New York AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 35 
when. conditions were wholly abnormal. Many of the buildings 
were erected when lumber and other materials were cheap and 
when the comforts and facilities now placed in barns and resi- 
dences were unknown. Moreover, deserted farm buildings are 
likely to stand until they fall down. In cities, land and location are 
valuable, and old buildings are torn down to make room for the 
new structures. Therefore, the country contrasts strongly with the 
city in respect to its buildings. The staring and windowless farm 
houses appeal to the imagination of the town visitor, and he ac- 
cepts them at once as evidences of failure and decline. 
In order to determine the significance of deserted farmhouses, 
we have made an inquiry in Caroline township, Tompkins County, 
cited as one of the abandoned farm regions. Every deserted farm- 
house in that township has been seen by our representatives. Con- 
ditions in Caroline are as bad as anywhere in the county. Many 
of the farms are on the volutia silt loam, often undrained, high in 
elevation, and far from markets. Yet by actual count, there are 
only forty-five vacant farmhouses in the township, the area of 
which is more than forty-five square miles. One might draw the 
conclusion at once that there are forty-five abandoned farms in the 
township. It is doubtful, however, whether there is a single really 
abandoned farm in this area. It is true that there are many fields 
on the higher farms, especially in the south half of the township, 
that are not used except for hay and pasture and. some 
that are not even used for these purposes. Practically all these so- 
called abandoned farms are either owned. or rented by nearby 
farmers and have really become a part of the adjacent farm. The 
house is unoccupied for the simple reason that the farmer needs 
but one house. In at least one case a new house was built and the 
old one left because the farmer had not found time to tear it down. 
A few vacant houses have been deserted by families who, have lost 
their “homes on mortgage, but apparently not primarily from fault 
of the land. Many others have been sold because of discontent on 
the part of the owners, who wished to try their fortunes elsewhere. 
In some cases the owner has died and the house been left unoccupied 
because the estate has not yet been settled. A few more are vacant 
because tenants cannot be secured, and the farm is rented to whom- 
ever is willing to take it on shares. 
Similar remarks may be made with respect to many of the ap- 
parently abandoned fields. Because of inability to secure labor, 
the fence-rows and fences are often not as clean as formerly, and 
