New York Farm Lands. 
Are Any of Them “Fertile"? 
FRIEND and I disagree upon a certain subject, 
and I am going to ask you which is right. This 
friend has never lived in New York .State, but has 
visited there, and thinks there are no really fer¬ 
tile lands in the State, not even in the river valleys, 
and that the use of commercial fertilizers is neces¬ 
sary on all New York soils. Of course, in the mat¬ 
ter of fertility, she looks at it from the standpoint 
of one whose whole farming experience has been on 
the rich black loam of Illinois, while I, on the pther 
side, have been reading much about New York soils 
and crops, especially Western New York, and have 
come to think the valleys and even some uplands 
are quite fertile, and that with livestock on a farm, 
chemicals. The fact is that many of the famous 
Western soils are badly run down through poor 
farming or one-sided farming. Farmers are coming 
to the use of “chemicals” in order to restore them. 
These farmers will deny the statement, and say 
that they are not using “chemicals,” but limestone 
and phosphate rock. They do not seem to realize 
that agricultural history shows that others before 
them travelled along that same road to the full use 
of “chemicals.” They will go the same route. On 
the other hand, some of the “poor” Eastern soils 
are producing more corn, grass, small grains, pota¬ 
toes and similar farm crops per acre than the best 
land in the Mississippi Valley! For example, the 
average yield of corn per acre in Connecticut is con¬ 
siderably higher than in Illinois or Iowa, while the 
price is at least 50 per cent, higher. Some of the 
poor lands through the West, but no one seeks to 
point them out as typical of the Western country. 
On the other hand, many Western people seem to 
think our thin Eastern soils are all we have on the 
Atlantic coast. New York has all sorts of soils— 
some of them the best and most profitable in the 
country, and practically all of them capable of 
great improvement through drainage, good culture, 
lime and chemicals whenever the crops caii be sold 
to good advantage. 
It is amusing to the intelligent Eastern farmer 
to listen to this law that a farm can only be con¬ 
sidered fertile and profitable when it can be worked 
without the use of fertilizers. We regard that as 
a very narrow view. As well say that the only good 
farmer is the one who provides all needed labor 
from his own family and does not need to hire any 
A Field of Oats on a Western New York Farm. Fig. 343. 
and proper rotation, good results could be obtained 
without the use of commercial fertilizers. I do not 
see why one could not get as good returns from 
New York valley land at $75 per acre as from Illi¬ 
nois or Iowa corn belt land, now priced at from 
$200 to $300 per acre. The question at issue is 
whether it would be a wise move for an Illinois 
land owner to sell here and invest one-third or one- 
half of proceeds in Eastern land which should bring 
in a good income, while a considerable balance of 
proceeds could be put at interest. e. s. w. 
Illinois. 
If you wanted to match the opinion of the aver¬ 
age Eastern farmer about the West you should take 
the opinion of the Western farmer about the East. 
One thinks all Western soil is like a garden—the 
other seems to believe all Eastern soil is thin and 
sterile, kept going only by using great dressings, of 
soils in New York—along the limestone ridges and 
in the valleys—is naturally stronger than most 
of the soil in the Middle West. We must remember 
that much of this soil is nearly 100 years older in 
cultivation than cultivated farms in Illinois. Yet 
in the district around Syracuse and west through 
the center of the State there are to be found farms 
which will produce as much Alfalfa and corn to the 
acre as the best Illinois land can grow, and without 
the use of chemicals where live stock is fed. On 
many of these farms the crops of Alfalfa hay are 
sold for more than they would bring if fed to cat¬ 
tle. and in such cases chemicals will be used to re¬ 
plenish the laud. It may be good business to use 
$15 worth of chemicals to produce $G0 worth of 
hay. There are many New York farms on the hills 
which contain thin and poor land, mainly useful 
as pasturage or for tree planting. There are equally 
labor! Good farming carries the same principles 
which are found in manufacturing or any other 
successful business. If a farmer can hire labor, 
buy new tools and stock or use chemicals so as to 
produce a unit of his crop, whatever it may be, 
cheaper than he could without such things, he is 
doing a profitable business. Years ago there were 
little factories and mills at the water powers 
throughout the East. As time went on the owners 
found that they must add steam to the water powers 
in order to compete with others. No one could fair¬ 
ly criticize them for doing this and the wise use of 
chemicals on our Eastern farms is just as much a 
business proposition as is the use of steam in addi¬ 
tion to the water power. The fact is that some of 
the best and most profitable farming in the country 
is now to be found along the upper Atlantic coast 
on land which has been longer in cultivation than 
