Milford chronicle., 1926-02-05

Dorchester 14,235,OS6 7,0O1,924
Somerset 5,882,467 6,023,S55
1t is interesting to note in con-
junction with the foregoing figures
that in Talbot county, farm acreage
practically stood still while the
number of white farmers decreased.
In Wicomico county farm acreage
stood still, the number of white far
mers increased slightly and there
was very little change in land val
ues. In Caroline county there was
slight increase in the number of
white farmers with practically no
increase in farm acreage. In Kent
county the number of white farmers
decreased, likewise the farm acre
age. In Cecil county the number of
farmers and the number Of acres
under cultivation both decreased. In
Queen Annes county the showing
was practically the same. In Wor-
cester county the number OF white
/ farmers decreased slightly with
greater proportionate decrease in
farm acreage. In Dorchester coun-
ty the number of white farmers de-
creased and farm acreage decreased.
1t was only in Somerset county
that land values increased, that
there was a very material increase
in the number of white farmers with
no proportionate increase in farm
acreage.
These figures tend, in the main, to
support the contention that those
agricultural communities are most
stable in which there are the largest
number of comparatively small
farms which are intensively culti-
waited by their owners. From the fig
ures at hand, it would seem that
large agricultural acreages operated
as unit under a single manage
ment have, in most cases, eXper1en-
ced difficulty in doing any more
than break even.
At any rate, the Federal farm CEN
sus figures are in line with the con-
tentiOn that one step in the agr1-
cultural development of the Del
Mar-Va Peninsula is the subdivision
of existing acreage into smaller
plots. This move being accompanied
by national advertising and public
ity campaign framed for the purpose
of calling the peninsula's substantial
values to prospective purchasers in
every part of the country.
It is this program which the Del
Mar-Va Eastern Shore Association
proposes to undertake. The associ-
alton will also, as one of its first
steps, proceed to acquire the deli
mite local information which will en-
able it to check Federal census fig
ures. At the present time, those
thoroughly familiar with conditions
in Dorchester, Worcester, Cecil, Tai
bot. Kent, Queen Anne's and Caro-
line counties contend that land val
ues were not inflated in 1920 and
that there have been no drastic de-
clines since that time. However,
there are no facts at hand which
enable those who take this stand to
proye their case. One of the first
actions to be taken by the Del-Mar-
Va Eastern Shore Association would
be to start its research department
at work for the purpose OF checking
local land value figures.
Such a check is important because
while the Federal farm census in
dicates a shrinkage in agricultural
land under cultivation and shrink
age in agricultural land values
there has been an increase in pro-
duction. Moreover, the figures for
the country as a whole show that
$50 an acre land on the peninsula is
producing as much per acre as land
in other parts of the country which
is selling for three times as much.
In fact, the more the figures are stu
died the more apparent it becomes
that, based on comparative land val
ues and comparative yields per acre,
no section of the country can make
out stronger case than the very
counties in which land values are
said to have declined during the past
five years.