Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1910-10-27
FARMING IN NEW ENGLAND

President Buttcrneld of the Massachu-
sets Agricultural College delivered an
address in Springfield the other night in
which he spoke of ways for the rural
bettcrmcnt of Massachusetts. He thinks
the means by which this bcttermcnt will
be brought about are the "organizatior
and cooperation of farmers, greater
activity of the country church and edu-
cation Of men and women I'm the rural
districts" What he says with reference
to Massachusetts applied equally TO Yer
mont.
He said that in the way OF organization
and cooperation the Grange is accom-
pllshing much. He considers the future
of the New England farmers bright, be-
cause of the growth of cities which Is
making bigger and better markets all the
time, and because of the opportunities
there are for Improvement In New Eng
land. lie said there is less land TILED In
Massachusetts sections to-day than there
was 80 years ago, but the value OF crops
TO the acre is much greater. This shows
that while some Of the land has been
deserted, that which Is titled Is titled to
better advantage, and this Ia worth some
thing. II shows that the farmers of the
State are headed In the right direction
In one respect. at least.
President Buttcrncld thinks we have de-
pended too largely on crops from the
West. He said For some time the
greater part of staple products has come
from the West AS the standards OF life
are made higher there will be more de-
mand for specialized products, products
hot ha la
and must be raised here"
There Is truth in these words There
are certain crops in the production OF
witch the East cannot successfully com
| pete with the West, and there Is no rea
son why II should try to- There are
crops in the production Of which the
| West cannot compete with the West for
the supplying Eastern markets and these
are crops for the Eastern farmers to give
| their attention to.
| Mr.. Buttorflcld seems to think the coun-
| try church should have considerable to
do with revivifying the country life of
| New England but Just how he figures
this ont Is not easy TO understand. The
prosperity of, the church depends very
| largely on tho prosperity Of the COM
munity In which II is located, and while
| many rural communities are so run down
| that 1t Is difficult for the residents TO
make living and pay their taxes, 1t is
| hardly to be expected that the country
church viii become very nourishing In
siitution And there are other innu-
ences which detract from the life and
Nigor Of the country church to-day. as
Is we'll understood by people familiar
with the conditions of life In the rural
| communities.
The problems Of keeping the boys and
girls on the farm and building up the
farming communities Is n big one, and
ono that In tho large sense must WORK
itself ont. II Is easy to say that the OPP
poriunities for success are as great there
as ,hey are anywhere else. hut II 10 moi
so easy to make the boys and girls thint
so. Most OF the talk In this direot'or
comes from those who nave not STUCK
to the farm.
But as times goes on and the cities IN
crease in size and number tnere VII
certainly be better opportunities TOR I'M
farmer and his sons and daughters. and
az opportunity presents itself there arr