viii BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



been long since taken up, except where they must be reclaimed 

 by irrigation, and capital has of recent years turned its atten- 

 tion to high-priced lands in the west and northwest, only to 

 find that the opportunity for profit was diminished, often to 

 the vanishing point, by the high prices compelled by the expense 

 of reclaiming such lands and bringing them into condition to 

 be used for agricultural purposes. The south and southwest 

 have had their turn as the goal of the capitalist interested in 

 agriculture, and to-day the turn of New England has come. 

 It is apparent that at present prices, or indeed any prices rea- 

 sonably close to them, agricultural land can be had here, often 

 with good buildings and bearing orchards, at prices much below 

 those of other sections. Adding this to the advantage given 

 b}" the great markets which lie at our doors, and which are ours 

 if we will but meet them by supplying the grade of goods called 

 for, makes the proposition xery attractive from the standpoint 

 of capital seeking investment on farming lines. All over the 

 New England States you will find men who have recognized 

 this, have already located, and are engaged in building up some 

 sort of a farm business, most often along some line of fruit 

 growing. This has stimulated a brisk demand for farm prop- 

 erty, with the inevitable result that our farmers have come to 

 hold their property at higher prices, are less inclined to sell and 

 are coming to believe, most often, that their farms are worth as 

 much to them as to others, and hence to take a more hopeful 

 view of the business from every angle. 



From the standpoint of crop production the year has not 

 been an especially successful one. The drought of midsiunmer, 

 coming as it did for the third successive year, and with soil 

 moisture well depleted and streams and springs low, had a bad 

 effect on many crops. The late rains have done a great deal 

 to remedy this condition, and with reasonable rainfall another 

 growing season there seems to be no reason to anticipate any 

 further e\il effects from the drought of this year. The corn 

 crop suffered es{)ecially from the drought, its de\clopment 

 being so slow that many fields were very severely injured by 

 the frosts of mid-September, although they did not come at an 

 unusually early date. Much corn was still standing, awaiting 

 further maturity, and was often rendered valueless for grain and 



