1890.] 



PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 4. 



xvii 



ago ? " >vas prepared with the view of ascertaining whether deserted 

 or abandoned farms are increasing in number. Our replies would 

 indicate that they are not. The following table will give an idea 

 of the number, as compared with ten years ago : — 



It may be justly said that the number of deserted farms is no 

 criterion of the prosperity of the farming community. To a 

 certain extent the presence of deserted farms indicates an advance 

 in agriculture. No doubt some abandoned farms in the State 

 ought never to have been cultivated. Some farms are deserted 

 because the land does not pay for the labor of cultivation, or 

 because they are so isolated as to make them undesirable as homes. 

 Improvements in farm methods and farm machinery have had their 

 influence, and no doubt have added to the number in localities 

 where the soil is naturally poor, or so rough as to preclude the 

 use of farm machinery. In some cases a portion of the land 

 belonging to a deserted farm is absorbed into the farm of a more 

 successful neighbor, while the house, being of little value as a 



