Boon's Lick times. [volume] (Fayette, Mo.) 1840-1848, 1841-02-20

doing this, | will enumerate the circum-
stances that have contributed to It's adj
vancement and those which have made
against it.
Since the revolution, the repeal Of the
law of ogenture-a!lodial titles, the
facility of acquiring portions of our vast
territory, and protected industry presented
grand theatre for the display of the pro-
ductivc powers of agriculture, and with
these advantages. without aid from the gov
eminent, it has been the chief agent in ma
king the the United States what they are.
Here has been an expansion of population,
intelligence and wealth, which has aston
ished the world. The disadvantages which
have operated against agriculture in the
United States are the following:
The original emigrants brought with
them very imperfect knowledge Of tillagc.
the art being then but little understood in
the mother country.
The emergencies attending new settle
ments in savage land prevented improve
ment
The great quantity of land and scarcity
of laborers, caused the people to be perfect
. " regardless Of the preservation of the
soil The fashion was to attend corn and
tobacco in the same fields as long as they
would produce. then throw them away and
clear new ones.
In the old States, we find thousands of
acres that have thus been exhausted and
grown up in thick underwood.
In Kentucky, our habits of negligence
have been increased by the fertility Of our
soil; nature having done so much many OF
us concluded there was very little for man
to do, and it is melancholy fact that at
this very time two-thirds of the first clear
ed fields in the State will not produce half
as much as they did at first.
Among the causes that have retarded the
progress of our farming, none more de-
serves our notice than the general passion
for large tracts OF land The great length
of our rivers, the vast extent of on CONT
nent, and the cheapncss Of wild lands, have
given US large ideas, and we have come to
measure our wealth by the number of acres
we possess. And in this wild career, with
hearts of controversy, we lay out all our
means in extending our territory. Hence
our country now presents 50 many large
tracts incumbered with old logs, brush
piles and weeds. 1t is said there are three
elements of wealth: land, labor and capital
this is bad classification, there is in
truth but one clement of wealth, and that
is labor. Capital is nothing but concentra-
ted labor. The man who lives on the profits
of houses, goods and money, lives on labor
that has been performed. Land without
labor is Of no value. 1t is from the labor
and not from the land we derive profit A
million of dollars laid out in wild land will
not bring the owner a dinner or cent
One acre in good cultivation produces more
profit than thousand that is uncultivated
There never was greater mistake than
the investment of capital in land to lie idle
Let us look at case in miniature, and the
idea can be applied to the whole State.
OF two neighbours having good land
suppose one has kept one hundred acres OF
his land for the last fifty years under good
til!agc, while the other has kept hundred
acres of his uncleared, the profits Of the
one hundred acres under tillage, say is
worth $500 annually, and this annual in
come is put a. such profitable use as that the
principal and interest accruing will have
yielded 6 per cent. annually; the amount in
fifty years would be $90,Al6 70; while he
of the woodland would have been all the
time paying taxes and receiving no profits.
II one half Of the capital that is now in
vested in lan.l in Kentucky was invested in
labor upon the other half, it can be demon
strated by any man competent 10 make cal
culatons, that the aggregate wealth Of the
State would be more than doubled. The
criterion of the size Of farms ought to be
this: to have them no larger than the labor
employed, could keep in the highest state
of cultivation. While a farmer has logs
and brush, and weeds and worn out fields
in his limits, he should never think Of adj
ding. lie that has a large tract of land
and few laborcrs, and is living in poy-
erty among thorns and thistIes, let him sell
hall and employ the proceeds in culivating
the other hall, and he will grow rich by the
change. Our people are sent off to the
new States-our school houses are empty
from the sparsaness Of our population and
thousands OF children arc growing up in IL
noranco and actually poverty from the vain
pride Of their fathers to have large tracts Of
land.
But the great disadvantage under which
American agriculture has had to labor, is
the neglect Of the government. When we
have seen that tie ancient Egyptian, Assy-
rian, Persian, Phocnician, jew, Chinese.
and the inhab!tanL OF ancient India, became
great and prosperous by bringing the pow
or Of government and religion in aid Of IN
dividual industry in cultivating the earth:
when we have seen that all the modern 90
vernneats Of Europe have discovered and
are NJ" practising this ancient princi-