Jasper County Democrat, Volume 9, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 August 1906 — LETTER FROM THE “OLD MAN” [ARTICLE]

LETTER FROM THE “OLD MAN”

Tells of Town and Country and Flore About Depreciation In Farm Values. * NUMBER FOUR. [As these letter* have been read with considerable interest, and some point* touched upon, especially the farming conditions, I have been asked to go into a little deeper, I will endeavor to “complete my trip’' in this tetter and also explain the farming; conditions in this section of central New York as I find them.] In my previous letters I have said but little of the town or village of Worcester, a beautiful little town of about 900 population lying on the Worcester creek, near the southeastern corner of Otsego county. It lies in a beautiful valley and ia an up-to-date little village, having telephone, electric lights and waterworks, all owned by private corporations. The water is obtained from a fine lake of pure spring water lying about one and one-balf miles from the town and probably 300 to 400 feet above it, on a hill. The natural pressure is so strong that a cheok valve to reduce the strain to keep from bursting the pipes, was pat in about half way down the hill. It will be seen that the expense of operating waterworks of this kind is practically nothing, and I am told the company, which is about twenty yestrs old, has a surplus accumulated of Borne $25,000, The town has three hotels, an excellent local paper and practically all branches of business are represented here. The last statement issued by the one bank in the town shows deposits of $339,541.11, and total resources of $414,115.24. [ Worcester is one of the prettiest little towns imaginable, and with its intelligent people, well kept lawns, attractive residences, good Btreets and railroad facilities, together with fine sconety, is a good shipping-point, and it has become quite a summer resort, and the hotels and many private residences and near by farm bouses care for quite a number of city folk, mostly from New York, each season. The citizens here all take great pride in keeping their residences and outbuildings well painted, their lawns neatly trimmed and the streets free from waste or rubbish of any kind. The D. & H. railroad runs along the south side of the town, and probably over one hundred trains a day are run over this division, many of course being coal trains. The road is double-tracked boost of the way from Binghampton to Albany. A rate of 3 cents*per mile is charged on this road to passengers, but a 500 mile mileage book is sold for SLO, good for any member of the purchaser’s family and good until all used up. No questions are asked by conductors, and nearly everyone here uses these books. If they do not own one themselves they hire a a book, there being numerous places in every town where the books can be had at cents per mile for as many miles as one wishes to go, the owner making a profit of J cent per mile on them. Now, as to farther information about the farming conditions here, I will say that my remarks will be oonfined to the conditions in this part of the country near Worcester, only. I understand the same conditions prevail eleewbere, but 1 will only mention them as I personally see them here. Understand, there is no demand for farms whatever, and the few changing hands are hunting owners, rather than being searched for by purchasers. Here are a few samples of the way improved farms are selling in this locality: Farm of 181 acres, lays well, and all can be worked with machinery, 2 miles to railroad town of 400 to 500 population over easy grades; has large bouse in good repair and probably .worth $800; milk house and other buildings; fine large basement, barn built in 1889 at oost of $2,200; bop bouse, wagon and implement house combined, fine large orchard from wbiob considerable fruit is usually sold; water piped from neverfailing spring on side of bill, runs continually a large 000 l stream in kitchen of house, from there to milk-house, and thence to tauk in barnyard. Owner refused SB,OOO for farm after barn was built, but died a few years later and his sons did not get on well together. Two years ago this farm was thrown on the market and was sold for $2,250, S6O more than the big barn alone oost 20 yean ago.

This farm has always been considered an extra good one and finely improved, and the price it sold for is an exceptionally low one. * Another farm that I have known since boyhood consists of between 90 and 100 acres, has fine sugar bush, sidehill land but productive, and can all be mowed with machine. Sold for $3,500 thirty-five years ago, buildings need some repairs, probably $l5O would put them in excellent condition, large house, running water, horse barn and wagon house combined, large cattle and hay barn, good orohard, excellent grass, oats and potatoes growing on farm this year; £ mile to school and cheese factory and 6 miles to railroad town over good road. The old folks both died in the past six or seven years and left no children. The farm was thrown on the market and recently sold for S7OO. One man can easily raise enough potatoes alone in one year to pay for it. Another farm with which I am equally well acquainted contains about 100 acres, half of which lies well and is productive, balance timber and hill land covered with timber, baa fair honse, barn, etc.; SIOO would have put both in good repair. This farm is within one mile of small town and cheese factory, | mile school, good roads, 5 miles of good railroad town, of 1,000. It sold in the last year for $550. I might go on and mention numerous other instances of the extreme low price that farms are selling for here, but the above will give the reader a fair idea, although it is bard to believe that such conditions can exist in a highly civilized community such as this. The causes for this state of affairs may be summed up in a few words: The old people have either died off or become too old to farm, the boys have gone west or to the cities and towns, and it is almost impossible to secure farm labor, the factory and town drawing them there and away from the farm. As proof of this statement we cite the fact that under a recent five-year census taken here, this county (Otsego) showed a net loss in population of some 400, wbile Oneonta, where the D. & H. railroad shops are located, gained about 2,000. Thus the country and smaller towns outside 'of Oneonta, must have lost 2,400 in population in the past five years. (These figures may not be correct, but they are approximately so.) Now, as to the crops grown here, the timber, the character of the soil, etc., I will mention as briefly as possible: Every farm has several acres of timber, so fuel and fencing costs nothing but the labor of cutting, and a market for any surplus wood is found in the towns at good prices. The timber is hard maple, beech, birch (white and red), hemlock, some chestnut, pine, ash, oak, and numerous other woods in smaller quantity. The soil is rather a yellowish clay with gravel and numerous small flat stoues mixed with it, and the crops grown are hay,* oats, rye, buckwheat, wheat, barley and other small grains, some corn, hope and potatoes. The latter crop usually pays best, as potatoes are reliable and generally bring good prices, seldom under 40 cents per bushel. Not muoh corn is grown, owing to the shortness of the season, and no small grain to speak of is marketed, but instead is fed out on the farm. Several of the more progressive farmers have silos, and sow "western corn,” aB they call the corn grown with us, for silo use. Dairying is on the increase in this locality, and it is a healthful sign, as it means more produce fed out on the farm and an improvement in the lands where stock is kept. Every village and hamlet now has its cheese factory, while the railroad towns have “milk stations” where the milk is purchased and shipped to New York City, only about five or six houre away by rail. The dairyman gets about two centß per quart for bis milk now at either place. There baß also been a great increase in poultry growing here of late years, and probably ten times as many eggs are produced as there were ten years ago. It see ms they go in more for the eggs than in growing poultry for market, and there are more Leghorn chiokens kept than all other breeds combined, beoause it is thought they are the beet layers. Notwithstanding the great increase in the production of eggs— which is almost

