New-York tribune., 1907-07-21

The announcement that farm lands In this
! state have fallen off $l1o00OOo0 in value in the
| last twenty five years and that there are now
within It's borders twelve thousand abandoned
| farms. capable OF caring for n population OF
! 10000 must excite no little chaGrln and amaze
mcut. We have been accustomed to believe that
! the abandoned farm was an economic exhibit
| confined TO the New England "hiIl towns" with
their barren soil. enfcehled population and total
isolation from the currents Of modern life. 1t is
astonishing and mortfying to learn that 10 a
state rs rich, prosperous and fertile as New
| York the same process Of deterioration has
! gained such headway.
We 10 not think, however that the outlook
| for agriculture in this state, in the Eastern
| states generally, Is rs desperate II might be
| Inferred to bc from this shrinkage in cultivated
area ana in farm values. Undoubtedly farm
| lands IN The East have decreased III value
| in the last three decades The price OF land IN
| the 7Os was abnormaly high, because
| values had not readjustcd themselves after the
| imitation of the Civil War period. The West
too was only partially opened up and the high
cost Of transportation restrained injurious West
| "rn competition with Eastern staples. Between
| 1873 and 1900 enormous new empire was
| brought under cultivation and its products were
put within easy reach Of the market The East
! erner could not compete with the Westerncr by
the old agricultural methods. and Eastern land
values dropped to lower level
Yet the country whole is rapidly growing
up 10 It's productive capacity, and even the
| further development by irrigation Of the arid
and semarid West will not long postpone the
time when the United States will be consuming
practically all OF its food products Eastern land
will then regain value relatively and will again
be cultivated at n profit. In many parts Of the
! East this reaction is already noticeable 4
| dispatch from York, Penn, the other day stated
that the wheat crop of York County this year
| would be the largest record-the Weld being
approximately 20O0OOO bushels If tho agri-
| cultural outlook in the East were generally dis
| couragng DO such wheat crop as this would
| have been harvested, for the land would have
been turned instead to purposes promising a
surer profit
1t is admitted that there has been n turn
for the better In this state also in the last
! three four years. Certainly the Influences
| which largely depopulated the farms and
j overpeopled the towns and cities are no longer
| working unchecked. The telephone, the trolley
| and the free rural delivery service have all
helped to break down the isolation which was
the chief drawback to country life and TO make
| living Oh the farm more attractive and easier
| The barriers between city and country are not
| so high as formerly and rural advantages arc
| again asserting themselves. The farmer IS in
many ways better off than the town or CITY
labOrer. But If all our unused land Is to he
| restored TO cultivation modern methods of farm
| ing must be introduced and the farmer must he
made to feel that he has not only an economic
| chance in competition with his Western rival
but IN competition with the country boy who
drifts off to the city to seek employment Edu-
| cation and scientific cultivation Will be the
prime factors in restoring agriculture to its
| lost estate