36 The State and the Farmer 



profitableness in farming. Every farm is a 

 problem by itself and what may have been re- 

 sponsible for the defeat of one farmer may not 

 have been the cause of the embarrassment of 

 his neighbor. Some of the decline no doubt 

 lies directly with the man, quite independently 

 of the land: it is psychological and perhaps 

 even hereditary, and in its community aspects 

 it is social; but these phases I am not now 

 prepared to discuss. 



The larger number of the farms of appar- 

 ently declining efficiency are in the hill regions. 

 In New York, many of them are on soils of 

 the volusia series, particularly on the volusia 

 silt loam. This soil is of low humus content, 

 usually with a high and compact subsoil, and 

 limited root area. Many of these farms are 

 unsuccessful in part because of their climate. 

 They are elevated. It is often impossible to 

 grow with profit the common varieties of corn 

 and even of other grain. Sometimes the diffi- 

 culty lies in their remoteness and the cost of 

 transportation, together with the poor schools 

 and social disadvantages that are a part of 



