INFORMATION FOR EMIGRANTS. 2$ 



ibrtable subsistence, but are running behindhand, and must go under, 

 ^ . . But the imperative laws of the seasons have Hmited the time of 

 effective industry of the farmer to about one fourth part of the year,* dur- 

 ing which time the small farmer must make provision for all his force for 



the full year But with the capitalistic farmer it is very different. 



The facts that I have gathered show that upon the Grandin farm, for 

 example, during the four weeks of seed time there were one hundred 

 and fifty men employed ; and for the six weeks of harvest there were 

 two hundred and fifty men, at wages that would barely support the 

 workers during the time they worked ; for the five months from Novem- 

 ber 1st to April 1st, there would be only ten men, as estimated, but in 

 fact only five were employed during that period of the past season, with 

 neither woman or child at any time. While the small farmer is com- 

 pelled to feed, clothe, shelter, and altogether provide for the same num- 

 ber of persons for the whole year, the capitalist feeds, clothes, and shelters 

 ■only about one fourth of the number, in proportion to the amount of 

 work done, and that for less than one fourth of the year. 



In doing this, the capitalist brings to his assistance the most improved 

 and highly developed machinery, such as the small farmer can utilize to 

 but a comparatively slight degree. 



Against the ultimate use of this combination of capital, machinery, 

 and cheap labor, the individual farmer, either singly or in communities, 

 ■cannot successfully contend, and must go under 



The development of the large farm interest has the direct and imme- 

 diate effect of impoverishing the sections in which the farms exist, and 

 .skinning the lands without any compensating benefits. Not one dollar 

 ■of the gross amount or net profit received from the products of the 

 soil is returned and placed upon the land from which it is taken, except 

 in the construction of the fewest buildings necessary to shelter and pro- 

 tect the laborers in the working season, and for the care of the work 

 .stock and tools. 



Taking one farm of five thousand three hundred cultivated acres as an 

 example, there was not one family finding a permanent home by virtue of 

 title in the soil. Where there should be a population of five hundred, 

 "there is not one fixed inhabitant, with all the accessories of household 

 comforts and home improvements." It will be seen from a comparison 

 of the U. S. Census of 1870 with that of i860, that whilst in the States 

 of the Northwest the number of large farms increased, that in Kentucky 

 and the Southern States, for the same period, the number of large farms 

 decreased, and the number of small farms largely increased ; for instance, 

 in Kentucky, the total farms of less than one hundred acres each increased 

 from fifty-eight thousand three hundred and fifty in i860 to ninety-two 

 thousand one hundred and forty-nine in 1870. 



* Contrast Kentucky or Virginia and the South, where the farmer may engage in 

 'effective" productive labor for the entire year. 



