El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-12-24


they came to America to cast their
lot forever with its fortunes. A large
percentage Of them are engaged in
farming. More than half of the Nor
wegians- in America are on the farm,
nearly half of the Swedes are there,
and nearly half of the Danes. Two
fifths Of the Swiss and a third of the
Germans have helped make up our
grand totals in crop raising, stock
raising, dairying, etc.
Italians On Cotton Lands.
Even the new immigration is not
wholly given over to mining and
manufacturing Some of the immi-
grants are going to the land. When
the immigration commission made its
investigation there were some 40 Ital-
ian agricultural colonies and cOmmuni-
ties. And they have been doing well
Whether upon the muck lands of New
York, the sandy barrenS OF New Jer-
sey the rock streWn hills of New
England, or the heavy black BraZOs
cotton lands of Texas, they have been
able to make fair living, and often
! by working early and late, with an in
credible expenditure OF labor, to make
productive lands upon which Ameri-
cans have all but starved. They thrive
best in communities, for the Italian is
prominently a social being and likes
to have close and sympathetic neigh
bors as well as lands. In industry,
thrift, careful attention to details, crop
yields, and other matters he compares
well with the other farmers of his
vicinity. His patience, unflagging in
dustry, and capacity for hard, mOnotO-
nous labor make him a good farmer.
Most of the Italian farm owners are
men who started out as pick and
shovel men, railroad section men, and
laborers on general construction
work Some of them were factory
workers But once they began farm
ing others followed their example, ard
soon their relatives and friends in
Italy began coming, so that before
long they had established a settlement.
Colony OF Hebrew Farmers.
Where the Hebrews have gone TO the
land they usually have done fairly
well. With them as the Italians, their
most successful colony is probably the
one near Vineland, New Jersey. This
colony was established amid pine bar
rens about 1882, and was conducted
largely upon a cOmmuniStic basis until
1890, when it seemed to be upon the
verge Of failure. Then some money
from the Baron Hirsch Fund was made
available for the financial reha bilita-
ton Of the colony. Since that time
it has thrived and today stands out
as an evidence of what the Hebrew
may do when he goes to farming in
stead of merchandising. Some of them
nave developed a new sort, of agriCul-
ture-summer border agriculture it
has been called. The Hebrew farmer
opens his house to the summer
bOarder and thus makes his own
market for his products. The Jewish
Agricultural and Industrial Aid so
clety now operates an eXperlme entail
farm on Long Island and prospective |
rural cOlonists are offered course OF
instruction in farming.
Poles Have Many Colonies.
The Poles are beginning more and /
more to turn to agriculture as means
of livelihood, and there are some so |
settlements where they are found in |
considerable numbers, these settle
mentS representing nearly 1000 fami- d,
lies Some few settlements were es-
tablished before the civil war But 1t
was not until about 1885 that the
Polish communities began to dot the (
prairies of the DakOtas and Minnesota |
direct from Europe, but more of them 4
were laborers who had spent several /
years in American mines and factor !
les, and had saved some money they 4
usually bought land more with an eye /
to It's cheapness than to its productiv- |
ity.
The most recent tendency Of the Pole I
IS to settle on the abandoned farms OF !
the east, and in the main they are I
farm labOrers who stayed with the /
native farmers as long as they Op- I
Grated the farms and in the meantime
had saved up enough to buy the place /
when the owner decided to leave it 4
Most Of the recruits are of direct i'm
migration, comparatively few of those
working in mines and factories being
attracted to the farm.
Bohemian Farmers OF Texas.
More than a third Of all our BO-
hemian population has taken to the /
farm, and the Bohemian is proving to /
more southerly sections of the country |
what the Scandinavian has proved 60 /
the northwest Texas has an unusu- |
ally large number of Bohemian farm
ers, and they make good, just like the
German, Of Pennsylvania and the
-4ua
valley, has made good
Most of them grow cotton, but unlike |
the native cotton grower, they raise |
enough OF other crops to supply their
families and their livestock. The Texas
situation affords a present day picture
of the conditions which led to the
great migration from PENNSYLVANIA |
and northern Virginia into the mid
die WeSt-a migration that carried
with it the father and mother of Abra-
ham Lincoln The old settlers, filled
with the pioneer spirit, as soon as
population began to get a little dense
and land values Regan to raise. sold
out at good prices and treked to the /
west. Today the old Bohemian settler
in eastern Texas, willing to let 9TH
ers follow the easy life of settled !
farming. turns his eyes toward the
panhandle. takes his family and goes
once more to the frontier to grow
up with the country, and to add wealth I
through the enhancement of land VAL |
ueS as wen as through the growing |
of crops The Bohemian farmer of !
Texas has proved a progressive citi-
zen, hard working, honest teaching |
his children a love for the farm, and |
growing a race of which Texas is
proud.
The Seasonal LabOrer
An interesting type of immigrant IN /
agriculture is the one known as the
laborer. He may be
cranberry picker in the boys of New
England, a sugar-beet worker of Wis
consin, or a strawberry picker of Della
ware and New Jersey. Gradually one |
sees the older races of immigrants |
giving way to the newer one in these
fields of cheap labor as well as in
other places. The native Americans
and the Germans gave way to the
South Italians in the Jersey berry
fields. while in the Massachusetts (
cranberry boys the Poles. Firms, and
Italians are gradually yielding to the
Black Portuguese or "Bravas." Near
Geneva, New York, the South Ital-
ans are gradually giving way to the
Greeks. and in the vicinity of Oneida.
New York, the Syrians are getting a
foOthOld as labOrers on truck farms.
On the whole the showing that the
immigrant of the present day is able
to make when he goes on the land. is
not a bad one. One out OF every five
Of all the foreign born population in