Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1922-03-30


counterbalance the commercial slump
that followed the reconstruction per
iod that followed the war.
Young man, come east
Over half a century ago, a great
man gave the opposite advice. The
world of opportunity seemed to rest
beyond the Mississippi and the rich
lands Of the prairie states waited
only the drive Of the pillow to enrich
whcmsooyer cared to labor The young
men went, by thousands from Massa-
IchUsetts alone, and many of them did
find opportunity AS the reports Of
the Wcnders of the soil came back
east from the fertile fields of Iowa
from prodigaI Kansas, and even furth-
er west, the farms of the old Bay
State fell more and more into the
class of "has been" }. the youth whose
! strength and ambition was needed
| to draw the best from the earth had
gone on, the hired labor that replaced,
it was Indifferent and careless. The
production fell lower and lower. the
soil each year seemed more stubborn
and unyielding. The farms that had
blo0med in beauty and richness fol
lowing the Revolution passed on into
poorly planted, ppoorly worked areas
| that were q drug in the market and
Massachusetts, became more and more
! a manufacturing state.
During the late war the labcr de-
mands from factories forced upward
the wage scale until the farm lands
still occupied were drained Of every
sort Of labor and agriculture in Mas
lsachusetts was almost a lost art.
NEARLY 100000 people lived within
its borders and those 100000 depend
ed and still do depend to a large extent
on produce raised within the borders
Less than 5 per cent of the population
are engaged in farming industries.
Wealth from the states fisheries con-
tinues to pour in The annual fish
stock received at the docks runs each
year from 25D,00O,00O to 10000, 000
pounds. With nearly three billions
of dollars invested in its factories
and nearly billion of dollars paid IN
wages each year, there is no lack of
cash with which to purchase the pro
duct of the farm; the question is, shall
that money remain in the state to be
respent at the doors of the manufact-
urer or shall it go forth and return
only in part?
This brings us to the Importance
of cheap food in the development of
an industrial community Food to be
cheap must be produced cheaply,
transported cheaply, and marketed
cheapIy The rise Of any Of these
units is instantly felt by the other
two, and, of course, by the consumer.
Cheap transportation
Two of the requirements, cheap pro-
duction and cheap marketing, Massa-
chusetts has enjoyed in relation to
tits neighbors and even to those west
arn states whose very. existence is ag-
riculture. The third unit, transporta-
ton, has become more and more i'm
portant to the marketing and distrib-
luton of foodstuffs, and there lies the
advantage to Massachusetts, with its
four million citizens. IF Nassachus-
cts can produce and market its agri-
culture as cheaply as communities
!, outside its borders and then add to
that reduction in rates through
shortness of haul it is a simple~prob-
lem to solve to arrive at the decision
that Massachusetts, can undersell its
rivals within its borders or enter an
active competition with greater
margin of profit than will be gained
by those bearing the overhead of a
large freight or. express cost.
An Investigation by Dr.. Arthur W.
Gilbert, our commissioner of agricul-
J ture, gave birth to a report which
says in part:
IF man can purchase coed farm
s. land in New England at SIS per acre
- while his western cousin must pay
$3.50; if by expanding reasonable en-
ecgy and a comparatively small sum
e fer fertilization he can get as much
[. or more out Of the land as the west
) erner can; if, for example, he can gel
st his fruits to the finest market in tbs
is world a day after they are gathered
Y as against week, letting his fruit
/ ripen on the tree or the bush instead
20 of IN the freight car; and # he ear
v. get it to the consumer for about one
fourth the freight charges paid b,
m his western cousin, what must he con
id clude?
Rebuilding Agriculture