St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1915-02-17
OUT OF TOWN AGENTS
New England Agriculture.


Some very interesting speeches
were made at the state convention of
agriculture held at Manchester, N.
H, last week, among them one by
William Hurd, director of Massa-
chusetts Agricultural Colleges es-
tension service. Some things
brought out at that meeting should
have a wider publication than in
New Hampshire. One impressive
statement by Mr.. Hurd was that New
England can maintain it's industrial
supremacy only as long as she main
tains agriculture sufficiently to pro-
duce cheap food, that the competi-
ton of the West and the South is
strengthened by cheap food for in
dustrial workers that allows a safe
margin between the income and cost
of living. The importance of cheap
food is so apparent that argument on
the point is unnecessary but how to
produce cheap food in New England
is a more serious question.
The development of agriculture SO
that larger returns per acre and
every possible reduction in. the cost
of producing crops is the only way
in which this can be done. Fortu-
nately this is not an unreasonable
thing to expect. New England is
one Of the least developed but one
of the most attractive agricultural
fields in the country. The cheap
land of the West is developed and
yet our own country is using 90 20
of all the corn it raises, 81 % of it's
wheat and the importations of beef
have increased 2OO09o in the last six
years. Then the great staple crops
of the country have not increased in
acre production for the past forty
years. The land in New England is
the cheapest to be had in the coun-
try today and it's possibilities of de-
velopment are great.
The immense market for New Eng
land farm products is shown by the
fact the state of Massachusetts has
a population of 100000 and only
eight per cent of them are engaged
in agricultural pursuits. That state
alone imports $3OO,OOO,OOO worth of
agricultural products each year. In
addition to this there are 15,0OO,-
900 more people within a night haul
by freight or express of these mill
lions in Massachusetts,. So New Eng
land agriculture has one of the
greatest markets of the world close
at hand.
The possibility of development is
shown by contrasting the work of
Denmark with that of Massachu-
sets. That country is only twice as
large as Massachusetts but it exports
more than $14O, 100000 worth of
agricultural products annually.
Eighty per cent of its land is under
cultivation. Today it is feeding
warning Europe. 1t does this by
specialized farming and by organiza-
ton. In 1902 it had LIST coop
erative diaries, ga cooperative ba-
con curing establishments, 270 or
CARNATIONS for the breeding of
horses, 1850 for cattle breeding, 25S
for swine and 102 for sheep.
New England is not equal to that
of Denmark for agriculture but it
certainly is not so far behind as the
difference in production today indi
Gates. Mr.. Hurd mentions as prac-
teal ways of developing New Eng
land the following:
'In matters of farm improvement
we need to return to a system of
live stock husbandry. The dairy
situation is critical. We must have
clean sanitary milk. We do not
need more legislation, but more edu-
cation,-the demonstration of prop
per methods of feeding, breeding,
record keeping, handling and mar
keting of milk. We need to adopt
better systems of farm management,
to practice more scientific rotations,
to use less fertilizers when they are
used at the expense of tillage, drain
age, stable manures, and cover crops.
We need to reorganize our systems,
adopting special lines suited to our
soil, location and markets. We need
to select better strains of seeds, our
farmers need to accept more gem
orally more scientific methods. The
extension work of our colleges and
the farm bureau and county agent
system bid fair to revolutionize our
agricultural practices. We need to
bring in and settle on our farms
young men, foreigners, or others who
through easier systems of short and
long term credit will be able to
weather the tribulations of the first