THE NEEDS OF NEW ENGLAND AGRICULTURE
One might name a score of important activities that should be encouraged
in order to better New England agriculture. But the two fundamental
needs are (1) adaptation and (2) co-operation.
By adaptation is meant such development of agriculture as shall more
fully utilize existing physical and commercial conditions. The West has
for seventy-five years pressed hard upon New England farming. But along
with this western competition has come a new opportunity for the eastern
farmer. New England farmers as a whole have not quickly enough responded
to this new opportunity. Many of their troubles may be traced to the
failure to adapt themselves to the new conditions. The men in New
England who have met the new opportunity are succeeding.
What does this adaptation consist in? It means, first, the adaptation of
the New England farmer to his markets. In most parts of the country the
type of farming is perhaps more dependent upon physical conditions of
soil and climate than upon the immediate market. In New England the
reverse is now true, and the type of New England farming must be
adapted, absolutely and completely, to the demands of its market. New
England farmers have the most superb markets in the country. Of the six
million people in New England, approximately 75 per cent. live in the
cities and villages. There are, in New England, thirty cities having a
population of twenty-five thousand or more. The great majority of these
cities are manufacturing cities peopled by the best class of consumers
in the world--the American skilled artisan. They constitute a nearby
market that demands fresh products which cannot be transported across a
continent. New England is also especially favored in its nearness to the
European market. The New England farmer then must adapt his crops, his
methods, and his style of farming to his peculiar market.
In the second place, this adaptation must be one of soil, just as
anywhere else, only the problem here becomes more complicated because of
the varied character of the farming lands. How to make the valleys and
the hills, the rocky ridges and the sand plains of New England yield
their largest possibilities in agriculture is a problem of the greatest
scientific and industrial interest, and it is the problem that New
England agriculture has to face. In this connection comes also the need
of special varieties adapted not only to the market but to the soil and
climate.
This principle of adaptation is the industrial key to future
agricultural development in New England. But to achieve this adaptation,
to make the key work, there is needed the force of social organization.
The farmer must be reached before the farm can be improved. The man who
treads the furrow is a greater factor than nitrogen or potash. How is
this man to be reached, inspired, instructed? Largely by some form of
organization. The second and greater need therefore is co-operation.
Co-operation means faith in agriculture--a faith too seldom found in the
Israel of New England's yeomanry. Co-operation means ideals--ideals of
rural possibilities too seldom dreamed of in the philosophy of the
Yankee farmer. Co-operation means power--power that cannot be acquired
by the lone man, not even by the resolute individualism so dominant in
New England character.
There are three forms of co-operation, all of which are desirable and
even essential if the most rapid agricultural progress in New England is
to be secured--co-operation among individuals, among organizations,
among states.
The farmers of New England must work together. The Grange is stronger in
New England than in any other portion of the country of similar
area--yet not one farmer in ten belongs to the Grange. We need not dwell
on this point, for it is a truth constantly preached through the Grange
and through other means. Let me suggest two ideas relative to
co-operation which have not received so much attention.
Each organization has its peculiar work. The school is to train the
young, the agricultural college to prepare the youth, the farmers'
institute to instruct and inspire the middle-aged and mature. The
experiment station seeks to discover the means by which nature and man
may better work together. The producers' unions endeavor to secure a
fair price for their goods. The Grange enlarges the views of its members
and brings the power which comes from working together, buying together,
meeting together, talking together, acting together. Boards of
agriculture control conditions of health and disease among animals and
plants. The country fair educates and interests. The church crowns all
in its ministrations of spiritual vision, moral uplift, and insistence
upon character as the supreme end of life.
But no institution can do the work of the others. They are members one
of another. The hand cannot say to the foot, I have no need of thee. All
these things make for rural progress. None can be spared. The Grange
cannot take the place of the church. The institute cannot supplant the
Grange. The college course cannot reach the adult farmer. The experiment
station cannot instruct the young. The church cannot secure reforms in
taxation.
These agencies may however co-operate. Indeed the most rapid and most
secure rural progress, the broadest and soundest agricultural growth,
can not take place unless there be this form of co-operation. There will
come added interest, increased efficiency, larger views, greater
ambitions in our agricultural development, if, in each state, all of
these forces work together.
We may therefore welcome most cordially the proposed plan of federating
the various agricultural societies of each state into one grand
committee organized for the purpose of forwarding all the agricultural
interests of that state. Let there be, moreover, a "League for Rural
Progress," in each state or, at least, an annual conference on rural
progress, in each state, in which the representatives of the farmers'
societies, of the schools, of the churches, and indeed all other people
who have the slightest interest in rural advancement may meet to discuss
plans and methods which shall better agriculture and the farmer.
But this is not enough. There ought to be co-operation among these
various social institutions without respect to state lines. The farm
problem in New England is one problem, although differing in details, it
is true, in different states. Co-operation should not stop with the
federating of the organizations of a state. There is no reason, for
instance, why the agricultural colleges and experiment stations of New
England should not co-operate. It is not practicable to prevent all
duplication of work. I do suggest the desirability and the feasibility
of genuine co-operation.
