Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1909-12-09

|
/ know a man who bought an old
farm partly covered with bushes and
showing neglect everywhere. He
stocked It UP and kept increasing the
stock until nearly nifty head of cows.
young stock and horses are kept, and
he told me not long ago that he cut
| two tons of good hay every acre ne
had in grass He has usod little fer
tilizer for hoed crops. but chiefly de-
ponds on stable dressing.
am of the opinion that there Is no
way that will so quickly make these
old farms respond as to keep all the
good cows possible. Tho cows will pay
n good price for the hay, help to give
their owner n living, and return
good part Of the original cost Of feed
in their droppinrs. 1t Is the poor mans
way to start anyway, unless he pre-
fers to raise hoed crops, IN which case
he can do quite we'll with commercial
| fertilizer. As for me should he
lonesome without some good live
stock. and am not worrying over the
dressing problem further than that I
can not get enough of IT'D. J. Ry-
Their, in the N. e. Farmer.
TRANSPORTATION IN EUROPE.
Uondon Cor. N y. SUM
The national waterways commission
under tho guidance OF ito able and indie
fatigabe chairman has made an indus-
trIous although hurried investigation of
the rivers and canals OF Europe has
looked ut locks. lifts. boats and barges,
| and is about to start on n tour of the
Waterways OF the United States. what
| c,,n h,a Z
in its report 30 Congress cannot be fore
told. hut there must be taken into con-
sidcration. among other things, certain
fundamental premises that underlic the
operation Of railroads and canals. loco
motives and barges. The transportation
needs of n country are determined by
its physical and political conditions. the
sources of it's supply of materials and
the location OF it's markets. The trans
portator needs % the United states arc
| those OF n Mighty intelligent population
that has rapidly extended over vast
areas between ore and another of which
| Is the necessity for the exchange of mer-
ohandise Tho absence of customs
duties and other political restrictions has
furthered the tendency TO production at
places Of greatest economic advantage.
from which products are carried over
great distances to distributing centres
and thence to the consumers.
II has been customary to compare the
transportation system Of the United
States with that of one or another Of
the countries of Europe taken separate
~. 1nasmuch as the area of the United
States Is roughly equal TO that of Ei-
rope. II would seem evident that the just
comparison would he that of the trans
.ortaton system Of the United States
with that Of Europe as n whole.
Such q comparison at once discoses
many points of difference. but few OF
similarity. The countries Of Europe
were In an advanced state of settlement
before railways were known. The tradi-
ton of the various petty mediaeval
States was OF local self sufficiency.
: Grain and vegetables for local consump-
ton and such meat as was used were
produced by local farmers. Local artis
ans made the clothing. furniture and
articles Of general use for the commun-
tiles in which they lived. There was
but little traffic between one community
and another that conveyed over consid-
cradle distances being almost entirely
OF Injuries that could only be afforded
/ by the wealthy and the powerful As
=
larger nations this local sef-sufYlciency
Z OF the community continued, and even in
3 the present state OF development It ex.
r lists throughout Europe to degree tina,
is amazing to persons reared in the In.
r dustrial and commercial environment,
characteristic of the United States The
, customs tolls that were levied on such
P traffic as passed from one OF the ole
I time petty States to another continue tc
1 be levied on the traffic that passes from
one Of the greater modern States to an.
other. duties even still being levied or
tra fYic passing into aud out Of the var
ious towns ~ France. Under these con
ditions It is but natural that the interna
tional traffic Of Europe should be mainly
that which ie horne by sea Nearl,
every country makes up its deficiency O
! food supply by Importation from land.
over tho sen. whence is also obtained
: much of the raw material that i!
wrought into manufacturers. the sur
I plus Of which over domestic needs il Il
4 sought to market in lands beyond III,
e sea.
Germany. Holland. Belgium and Franc,
are each penetrated by great rivers run
ming with moderate current in chan
nels that slope gradually along bed
and shores Of rock and gravel TO IN,
great ports. Certain of these rivers 70
considerable distances are practically es
tuaries. steamboats, running through, 70
example between Liverpool. Havre an,
other ports of the North and Baltic sea
TO Cologne and Strasburg on the Rhine
Therefore such rivers naturally continu
I to carry a large traffic.
In the medieval days when the lan'
i roads were few. costly to maintain an,
infested with highwaymen. the grea
rivers became the national thorough fares
with increasing development canal
were built. mainly nj frst to connec
one river with another and then EXTENDED
to give water communication to vnrou
d places In tho interior. In the early par
e or the nineteenth century these water
o ways were extended. Through tradition
= and custom they had como to be regard
$ ed as tho natural avenues OF communi
cation which It was the duty OF the ma
v ton to maintain. The first railway
q were built largely to serve the carrying
p OF passengers and parcels. AS they de
y veloped TO the carrying of heavier freigh
/, they became serious competitors wit
the waterways. and ono after another q
the nations Cf Europe has compee
them to charge rates for freight SO hig
that tho rivers and canals may rot b
= completely Cutstripped as they hav
been in the United States. where no sue
restrictions arc imposed. 1t Is signihcan
r that Notwithstanding this the length @