136 BOARD OF AGlilCULTUKE. [Pub. Doc. 



adapted himself to his market. He liad a small greenhouse. 

 He was doing what in Michigan we used to call "truck 

 farming," and I was told on good authorit}^ that in the pre- 

 vious year he had netted $(3,000 on those 30 acres. There 

 are juany instances all over New England of men who are 

 conspicuous examples of the hopefulness and the possibili- 

 ties of New England aoriculture. 



Another element of hope is the fact that we have men 

 turning from the city to the country. I do not refer so 

 much to the people from the cities who are going out to 

 make summer homes, although that is all right in its way ; 

 but I have in my mind the rapidly increasing number of 

 young men born and bred in cities and small towns, who 

 have never farmed, who are tired of the city, and who are 

 seeking to get into the country, not for purposes of recre- 

 ation, but for purposes of business. Another element of 

 hopefulness will be found in some of the statistics. I have 

 made a comparison, based upon the last census, between the 

 New England territory as a unit and the State of Michigan. 

 I believe that New England ought to be regarded as a natural 

 unit in this question of agricultural progress. The State of 

 Michigan is an average agricultural State, ranking thirteenth 

 in value of agricultural products. It has a little less area 

 than New England. It has a large amount of land that has 

 not yet been brought into cultivation. The upper peninsula 

 has an area as large as Massachusetts and Connecticut to- 

 gether that has hardly been touched by the plow, and the 

 lower peninsula contains what is left of those great forests 

 of pine. It seems to me a comparison between New Eng- 

 land and Michigan is fair, and I took Michigan also be- 

 cause I know something about it myself. Let me call your 

 attention to the chart. 1 give here the round figures. 



