4 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT 



prevalent throughout the country, still the characteristics of 

 the movement differed in the various sections and were condi- 

 tioned in part on differences in the agricultural situation. 



The northeastern part of the United States, including New 

 England and the Atlantic coastal plain stretching as far south 

 as Chesapeake Bay, was primarily a region of diversified farming. 

 The presence of numerous large centers of population made 

 dairying and market gardening profitable employments; while 

 in New England large crops of hay and potatoes were produced 

 and further south the raising of fruit for canning was becoming 

 an extensive industry. The production of cereals in this region 

 was small in proportion to the population and a large part of 

 the food supply had to be shipped in from the West. 1 The 

 pressure of competition due to the great increase in agricultural 

 production in the more undeveloped parts of the country and 

 the cheapening of through transportation was beginning to 

 manifest itself in a decline in value of eastern farm lands, which 

 was to become far more serious in a later period. 2 During the 

 seventies, however, the agriculturists of this section were still 

 fairly prosperous because of personal thrift, a diversified pro- 

 duction, and convenient markets. 



A somewhat similar situation prevailed in western New York 

 and Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio. This region had been 

 the granary of the continent shortly before the war and it was 

 still largely engaged in the production of cereals in 1870; but 

 the stress of western competition and the ravages of insect 

 pests were leading farmers to turn their energies more and more 

 to diversified agriculture and particularly to dairy farming. 

 The dairy interests of this section grew with great rapidity 

 during the decade from 1860 to 1870 and at the latter date 

 New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio led all the states in the 

 production of butter and cheese. Although the farm property 



1 Charles Seymour, " A Western View of Interstate Transportation," in Atlantic 

 Monthly, xxx. 347 (September, 1873). 



2 C. F. Emerick, " An Analysis of the Agricultural Discontent in the United 

 States," in Political Science Quarterly, xi. 452-463 (September, 1896); A. H. Peters, 

 " The Depreciation of Farming Land," in Quarterly Journal of Economics, iv. 18-33 

 (October, 1889); J. R. Elliot, American Farms, bk. ii. ch. Hi. 



