18 



edge, in typical New England fashion. All of the fields were 

 more or less irregular in their boundaries, and from some of 

 them cartloads of stones had heen removed, with more to fol- 

 low. The land was " kept busy." Market gardening was the 

 main feature, but there was fruit ; and there were " side lines " 

 of dairying and poultry, for utilizing " clippings " and unsal- 

 able remnants of the principal products* This farm is yield- 

 ing a profit of $5,000 a year. 



Other farms visited, which to the unaccustomed eye might 

 look small, are yielding net returns of from $2,000 to $10,000, 

 and even $12,000, a year. Greater thrift and satisfaction in 

 work well done one could not hope to find in any State. 



Mr. Baxter, in the article above cited, gives the following 

 instances : 



A half-acre strawberry patch, . . . yields 5,000 quarts, worth $625. 

 Eleven hundred dollars have come from an acre and a half of canta- 

 loups. There are thousands of acres in asparagus in Massachusetts alone, 

 with profits of $300 or even $600 an acre. An Italian makes from 

 $4,000 to $5,000 a year off of 4 acres in market gardening. Five acres 

 in peaches have yielded $2,500 in one year. Apples! That is a story 

 in itself. And flowers? Well, there is a lady on Cape Cod who makes 

 $200 or so every summer on a patch of sweet peas little bigger than 

 a city back yard. As for potatoes and corn, there are numerous big 

 records. 



(7) Comparison of productivity with other States shows 

 farming prospects to be good. Secretary Ellsworth, in the 

 pamphlet before mentioned, is outspoken and explicit in his 

 estimate of the agricultural prospects of Massachusetts. This 

 has previously been intimated, and will more clearly appear 

 from the following passage : 



. . . when ratio of aggregate production to aggregate acreage, yield 

 per acre of certain crops and character of tillage are considered, Massa- 

 chusetts ranks favorably with the leading agricultural States. The 

 following data, gleaned from the latest official statistics, add strength 

 to this statement : 



In 1900 Massachusetts had 3,147,064 acres in farms, which yielded 

 the previous year $42,298,274 worth of farm products. As compared 

 with the five leading agricultural States, we find California, with nine 

 times this number of acres in farms, producing only three times as 



