No. 4.] KURAL PROGRESS. 143 



each particular farm or each particular area to its best use. 

 There are thousands of acres that ought to be in forest. 

 There are other thousands growing up to brush that ought 

 to be in orchards and poultry farms to-day, and would be, 

 if the farmers would adapt their soil conditions to the gen- 

 eral market conditions. To my mind, one of the funda- 

 mental things in rural progress is to know the facts ; and 

 therefore I would like to see every State work out a sen- 

 sil)le, practical, thorough agricultural survey of all its ter- 

 ritory. Let the State authorize its Board of Agriculture, 

 with the assistance of the college and station people and 

 })ractical experts, to make actual and careful surveys of the 

 State, and make maps that could be used by the practical 

 farmer. 



Moreover, I see no reason why, when this is done, the 

 State, through its Board of Agriculture, or otherwise, may 

 not try to induce people to settle on those lands. This may 

 seem a queer proposition to the jjeople of Massachusetts. 

 You will say at once that it savors of the western " boom " 

 methods. Well, i)erhai)s it does. But let me tell you an 

 incident. A gentleman who is known all over this country 

 for his scientific work, and who has resided in the middle 

 west a good many j^ears, has a boy who wants to follow 

 horticulture. The father wanted to buy the boy a farm. 

 He travelled all over the country, and saw the land in many 

 of the States in the south and middle west and the west. 

 He spent several weeks trying to find a fruit farm adapted 

 in the best possible way to his boy's work. He went to 

 Florida, California, Minnesota, — he investigated the whole 

 countr}^ ; and he finally bought a fruit farm at a moderate 

 price in the lower Connecticut valley, not very far from 

 here. The choice of the whole country before him, — he 

 came back to New Engfland. 



Now, it may sound sti-ange in your ears, but I believe 

 firmly that there are thousands of men in the middle west 

 who want to follow special lines of farming, such as New 

 England is adapted to, who have no capital, who haven't 

 money to buy some of the high-priced farms in the middle 

 west, who could be induced to buy many of your cheaper 



