No. 4. RURAL PROGRESS. 139 



product per acre of improved land, and the gain has been 

 great during these twenty years. For instance, in 1880 the 

 value of the product per acre of improved land in Massachu- 

 setts was $11.35 ; in 1890, $17 ; in 1900, $32.73, which you 

 see is much above the average for New England, — $20.84. 



If there are any in this audience who are residents of the 

 city, business men, I want just a word with you. It seems 

 to me that from the standpoint of a citizen of New England, 

 irrespective of your occupation, it ought to appeal to you 

 that New England agriculture is worth saving. In the first 

 place, because it is of advantage to you, immediately, per- 

 sonally. It is of advantage to you to have New England 

 farm products. You can never get the same products from 

 a distance that will compete on your table with the products 

 grown within a reasonable distance. It is for the interests 

 of your artisans that they shall be able to maintain a fair 

 standard of living. It means considerable to your manufac- 

 turing industries that that should be true. 



But from a broader standpoint. New England agriculture 

 is worth saving because of its imi)ortance as an industry. I 

 want to bring in a few more figures. As I understand it, 

 the greatest group of manufacturing industries in New Eng- 

 land is the textile group, — the manufacture of textiles. I 

 understand that New England leads the country in this re- 

 spect. Now, according to the census of 1900 the capital 

 invested in the textile industries of New Eno-land was some- 

 what above $525,000,000. In the same year the value of 

 the farms of New England was $640,000,000. In the State 

 of Massachusetts, according to the census, the largest single 

 industry is that of cotton goods manufacturing. There was 

 invested in the cotton goods manufacture in Massachusetts a 

 capital of $156,000,000. The same census of 1900 gave as 

 the value of the farms, including buildings, live stock, etc., 

 in Massachusetts, $183,000,000. The city of Boston is one 

 of the seven or eight largest manutacturing cities in the 

 United States, and the largest manufacturing city in your 

 great manufacturing area of New England. According to 

 the census of 1900 there were over 7,000 manufacturing 

 establishments in that city, and they had a capital invested 



