Norwich bulletin., 1921-11-18
THE BREAKING UP OF BIG ESTATES

really big farm near me which, willis not
actually ION the market" in the sense Of
being advertised for sale, is nevertheless
open to offers and is widely known to be.
1t is a place of several thousand acres
including intervale and hillside land.
mountain and valley, forests and mead
ows. Parts of It are admirably adapted
for dairying; parts lack only fencing to
become desirable sheep range; partS-are
naturally fitted for orchardry; and there
is an unusually large proportion of till
able land.
Yet, though this big ranch is known to
be for sale to anybody who is willing to
pay a fair price for it, mere are no offers.
Tracts of comparable size and less ad-
vantages were bought. twenty or thirty
years ago when this was not for sale, by
rich city men. But now eager buyers
are not manifest The estate is being
slowly reduced in size, but only by the
ccasional sale of some limited tract on
its borders to some small farmer. 1t
begins to look as if that was the only
way it would eventually be disposed Of
in small detached farms.
In another case, a young and really en-
terprising farmer recently inherited a
| farm of perhaps "a thousand acres His
| father had been for years accommodating
/ land for this purpose. He bought with
fairly good judgment, too. 1t was most
| ly an upland farm, but comprised among
| other purchases one holding which, UP
to its previous owners death, had been
commonly reputed to be the best all
/ round farm In town"
| Now, after several years struggle with
| It the young owner is planning to sell off
| about half as matter of simple business
prudence. He. can't get adequate help at
permissible wages to carry on. He fig
ures that he will be actually better off
with only half his pSesent farm than he
., Is with the whole of it-Nor is he being
overwhelmed by any rush of eager buyers
Perhaps twenty years ago another
| nearby country estate of not far from a
| thousand acres was cannLly gathered to-
| gether by another aspiring candidate for
| rural honors. In this case serious mis-
| fortune followed, for which the owner
was in no way responsible, But the sig
nifcant fact is that his gatherings have
! already been dispersed. What he had
as one farm is now divided between four
! different owners.
Connoting these these personal obser-
vations with Mr.. Depew's representations
| regarding the suburban district about
|
be some change of the wind impending
Wen, it won't be any the worse for
the country If 1t comes. As between one
big ranch Of a thousand acres employ
Ing twenty men at monthly wages, ant
ten individual farms Of a hundred
acres each with perhaps ten working
! owners and ten hired men, l don't thinl
there's any doubt which promises bes
for the stability and growth of the
country.
DO you?
Not that I am disposed TO find faul
with those who maintain big country es
tstes, or attack them on any ground
There are many good things to be said il
favor of them. During a part of tn,
year, at least, they increase the marke
for neghboring producers. They ar
mostly good customers and liberal pay
ers.
Furthermore, they are usually NOR
: ready to take chances wiki new device
: or new methods than we conservative oil
, fellows. They can afford to run the ris
OF losses which. If the experiments fai
= daunt US losses, the fear of Whic
, causes us TO hesitate and delay. Wher
as occasionally happens, their exper
menting turns out successfully, it at
. | fords an object lesson for us to follow
:. | When, as more frequently occurs, the
, experimentings prove failures, they equa-
a | " furnish us object lessons of what {
avoid.
Along this line. especially, We all c
e us ought to be free to admit that ou
J. neghbor city farmers" have been
y real service They have sometimes blaze
a trails, shorter, safer and easier than tt