St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1911-05-10
NEW ENGLAND OPPORTUNITIES

George French said recently be-
fore the Fitchburg Board of Trade
and Merchants Association: "Our
fathers found much of the New Eng
land soil unproductiye, manufacture
ing hard, rivers not navigable, trans
portation difficult, and business OPP
portunities in general rather adverse.
We now find that New England land
is the most productive of any in the
country, manufacturing conditions
favorable and getting better every
year, the rivers are more valuable for
power than for transportation, I'M
limited markets and opportunity are
inviting us on every hand. Nowhere
in this country is there now SO good
chance to make money as right
here. No Western section can show
such a glowing prospect for the farm
er and no section has the manufact-
uring advantages. enjoyed by the en-
terprising New Englander. An oficiS'
of. the United States Agricultural
Department said last summer: New
England is the garden spot of the
United States for farming, and said
that our farms would increase their
output ten-fold if they would adopt
some of the methods of agricultural
science. But if all the available
land were to be utilized and the APP
proved methods adopted, the OUT
put would be increased a hundred
fold.
I'm manufacturing, the special
great advantage that New England
has all for it's own are cheaper pow
er, better markets, better transpor-
tation. and better labor. The skill
ed workmen of New England are
AL 1rr0 nrIT nd We nj a m
transportation are not as well known
as they will be, but our markets are
the best in the world and the easiest
and cheapest to reach. The queS-
ton of power for New England Man
ufacturers has been revolutionized
by the development of hydro-electric
power All the power in New Eng
land used for all purposes amounts to
but a fraction of the unused power
in the rivers and streams If all
the potential water power could be
utilized, it would be unnecessary to
bring a single pound of coal or gal
lon of kerosene into any New Eng
land city, town or farmhouse; and
this power would operate all the
railroads, steamboats,, trolleys, fac
tories and machinery of every kind
in New England; and the small
streams are not taken into considera-
ton No other section has as much
water so widely distributed as has
New England.
s'The land of New England has
been pathetic joke until science has
stepped in and stopped the joke with
some facts that mean money. There
is very little improbable land in New
England and there is much land in
this section that may be made to
yield dividends that would make CAL
umet and Hecla look small. Not far
from Fitchburg, two men have been
making $500 off little abandoned
farm they bought for less than 5 L.
600. In southern Vermont, a farm
has been sold twice within the past
few years and both new owners have
paid for the farm with two years
crop of apples. A Connecticut man
got $4,000 off 1000 acres last
year, and it is said that he refused
million dollars for his farm. A Yer
mont man sold one apple crop off
100 acres for $4,000 and has refus-
ed $4,000 for the orchard. A Con-
necticut man bought farm, the en-
tire output of which was $4,000.
After eight years his receipts from
Jersey cattle were $4,000. A YER
mont man makes 259 on sheep and
100 on his farm aside from his
sheep.
"The increased life. of civic bodies
all over New England indicates that
we are stirring in our beds of con-
servatism, perhaps We are actually
going to wake up. We must cultivate
Imagination, initiative, courage and
brotherhood; we do not yet extend
the nowar of united effort p p