Vol. LXXVI. 
NEW YORK. DECEMBER 1, 101" 
No. 4 .‘>55. 
The Future of Eastern Farming. 
The Opportunity and the Need. 
What, in your opinion, are the probable business 
prospects of the Eastern farmer for tlie next ten years 
or longer? Taking it for granted that the buyer re¬ 
ceives good value as measured by present land valua¬ 
tion. would you consider the present a favorable time 
tor a farmer to buy a farm within 50 miles or less of 
New York, or Philadelphia, in a section where good im¬ 
proved farms are selling at from $100 to $150 per acre? 
FARMER. 
I N a general way our opinion is that during the 
next 15 to 25 years the best agricultural oppor¬ 
tunities in this country are to be found on the upper 
Atlantic coast. The war and the Panama Canal are 
likely greatly to increase our export and import 
trade, and the great cities and towns along this 
coast will be very prosperous during the period 
named. The same is 
true to a great extent 
of the manufacturing 
towns and cities in the 
strip of land within 200 
miles or more of the 
coast. A large share of 
the country's 1 i <] u i d 
capital is also bold in¬ 
side this territory, and 
while great quantities 
of it will be sent else¬ 
where for investment, 
the income from it will 
very largely be spent 
here. All these things 
will tend to develop a 
wonderful market on the 
Atlantic slope. We be¬ 
lieve this market will 
grow better and better, 
and that within 25 
years there will be 
within this territory a 
higher class and better 
market for food pro 
ducts than can be found 
in any other part of the 
world. All this will 
lead to a great develop¬ 
ment in fruit and vege¬ 
table growing and in¬ 
tensive farming on the 
smoother lands. 
Many of the rougher 
hillsides suited to the 
purpose will lie given 
up to fruit growing, 
which will in the fu¬ 
ture we think prove 
very profitable to expert 
growers, who can pro¬ 
vide the needed capital 
to take care ot their 
crop and handle it prop¬ 
erly. Farther back from 
the railroads on the 
rougher lands there is 
sure to be a great de¬ 
velopment in poultry 
ami tbe other live stock. 
In some of these remote 
situations the develop¬ 
ment will he slow, but 
we think it will be steady. The most rapid develop¬ 
ment will be on the higher class lands, well located, 
so that perishable crops can he quickly and prompt¬ 
ly shipped to market. So much for the general 
outlook as regards possibilities in farming. 
On the other hand a better and more intelligent 
farmer will be needed for the future to take care 
of these possibilities. Old-fashioned farming, so 
called, will doubtless prevail for some years yet In 
the situations further back from markets, but the 
successful farmer of the future must be of a differ¬ 
ent class. lie will require more capital to do his 
business properly, and must of necessity be a first 
class business njan. The problem of the future will 
be more one of marketing and handling goods than 
one of production. In years past it has been pos¬ 
sible for a man who knew little about good farm¬ 
ing to go into the country, take a piece of land, and 
make a. living and something more. While many 
have failed in a^ effort to do this, there are others 
who have succeeded and have paid out. in the fu¬ 
ture under the new conditions which are rapidly 
surrounding us, baek-to-the-landing, so called, will 
be more difficult than ever before. Farming will 
take rank with manufacturing as an intricate scien¬ 
tific problem to be worked out in a businesslike 
way. and the farmer of the future must be thorough¬ 
ly fitted for bis job in order to make a success 
Hundreds of people apply to us for advice in this 
matter. They appear to think that they can go out 
and buy land now within a reasonable distance of 
the city, make a good living on it and more, and 
grow up with the farm into a high valuation tor the 
land. It is easy to talk this, but working it out will 
be a much harder job, for while, as we have stated, 
ihrougli concerted action; through uniform and 
honest packing, standard and uniform products 
and courage and confidence in selling. Practical 
education along these lines is the greatest need of 
the day. Other sections of the country are entering 
our markets often with products which are natural¬ 
ly inferior to ours hut which are standardized and 
uniformly and honestly packed The land, the mar¬ 
kets, the capital and the men are to be found on the 
Atlantic "lope. Something more will be needed in 
the future—business organization and the "hang 
together" spirit. 
The Belated Family—Like ‘‘The Last Rose of Summer.’’ Fig. 540. 
the future of farming in this country when properly 
conducted seems very bright tit this time, it will 
involve new struggles and new responsibilities for 
the farmer, and it cannot be kept too closely in 
mind that the better the farming prospects grow, 
the better must be the farmer himself, and the 
greater will be his need of intelligence and energy 
and capital. Every day men come to us and ask 
if we think thru can succeed at farming. Not know¬ 
ing the men, their pedigrees and their families, we 
do not know! As for the men now on Eastern farms, 
they need better marketing facilities and greater 
ability to combine in a business way more than they 
need modern scientific education, which trains them 
chiefly in increased production. Give these men a 
fairer share of the consumer’s dollar and they will 
take care of production. It is evident that this 
fairer share of the dollar must come very largely 
Managing the Winter Manure. 
T hirty years ago when 1 took charge of a large 
stock farm near the Blue Ridge in Virginia, 
most of the farm buildings had already been 
erected. Tbe large 
stable lor 10 mules 
bad a driveway through 
the centre slightly 
rounded to sloping 
gutters on each side 
behind the stalls, and 
all was paved w i t h 
brick set in cement. I 
found that the mules 
were not comfortable 
standing on the hard 
floor, for their feet 
would work through 
any bedding placed 
there. Wooden strips 
were placed across me 
rear of tbe stalls and 
the stalls given three 
inches of day mam on 
which the bedding was 
placed. The gutters had 
daily, after the manure 
went out. a good coat 
of plaster, which went 
out with the droppings 
in the morning to the 
shed in the rear, and 
the plaster had a good 
effect in preventing ser¬ 
ious firing till I could 
haul the manure out. 
Once a week the loam 
in the "tails also went 
out and was renewed, 
and this made a good 
absorbent of the urine 
and added materially to 
the manure. 
Manure from all tbe 
stables was hauled out 
as near daily as it was 
practicable and spread 
on the sod that was ro 
go in corn in tin' Spring. 
The cow "table and the 
beef feeding stables had 
cement floors made is 
smooth as a sidewalk, 
and this gave great 
trouble from the cattle 
slipping and falling, 
and 1 bad slatted floor 
made in small sections 
that could be turned up daily for cleaning our. 
The barnyard was tbe problem, for no matter bow 
much litter was put into it. when stock was al 
lowed out, the red Piedmont clay would inevitably 
work into a mire. This called for immediate at¬ 
tention, for I did not want to drain the barnyard 
down into the brook below and waste the manure. 
So I determined that no manure should stay there. 
The yard was cleaned carefully, and as I had a 
rock crusher and engine T had the whole yard ma¬ 
cadamized well all over, and then covered it thickly 
with a coat of dry cement and sand and washed ft 
in with a hose. This gave me a pavement sufficient¬ 
ly smooth and still rough enough to prevent the cat¬ 
tle from falling. Then around the remaining sides 
of the yard I built a shed 164 feet long with loft 
above for bay storage. The open shed below bad 
racks for feeding bay to the stock when out in the 
Published by 
The Rural Publishing Co. 
333 W. 30th Street 
Netv York 
The Rural New Yorker 
The Business Farmer’s Paper 
Weekly, One Dollar Per Year 
Postpaid 
Single Copies, five Cents 
