Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1913-02-20
LETTERS FROM THE PEOPLE
Vermont Offers Better Chapcs
Than Any other state.

l Will now try ana make good the
proposition put forth in my last article
printed several weeks ago, to wit, that
Vermont offers a better chance to the
average farmer than almost any State in
the Union. OF course If one is content
TO move on to the extreme frontier he
may after life time OF rrivation be able
to show large returns, but he has taken
Il out OF himself and family.
I know Of no State that offers good land
10 cheap as Vermont. Land In the older
West Is out of sight not because It pays
such money returns but because there are
SO many people to bid against each other
and who know nothing but farming. Take
central Kansas, for exa ample. It t.
splendid country. Land is held at from
800 to $50 per acre. Now let us see what
are the returns Winter wheat is staple
The State raised ninety million bushels
this last year. But see! that was only "A
bushels to the acre. On bottom land il
went UP TO 20 bushels ] saw over 100
acres of this best crop threshed The
owner let the land and the grain brought /
10 cents at the elevator This splendid
crop, which was rare one. only brought
the owner IS per acre, and out OF that
his share of taxes, the upkeep Of build
1ngs and fences, etc. How is that land
worth any more than Vermont land in
the Champlain valley? How Is such land
woth $40 an acre with money at 6 to
per cent? Now 1 found these conditions
everywhere. An old orange grower in
Los Angeles said to me, Everybody
here will tell you that land in oranges is
worth from $1,000 to SO 900 an acre while
tell you that 1t will not one year with an
other pay interest on $3.50 an acre" After
looking the whole United States over
am moro and more certain that farms are
sold in Vermont at a ridiculous figure.
In the second place, in no part of the
Union is so much given away at the sale
Of farm as In Vermont. Generally
stock. tools, hay, grain, etc, are thrown
In. In the West you might az well ask
the owner to throw In United States
bonds. In other States YOU get the land:
in Vermont you are bribed to buy the
farm
In the third place, a buyer gets better
buildings in Vermont than almost any
where else. saw as good as these n
the region about Rockford. Ill, and Be-
lott, Wis. but then the price of those
farms was out of sight. Good farms
have been sold in Vermont for just about
the insurance carried on the buildings
Why, l can purchase a good farm in the
State for a sum that will buy in any
habitable part Of California a piece of
land just about as large as a Masonic
apron l saw California farmer and
asked him what chance a man had with
a capital of $4,000 to go into farming
In that State He said very little"
THAT to succeed he should be able to do
| things on a large scale and command
| $4,000" And my observation confirmed
his statement. The cry there, is, that
| FIVE acres is enough Well that means
| market gardening or fruit growing, both
| Of which are extra hazardous. One car
make living market gardening just out
| Of Burlington and get as good land for
| 500 An acre as he can get in California
at 5000. When at Los Angeles this sum.
| mer acres and acres of Irish potatoes
| were being ploughed back into the ground
| because ii did not pay to dig them. For
| this statement I have the published re-
| port OF the mayor Of the city and any,
body could see it who would look. For
this land the gardeners had paid $50 rem
tai and q cents an hour for water when
| used per acre 1 asked a man IN the
watermelon business how much he could
| raise? He said five tons to the acre was
good. We'll ! said I suppose you get a
cent and half a pound? His reply was
| couched in the following expressive
| language: "Oh, gosh no: if l get cent
| q pound I DO well" That would be SO
! an acre; It took the first crop to pay hid
! rental TO say nothing of the water bill.
| The farmers Of Vermont do as little work
for nothing as any farmers in the coun-
try.
This brings me to the statement that no
! farmers in the country are more sure OF
| A crop than those OF Vermont With
anything like fair usage our farms bring
just about the same amount year by year.
If 1t is more hay, then less sound corn
and so on to the end. But failures we
know little about No people have ever
been asked to help us to seed corn nor
anv other seed. Bleeding Vermont
fought her own battles in the old days
land has done so ever since. We have
cassed the hat for a good many people
outside but no one ever passed the hat
: for us. We have sent out hosts of young
psople with Vermont money IN their
poeket. and when they have lost 1t they
send back for more and say Vermont Is a
good State to move from. II the farmers
OF the old State had the cash that went
into the Northwestern Guarantee COM
pany. Sioux City, Munc!e and thousand
other bottomless pits why every one o'
us could run Packard cars and our wives
could ride sulky brooms. Now If am
right how did it come about that Yer
mont has lost In this farming game? the
answer Is not hard to find but IL involves
a discussion of the word Booster when
is a euphemism for the old Vermont
word liar. If the Free Press Will grant
. ! me SPACE for another article | viii Try
| and show that l have had splendid OPP
: | portunities in the last few years TO study
the advantages of lying and what II vii
do for a country when used in sufficient
quantities. ! remember in our political
conventions that Montpelier generally
had a man for any Office who was pc
culiarly fitted" for ii.
Well will try and prove that | am Pc
iculiarly ftted to dissect the art of lying
almost as we'll as Mrs Opie who wrote
fair sized book on the subject Ths
difference is. Mrs Opie had chapter or
e White IAes" That part will be omitted
Q in my discussion
I r. j. RANSLOW.
t Seabreeze Florida.
I
yyEPMONT NOTES