Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 130, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 May 1913 — RAILROADS HELP OUT [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

RAILROADS HELP OUT

ORGANIZED EFFORTS TO PROMOTE GOOD FARMING. Avowedly a Business Proposition on the Part of the Lines, a Great Impetus is Given Movement for Better Farming.

On account of the great extent of the agricultural promotion work ot

the railroads in soliciting new settlers and in encouraging the use of better farming methods, the, influence of railroad companies plays an Important part hi the present day movement for

better farming. This work is carried on, the companies themselves assert, as a business proposition. The more farmers along a road the more tonnage; their prodncts are to be hauled away and their supplies brought to them. Freight traffic is Increased through better methods of agriculture, and passenger traffic also derives a benefit from increases in population. But regardless of the fact that this great work on the part of the railroad companies is not entirely philanthropic, it certainly is a splendid thing for the fanners themselves. And it Is, without doubt, greatly appreciated by them—the new settler# especially.— Most of the lines of work undertaken by railroad companies for the promotion of agriculture mhy be dl-

Tided into two general classes. The first of these classes consists of efforts to increase the number of .farmers in the regions along the railroads concerned; while the second class of work may be called educational and looks to an Increase In the production of farms already established. Such projects as those rdla£ing to the Increase of available farm lands, the supply of farm labor, and the establishment or Improvement of markets and marketing systems, are offered by railroads, which also engage either in “immigration” or agricultural educational work or in both.

To compare one part of the United States with another, as to the mileage operated, the territorial groups as defined by the interstate commerce commission have been taken as a basis. Educational work was conducted in practically all parts of the United States in 1912, more than one-half of the mileage of each territorial group was operated by companies making special efforts to introduce better methods of farming. The smallest percentage of mileage involved In agricultural education was in group three, including the region extending from western New York and Pennsylvania to the eastern boundary of Illinois, and from the Ohio river to the Straits of Mackinac. But even in in this region the railroads engaged in agricultural education operated more than 15,000 miles of line, or over 58 per cent, of the total mileage for that territorial group. The highest percentage In this comparison is for group eight, which comprises Kansas. Oklahoma, Arkansas, and parts of Missouri and Colorado. For "Immigration” work, consisting in efforts to bring more farmers into territory served by the roads doing the work, the percentages of mileage ranged from 7 to 89 per cent. The low figure refers to group two, including nearly all the area of the! Middle Atlantic states from New York to Maryland, Inclusive; while the highest percentage applies to group seven, which consists of Nebraska. Wyoming, Montana and parts of North and South Dakota.

Map Showing Territorial Groups of Railroads.