No. 4.] 



RUliAL PROiaiESS. 



137 



You will notice that the area of improved land is consid- 

 erably larger in Michigan than it is in New England. When 

 it comes to the value of the product, however, the tables 

 are turned. We have for New England a value of $170,- 

 000,000, and for Michigan $147,000,000. Then we have, 

 in the case of the value of the product per acre of improved 

 land, which represents as nearly as we can get at it from 

 the census figures the returns to the man who is farming, in 

 New England a value in exact figures of $20.84 per acre of 

 improved land, while in Michigan it is only $12.42. 



Is it not significant, that, while it is true that there is less 

 land farmed in New England than in Michigan, not only is 

 the total value of the farm product greater in New England, 

 but the value per acre of land that is available for agricul- 

 ture is vastly greater? I am quite aware that there are two 

 factors in this comparison that qualify the conclusion. In 

 the first place, the census figures are for one stated year, 

 and that stated year may not be typical. We ought to have 

 a group of years, and average the group. I am also aware 

 that this value per acre of improved land is the gross value, 

 and does not represent the profit to the farm ; that your 

 New England agriculture is more largely intensive than that 



