The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-11-08

Or hogs were kept. but there was lit-
 tie or no farming for profit, and the
 section seemed to be rapidly declin- ing. The land is rough, the soil stony and in part composed of coarse sand. The farms were purchased cheaply, since the soil was less fertile. the buildings in poor repair, and much of
 the land was growing up to brush and
 briars. Some purchases were made
 for $15 an acre, most of them for $25
 to $40, in tracts of 100 to 150 acres. Aside from the comparatively small acreage of woodland. nearly all the land is capable of cultivation.
 In this vicinity Russian Jews picked ! up with avidity practically all the farms on the market; and although all
 the houses and barns do not give one that impression, probably greater pro- gress in restoration and improvement has been made on some of these farms than on any in the neighborhood with 1
 in the past few years.
 Considering both groups of settlers, l the farms of the Jews do not differ in acreage from the general average of the town. and the types of agriculture pursued are very similar to those fol- lowed " the German or the native American husbandman. The Swiss holdings average perhaps little less per farm, but every bit of available land on a Swiss farm is in cultivation.
 The two crops of universal commer- c1al interest are tobacco and Irish po- tatoes. Every man whose soil is at all adapted to it raises tobacco, but ! there are no large grOwers-the maxi 1 mum tobacco area per farm is twen- ty to twenty-five acres, the average six to ten; the yield ranges from l. 400 to 2.000 pounds per acre. It does not appear that the Jews produce less pounds per acre or that on the whole I the quality of the cured leaf is infer i for to the average in the vicinity.
 Tobacco requires careful cultivation | and close attention from planting to shipment. Perhaps no crop is more | susceptible to meteorological changes | or subject to attack by more diseases Or pests. Excessive heat, frost, drought. over-abundance of moisture, l wind. hail. myriad of insects and
 diseases, and, finally, the 6ckle fancy of the consumer,-all seem in league against the grower. Unfamiliar with tobacco cultivation, the Jews have 1 met these difficulties and obstacles 1 with varying degrees of success. They 1 employ the most modern machinery i and equipment, invest in ample to- bacco barns of the usual type-hun- dreds of feet of barns have been built l since 1904apply high-grade fertiliz- CTS, and make large expenditures of | labor. In short, they seem to have ! adopted the best methods in vogue in | the vicinity, but to have introduced no innovations.
 Potatoes as money crop are not a main reliance. The soil is favorable, but in general tobacco is more profit able; and although potatoes are | harvested after the tobacco is housed, bacco and potatoes are really com peting crops.
 Most of the other .crops-corn, oats. hay, stover, and ensilage-are accom- paniments of the dairy industry into which both Jews and Swiss have en- | tered rather extensively. Their herds | range from five to twenty-five cows. well-bred; most of the herds exhibit traces of several different breeds of | dairy and beef cattle. The product | sold is milk. which Is disposed of, either at wholesale or retail, in Rock vile or Hartford, or as butter-fat to | one of the two local creameries. 1t is questionable whether the dairy in- dustry is profitable even under the very favorable marketing conditions | which exist. but the dairy income runs from $2OO to $1, ,50O per farm. an- nually. in addition to the large quan7l stunned by the family.
 The investment in horses, tools. l implements, vehicles, and farm ma- chimes Is larger and the equipment | more modern and complete than on many American farms. It has been obtain sufficient farm laborers; hence, where the improved area is large enough, the substitution of machinery for manual labor has been going on | for some time. But at best a great ! deal of human labor is required in uation which the Jews have been able to meet by employing fellow country men who have recently arrived. One | or two of these incipient farm labor CTS have later purchased small, unim- | proved farms in the neighborhood.
 The average Jewish farmer does not | pay as much attention to repairs on fences or buildings, to the care and housing of tools, to painting his build ings, trimming his trees, gathering up trash and litter, in fine, to keeping up and Improvements, as his American or German-Swiss neighbor. Very often one can pick out the farm stead of Jew by the disorder, un- kempt appearance, and general dilapi- dation of the premises. This is partly due to lack of aesthetic pride in his in part to the rather re- cent occupation of the farms by the Jews. Prosperity. assured, it is like ly that the examples of careful neigh bors will lead to improvement in this regard later on. It is unfortunate that this neglect of his premises de- tracts much from the. thrifty aspect and market value of several Jewish farms and gives one an unfavOrab1e not always deserved, of Hebrew agriculture. Tn the midst of general prosperity and neighbors who take pride in the appearance of their farm houses the Jewish farmstead is at times unfavorably- conspicuous. One who has visited many foreign com munities, however, is impressed with the superiority of the Ellington farms in this regard. |.
 Marketing conditions are unusually favorable; Rockville, two miles away, furnishes an adequate local market for perishable products; transportation fa- cilities are excellent; shipping stations are located within two miles of near y every farmer and the wagon roads are usually in good condition. The tobacco market has for years been un- but it is not shown that the Gentile grower suffers less than the Jew.
 One of the very few distinctively Jewish organizations, formed for econ )mic assistance and protection, is a cooperative society known as the Con- 1ecticut Jewish Farmers Association. It's existence grew out of the need ( for some organization to bring the far , ners into touch with each other, and { put of the attitude of some of the (