The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1915-09-21

On a recent visit to scenes of their
childhood in Townshend party OF
former residents found eleven desert
ed homes in two school districts that
once comprised thriving farming
section. What's the answer?-Brat-
tleboro Reformer.
The answer is not difficult. Seat
tered all through the United States
there are thousands upon thousands
of men and women who are land hun
CRY and home hunters, farmers or de-
sirous OF becoming farmers. They
do not know that back in the rural
towns of Vermont comfortable homes
can be bought at from $500 up. They
do not know that farms with fairly
decent buildings can be bought at
from $500 to $4,000 Land in the west
selling at from $50 to $500 per acre is
not one particle more productive than
land in New England that can be
bought at from S. to $50 per acre.
The western and southern land in the
market is largely without buildings
and far from markets, schools,
churches and Libraries. Our low pric-
ed New England farms are mostly
provided with buildings and are near
markets. schools and other adiuncts
of civilization. The great rush Of
emigration from our eastern rural
towns during the generation follow
ing the civil war swept the people
from thousands of farms just as good
and often better than those they
found elsewhere. Since then n gen
Grafton has grown up that does not
even know of the opportunity offered
by the low priced farms and homes of
New England If Vermont wishes to
re-people her rural towns she must
do two things First she must make
known that there exists this marvel
of low priced real estate. Second shr
must help finance the new settlers
who come. The first is comparative
" easy and the second is not hard If
the people of Vermont would get al
ter the job man or woman can so
west or south and buy land through
an association or company or simhar
organization, paying for it on the in
stallment plan and Occupying it as
soon as able. A prospective purchag
er of land in Vermont usually falls n
TO the hands of a slick real estate
agent of one of the larger cities and
gets skinned of what ready money he
has and finds himself in possession of
an inferior piece of real estate, with
out ready money to start work, with
out credit and among strangers. He
cannot prosper and does not and his
failure discourages others. There is
reason to believe that Vermont peo-
pie have some three hundred to four
hundred million dollars invested out
side the state. For thirty years Yer
mont laws have been encouraging the
of Vermont money away
from Vermont. Much Of this invest
ment is in mortgages on land far in
ferior to Vermont farms. The exper-
fence Of the west and south shows
that these neglected farms of Wind
ham and other countries can be re-
sold to active farmers if the business
is fairly and honestly done on basis
safe and yielding an inter-
est return of four to six per cent.
Along this line is the great opportuni-
ty for the growth and prosperity of
Vermont in the future. 1t doesn't
get the thought and attention it de-
serves. The finest opening in the
state to make start is in the towns
of the West river valley in Windham
county. We should like to see the
men Of Windham county arise to
their opportunity.