58 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



like to tell you about the productiveness of New England soils as 

 compared with other sections of the country. How this soil is not 

 dead hut is teeming with countless millions of bacteria, anxious 

 to produce crops for the farmer if only given an opportunity through 

 improved methods of tillage, crop rotation, soiling crops, and 

 judicious use of lime and fertilizers. I would like to speak in detail 

 of the unusual opportunities in practically every town in New Eng- 

 land. I can show you how New England beats the country in the 

 production of crops and the income per acre from our farms. For 

 instance, the average yield of corn in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and 

 Iowa is only 37 bushels to the acre, valued at SI 4.09. Connecticut's 

 average yield is 40 bushels, Massachusetts 37, with a value of $27.54 

 per acre for the former, and $25.26 for the latter. Notice the 

 return for the New England product is nearly double that of the 

 middle western corn states. Furthermore, the average income per 

 acre of improved land on Connecticut farms is $26. 50, Rhode Island 

 $33.80, Massachusetts 832.74. The average for Ohio, Indiana, 

 Illinois, and Iowa is only $12.58, less than half as much as for the 

 New England states. 



I would like to consider some specific cases of gratifying returns 

 from New England produce. I would speak of roasters selling at 

 $4 each, hothouse lambs at $10 to $15 each, strawberry returns of 

 $200 to $1500 an acre, asparagus at $100 to $600 an acre, onions 

 at $1000 to $1500 an acre, many of the truck or market garden crops 

 at $600 to $1500 an acre. Large fruits such as apples and peaches 

 at S500 to $1000 an acre, tobacco at $200 to $800, not to mention 

 the profits of other special crops, livestock enterprises, and general 

 line of farm activities. These figures are not exaggerated for I 

 have personally visited farms and have friends who are securing 

 the returns indicated. I could cite dozens of instances where 

 enterprising men have bought places, paid for them, made a living, 

 given their children an education, and actually saved money besides. 

 Compare these figures with some of the western receipts and note 

 the superior results of New England. When I visited homepeople 

 back in Michigan they can hardly credit the stories of New England 

 possibilities, which I am not bashful about relating. Remember, 

 too, the price of farm and fruit lands in New England as compared 

 with that in the West. In the latter section prices have advanced 