Why should not those in charge of the rural schools of all New England
meet together and discuss the difficulties and achievements as they
exist in different states? Why not have a "New England Society for
Agricultural Education," in which all organizations and all individuals
who are interested in any phase of this subject may meet for discussing
New England problems? Could not boards of agriculture co-operate to some
extent, especially in farmers' institute work with general plans and
ideas? Certainly conferences between these boards ought to yield most
valuable results. Is the idea of a genuine New England fair a mere
dream?
Cannot the Granges of New England profitably co-operate more fully? It
is true that there is considerable intervisitation, and yet the rank and
file of members in one state know comparatively little of the progress
and methods of the Grange in an adjoining state; this knowledge is
confined to a few leaders. Would it not be worth while to attempt an
occasional New England assemblage of Grange members, a representative
gathering for discussing Grange work and for enthusing the Grange people
of New England with the possibilities of still further Grange
development?
The idea of New England as a unit of interest in church matters is
already exemplified by the appointment of a New England secretary of the
federation of churches. It is not too much to expect that, in the near
future, all the means for church federation in New England shall work
together, because it is evident that co-operation and unity are demanded
by the nature of the field.
And finally, is it idle to think that there might be a New England
League for Rural Progress or, at least, a New England Conference on
Rural Progress, which shall bring from every corner of New England
representatives of the agricultural colleges, of the Granges, of the
country church, of the rural school, of the country press, and all other
individuals who believe in the possibilities of New England agriculture,
and in the efficiency of the fullest and freest co-operation?
There are several powerful reasons why an attempt to better New England
agriculture will be greatly aided by co-operation that includes every
inch of New England soil from Boston harbor to the Berkshires, and from
Mt. Katahdin to Point Judith.
(1) The importance of New England agriculture. In the appended table is
attempted a comparison between New England as a unit, the state of
Michigan representing an average agricultural state, and the state of
Iowa representing the foremost agricultural state. The figures, taken
from the Census of 1900, are given in round numbers. Such a table is not
conclusive as to agricultural conditions. But it is very suggestive as
to the importance of New England agriculture both industrially and
socially. It will be seen that, with an area only a little larger than
Michigan, New England compares in every respect favorably with that
average state and, in some respects, excels it, while it excels both
Michigan and Iowa by 65 per cent. in gross value of product per acre of
improved land.
(2) Agricultural conditions all over New England are quite similar.
Speaking broadly, the soil and climate of one state are the soil and
climate of another. The people are of the same stock, the same views,
the same habits, the same traditions. The demand of the market is fairly
uniform for different sections. The New England city is the New
Englander's special possession as a market. Farm labor conditions are
much the same. In fact, there is hardly a portion of our country, of the
same area, which in all these respects yields itself more completely to
the idea of unity.
(3) The hopefulness of the farm problem. Nearly four millions of city
people live in New England. They must be fed. The nearness of the
market means high-class products. This means intensive agriculture.
Intensive agriculture means education and intelligence. The cities are
growing. Their power of consumption is steadily and rapidly increasing.
(4) The unusual social equipment. It must be remembered that in an area
but little larger than Iowa, which has one agricultural college and one
agricultural experiment station and no Granges to speak of, New England
has, in comparison, six agricultural colleges, six experiment stations,
six boards of agriculture, over a thousand Granges, and numerous
agricultural societies. The means of agricultural education in New
England are more numerous and may be more efficient than in any other
portion of this country of similar area. Moreover, the cities are now in
a position to help solve the problem in New England. They have leaders.
There are in them men with leisure and talent who are interested in this
problem and who are willing to help solve it.
(5) The sentimental side. A campaign for rural progress, with New
England as the unit, ought to arouse the pride and enthusiasm of all the
sons and daughters of New England who still have the privilege of living
within her borders, as well as the interest and sympathy of all her
grandsons who, though living under western skies, still cherish in their
hearts the deepest affection for their Fatherland. Shall not the idea of
uniting all the forces of agricultural betterment that exist in New
England be a stimulus to every farmer in the six states, and, indeed,
attract the sympathy and practical aid of every lover of New England
soil?
Adaptation, co-operation: these are the primary needs of New England
agriculture; an adaptation of the farmer and his farm to existing
conditions, a co-operation that unites individual farmers into various
associated efforts, that federates the work and influence of the
different social agencies within the state, and that ultimately secures
the unity of all New England in a great movement for rural advancement.
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| New England | Michigan | Iowa
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Total land area-- | | |
square miles | 62,000 | 57,500 | 55,500
Number of farms | 192,000 | 203,000 | 229,000
Acreage in farms | 20,500,000 | 17,500,000 | 34,600,000
Acres of improved | | |
land | 8,135,000 | 11,800,000 | 29,900,000
Value of farms | $640,000,000 | $690,000,000 | $1,835,000,000
Value of farm | | |
products | $170,000,000 | $147,000,000 | $365,000,000
Persons engaged in | | |
agriculture | 290,000 | 312,000 | 372,000
Rural population | 1,500,000 | 1,200,000 | 1,260,000
Value of products per| | |
acre of improved | | |
land | $20 | $12 | $12
Number of Granges | 1,200 | 725 |
Number of Grange | | |
members | 120,000 | 45,000 |
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