312 Twenty-Second Annual Report of the 



those lines are most developed and show best results ; and naturally, 

 those desiring to engage in dairying and the production of vege- 

 tables, seek the sections of the State best adapted to their pur- 

 poses; and this Bureau has endeavored to direct the newcomers 

 to such sections. Firmness in values of farm lands is noted in all 

 portions of the State, but the greatest increase in values has taken 

 place in the western section and along the Hudson river. Farm 

 owners in this State realize that with proper cultivation their 

 lands will produce crops equal to those raised in sections of the 

 country where land prices are much higher, and they can see no 

 reason for the great disparity in land prices now existing. The 

 average value per acre of New York State crops of com. hay, 

 oats, and potatoes, show that this State stands far in advance of 

 any of the great farming states of the West : 



AVERAGE VALUE 

 PER ACKE 

 CORN, OATS 

 STATE HAT, POTATOES 



New York $32.86 



Ohio 25.76 



Iowa 24.30 



Indiana 22.57 



Michigan 22.71 



Kansas 21.16 



Nebraska 20.16 



Illinois 19.85 



Minnesota 19.35 



Wisconsin 19.35 



Missouri 16.70 



These figures are taken from the recent reports of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture, and indicate the great advan- 

 tage that the New York State farmer possesses over those of prac- 

 tically all other portions of the country. A large number of farms 

 that have been sold during the year at prices ranging from $30 to 

 $60 per acre would have brought in the Central West from $150 to 

 $250 per acre, the saving in interest on the investment making in 

 itself a good annual profit. Correspondence has been carried on 

 with prospective farm buyers residing in all parts of the Fnited 

 States, Canada, the Canal Zone, and many foreign countries, and. 

 but for the stringency in the money market that has prevailed 

 for the. last two years or more, farm sales would have doubled in 

 this State. 



The State needs more and better farmers, and the only way 

 to rea.ch such people is through advertising in the public press. 



