Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, W.T. [i.e. Wis.]) 1843-1844, 1843-05-06

whose kind interposition should have been in.
deed stranger in the land. l returned by
steamer TO Stonington, and from thence by
railway TO Boston where arrived on the mor,
ming Of the 18th exactly ten weeks from the
day on which landed there from Liverpool.
found the Britannia steamer now at Boston,
and was heartily welcomed by Captain Gle
land and Lieutenant Roberts. The same day
| attended dinner on board and witnessed
ed the presentation to the Captain of piece of
plate to which, along with my fellow passen-
gers from Liverpool, | had sheerfully sub
scribed as an acknowledgment of our sense
Of his kind and polite attention, and the sea-
manship and discipline displayed by him on a
voyage fol the greater part so extremely hois-
ferrous as that which, in April and May, We
performed with him to Halifax.
Now on the eve of bidding farewell to A.
merica. must express the high qualification
have derived from my visit 10 that great, ris-
ing country, the advancement, of which in pow
er and richness, is, with reference to the period
that has interviewed since it ranked as an in
dependent state, or even looking back to the
very dawn of its civilization, perhaps unpar-
aelled in the history of nations:
II has not been my province to speak Of its
extensive commerce; or TO its growing manu.
features. Its agriculture was the chief object
of my attention, and in that have seen an i'm.
measurable source of wealth, naturally attract
ing much of the capital and vast portion Of
It's own population. and atfordng also. an al
Turing invitation 10 the inhabitants Of other
countries, and more especially the British
farmer.
That there is much room for improvement
in the practice of American agriculture. have
enceasOred In some respects TO point out and
It is an important and encouraging considera-
lion, that the defects calling for remedy in a
great measure proceeded from an excellence Of
the soil and climate. which, operating SO spon-
taneously in production. have as yet left 10 a
beyance those exeriions which. as is exempli-
fled in other countries, less fertile soil and a
more ungenial climate, would have drawn forth,
il having been well expressed by a celebrated
agricultural writer. that ,ohere manure is bounii.
fu!. man is too aptfo be incident.
If might presume to address, and could i'm.
sgne my advice could reach, the landed pro.
PfoPriosoIo of he States. 1 would IMPRESS M.
on Their attention the advantages 10 be derived
from an observance Of the modes Of husbandry
which, with the aids Of science. and after long
experience, have been established in Britain
both as REGARDS the cutivaiian of land and the
breeding and rearing Of stock~
This is matter of more Government to A.
merican farmers than many of them seem q,
ware Of, for although from the great natural
richness of the soil, and, in the general case,
its recent subsection TO culture, il may as YET
exhibit but few signs of exhaustion. il cannot
be supposed that. under a system Of over-crop.
ing, or as in Scotland it is emphatically termed
a scourging sy'tem, il will not at length give
way, aud wher its impovershments once takes
place, thew LAY be assured il will be mat.
ter YER -ifficult, or il may be impracticable,
10 II ore il to anything like original fertility.
This observation applies more particularly to
land which has been reclaimed from forest.
Allnvial soil by deeper and deeper ploughing
may be kept in productive state for longer
time, and when it sickens, as sicken it must,
from constant working without feeding, it may
perhaps be revived by stimulating manures, OF
by being laid TO rest for a sufficient time under
grass. Even IN this case, prevention being
better than cure, il were unwise to deterioraie
the soil by overcropping when the means Of
preserving its fertility are at hand.
But as to land cleared from forest, the pro-
duciiveness Of it seems 10 depend entirely on a
covering Of vegetable earth, which in its for
est state, had, for perhaps thousands of years,
been forming and accommodating on tie surface,
and of which the fertility is so great, that bu.
little labor and no manure is required TO make
it bear, year after year, abundant crops ofgraln,
Every successive crop, however, abstracts a
portion of the vegeta,ive principle the soil con-
tains, and in a certain time, longer or shorter,
according 10 the thicknessi of the covering, it
will be entirety deprived Of its vivifying pow
ers, and reduced to caput mortum. Wheih
err after this, the land may be Of any use. will
depend on the quality of the subsoii. and how
ever naturally rich the subsoi may be, Il will
before il will carry crops Of grain have to be
fertilized by being brought TO the surface and
fed with proper manure. How much better
then must i, be, by right mode Of cultivation,
to maintain the present valuable surface soil In
its fruitful state.
There is no, 10 the States, as there 10 in
Britain. that peculiar feeling of the amor Pafrie
which attaches a man TO particular locality
and probably induces him 10 use means for es-
tablishinp il as the home Of his descends ante.
In the former country the abnegaiion Of the
law Of primogehiture in a manner precludes the
establishment Of family estates. and land is so
universally an article Of commerce, ihaito ask
gentleman 10 sell bis house and land, is inst
as permissible as j, were 10 England to ask a
dealer TO sell horse.
: Hence, perhaps, arose migratory propensi.
~. observable 10 the generality of persons en-.
gagged 10 the business Of agriculture, and hence
The difficulty Of reconciling them to meliora.
ting modes Of husbsDdy involving hxedness
of residence. The States, many CT them ar.
que. are wide field. and there is 10 them plen.
~. of land to be reclaimed. II will therefore
be long ere il will be necessary to take heed
how soils are managed. When one farm ceas.