CHAPTER XV 

 THE NEEDS OF NEW ENGLAND AGRICULTURE 



One might name a score of important activi- 

 ties that should be encouraged in order to better 

 New England agriculture. But the two funda- 

 mental needs are (i) 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 



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