as great the country over—the pride is rather better than it used to be. and is now 18 cents per dozen, while I believe 17 centß is the lowest eggs have sold here this season. I saw one groceryman sorting over his eggs, picking out all the large white ones and putting .them in cuses by themselves. On being questioned he told me that those large white eggs —from the Leghorn hens —he sold in New York for two cents more per dozen than he could get lor the mixed eggs, and he was then paying 18 cents for mixed eggs., This is a natural sheep country, and a great many sheep used to be grown here, and paid well. They still pay well, but for some reason few are now kept. The sidehills could be utilized for sheep pasi tore, and as cheap as land is, it seems to me one could almost coin money here in the sheep business. There is no disease or otjher good reason why sheep should not be grown here to great profit. Farmers have apparently just got out of growing them, though all with whom I talked said they “paid we4l but required good fences.” A little work would supply the fencing at practically no money cost.

Another thing I found here was that few hogs—denominated by many successful farmers in the middle west as the “mortgage lifters” —are grown here. This is another source of profit that is sadly neglected by the farmers of this section of the state. I find that the industrious, intelligent, progressive farmer, who tills his laud well is apparently making money here as elsewhere, and 1 believe, all things considered, money can be made here easier and as fast excepting possibly increase in value of^land —as in the west or middle west. Of course one cannot grow grain here for market and compete with the west, but he can grow hay, buckwheat and potatoes, and for dairying and small stock growing it is better adapted than the high-priced lands of the middle west, and here all the advantages of the eastern market, which regulate the prices for the western farmers, are at one’s door, while good roads, close neighbors, society, pure air, excellent water and a healthful climate are among the advantages here over the medium priced lands of the far west. Crop failures are unknown here, the rainfall being about the same each year, and I must say that! notwithstanding the extremely low price of farm land the crops are as good—if not the best —through the Susquehanna valley of any place I have seen in the entire state, and I have been over considerable of it since leaving home. Some people here think the tide of immigration will eventually turn from the west and that these lands will then rapidly advance in price to something near their real value. I found the political sentiment here strongly favorable to W. J. Bryan, and was told by many prominent people that Bryan would not only carry the democratic vote solid throughout the state but would receive many re- \ publican votes here should he! again be the democratic nominee i for the presidency. If this is true' —and I have no good reason for doubting the statement—it shows a great change in the feeling here iu the past few years. One thing that strikes the visitor from our section of the country is the„scaroity of silver dollars iu circulation here. One and two dollar bills take their place, and the whole time 1 was there 1 whb; given but one silver dollar in change. Halves, quarters and dimes are pleuty, but so scarce is tbe big daddy dollar we are used j to that one longs for the sight of a few once in awhile. I found this same condition both in tbe country and in the oities, and it is evident that the silver dollar circulates almost exclusively in the weßt and middle west. Returning home 1 had a most pleasant trip also. Leaving Worcester on the D. & H' at 10:22 a. m., I went to Oneonta—23 miles and there took the Oneonta and Mohawk Valley trolley line across the country north to Mohawk and the Mohawk and Utica line to the latter place, there taking the New York Central road to Buffalo. This trolley ride was some 50 or 60 miles in length and numerous pretty little lowns are passed through. We go up along the shores of Schuyler’s Lake, through Richfield Springs a summer resort still of considerable note, pass through valleys and ravines and finally reach the the beautiful town of Mohawk From here we pass along the Erie caual for several miles. From Buffalo I came through to Hammond on tbe old reliable Wabash, one of the best roads that I have ever traveled over. Oar route from Buffolo to Detroit was practically all through

Canada, and for several miles we skirted the shores of Lake Erie, crossing over to Detroit at Windsor. Of the country along tbe route space forbids special mention, but the territory through Canada was generally sparsely settled, although crops there generally looted well. Through the northern part of Indiana oats were very light and corn was very uneven. Apples will be a very light crop apparently in New York and Michigan, and tne price will be “out of sight” again with us. My trip was of about 3,000 miles, oyer 600 of which was by water, and I‘was in five states and the Province of Canada. It was a very enjoyable trip all the way through, and I hope these necessarilly rather lengthy letters have been of some interest to readers of the Democrat, with whom I am glad to be back once more.

F. E. BABCOCK.