWS
kept in this territory increased 40 pc"
cent. and the amount of milk secured
increased IS per cent. The fact that
the milk product increased nearly
twice as rapidly as the number OF
COWS kept speaks again most en-
phatically of the refinement OF agrl-
cultural practice which has been
going on. Meanwhile the value Of
market garden products Increased
from 1889 to 1899 from $74,89O to $95,
All, of $118,O95. depending on
whether potatoes and sweet potatoes
are counted out or in for 1899. At the
same time the total of flowers and
ornamental plants grown in green
houses and on farms rose to $519,565
year, u, nearly so per cent. ct the
total of all agricultural products for
the entire District of Columbia.
Now there is just one moral that we
should like to draw from this. Most
farmers are anxious for Improvement
in agriculture The sincerely want to
see farming improved in general, and
they are willing to see some improve
metn on their own farms, provided it
does not require too much trouble, and
providing it gives some promise Of
paying it's way. With this feeling at
heart, they ought to give more
thought and room to horticulture.
There are hundreds of farmers who
will not bother with a strawberry bed,
or with plum trees, or even row Of
currant bushes. They have more i'm
portant concerns. Their farming is
laid out on other lines. Yet in this
refusal they shut up their souls
against the greatest means of grace
(appIying a camp-meeting figure to an
agricultural topic which there is open
to them. Always and everywhere,
naturally and necessarily, horticulture
means improved agriculture, and the
man who desires Improvement should
take every chance to avail himself oil
the proper means. We have pur-
Dosely left out of account an inciden-
tai advantage to be derived from
strawberry beds and plum trees, which
has no relation to the money yield.
and which is nevertheless of the
highest Importance to the farmer and
his family-we mean the supply of
the most healthful and delicious Of
luxuries FOR his own table.
Examine Your Bush Fruit Plants.
The condition of bush fruit plants at
the close of the growing season is d
certain indication of the product the
following year, says an exchange. If
the foliage is free from rust and
blight the cane mature and well
ripened, stocky and well supplied with
strong, vigorous buds and free from
spot or blemish, the roots light,