POSSIBILITIES OF WORN-OUT FARMS. 39 



other professions, crowded the ranks of the factory workers, and 

 increased the consuming population at the expense of the pro- 

 ducers. "Abandoned" and neglected farms became common. 

 They, were commonly referred to as "worn-out farms"; but this 

 term was a misnomer. The hillsides of New England abounded, 

 and still abound, in plant food, and here is where the New England 

 farmer missed his opportunity. 



Until the outbreak of the civil war, the American people were 

 a people of small undertakings. The country stores and peddlers' 

 carts handled the inland trade, and the business of the whole 

 country was done locally. If, in the face of the sharp competition 

 already referred to, the farmers of New England had exercised 

 their Yankee ingenuity to make two blades of grass grow where 

 one grew before, in other words, had shown more faith in the land 

 and had worked it to better advantage, there would never have 

 been the "decadence of New England agriculture" so often men- 

 tioned. But the continual reliance upon hay as the leading crop, 

 and the failure to handle in a rational manner, land that might 

 easily be cultivated, lost the day for a time at least. 



Another very important reason for the abandonment of certain 

 New England farms, or portions of farms, is the fact that even in 

 close proximity to such farms may be found other lands that are 

 equally productive, or more so, and that are easier of cultivation. 

 In other words, our forefathers, in carving their farms out of the 

 forest, almost invariably chose the hillsides, even though the land 

 was rocky and relatively poor; for the valleys were frosty by 

 reason of the absence of atmospheric drainage, while the surround- 

 ing forests protected the hillsides from the sweep of winter winds 

 and summer gales. 



As the forests have been cleared away, the hills are swept alike 

 in summer and in winter; the valleys have become better drained, 

 and the relatively poorer character of the hill soil has become 

 manifest. As a result of this, the owner of such lands, even though 

 he may remain in the vicinity of his old home, sees that as a busi- 

 ness proposition it is sometimes wiser to apply his energies to the 

 more easily cultivated fields. 



As our fathers moved westward, with the development of Ohio, 

 Indiana, and Michigan, the same mistakes were again made. 



