Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1844-03-29
WHEAT CULTURE IN NEW YORK.

important branch of its rural industry. 1t is
a lamen,able fact tat large portion Of the
elements in wheat lands, Indispensable toll
successful nourishment and maturity of this
rcad-bearing plant have been taken from
the soil in the millions of tons, sent TO mar
kct within the las, City years.
The owners and cuivators of these lands,
know not what it is they have lost; nor
from what source the precise constituent
parts of wheat can be obtained. This ar,i-
Gle, so superior for the manufacture Of good
bread, contains elements peculiar 10 itself,
and hence manures formed by the decompo-
siion of any other plant, cannot restore 10 an
exhausted wheat 6eh all the ingredients con-
tanned in kernel Of wheat.
Our aericuitmafists are consuming the ra1
material Of! this invaluable grain, at the ra,e
of al out eleven or twelve millions Of bushels
IA year probably not one-tenth Of each Of
the clemens of which, or at least a portion Of
them, is annually restored to the soil from
whence all this grain is taken. Now, AS
Heaven will not create anew one particle Of
matter, whether the Two and "A half millions
OF people in tins Stale have an abundance Of
good cheap bread, or starve, it may no, bo
amiss for sensible men TO enquire, in what
way can every farmer in New York supply
his fields with the raw material of this impor-
tant crop, and SO combine them, as TO be able
to manufacture "A husirl Of good wheat for
expectation, at 60 cents, and not exhaust his
soil
An elaborate discussion Of all the elements
that enter into tho composition of the wheat
plant, and Of The various resources presented
to the tiller of the earth, for the cheap col.
lec ion of those elements, would be ont Of
, place in the columns Of "A daily newspaper.
. Suffice it to say that, over 81 per cent Of such
!, elements exis, in le atmosphere, in mex
, hanslib!e quantities.
T. Having made thus important discovery, the
y French chemists were not long IN finding
. cheap agents to be applied to the coil. .hirh
U by their ro YerfuI affinity for the gaseous ee.
e ments of wheat, have, made nearly one.l,alf
y of France into one vast field Of "Waving
corn"
= The writer Of this has devoted much at-
tenron to the subject Of difiusing the knowl-
- edge that already exists in relation to this tru-
ly practical science among the farmers Of
f this state and especially of impartng this
:, knowledge to their sons.
;. The plan adopted in France, was this
c
business men and leased them some old rural
h palaces at Brignon, near Paris, for college
buildings, and also tract OF Grown lands Of
y 1855 acres, for cultivation by six or seven
" hundred pupils. The company placed the
# whole establishment under the charge of NJ.
i BELLA, in 1929. After it had been in ope-
Z. ration ten years, M. BELLA reported that the
: Institution had paid its way, divided 4 per
IS cent. annual interest on the stock, and added
is las, S52 francs to the productive value of the
i real estate. The Government pays the pros
% tessors on condition that certain number Of
+. pupils shall be received from each rural dis
!. trict in the kingdom.
,r After a thorough course of instruction. em-
IN bracing alike the science, practice and Rrofts
,g of good h,isbandry, and extending through =
to period of three years, these young se Ailen,en
is graduate, go home, and teach by public lec-
le lures and other means, those that cultivate
l. the earth how to make two bushels of wheat
I'd to grow on the same land that before pros
duced bat one. Wnh IA pop'lttion Of co.
in 100000, and on territory only about twice
to rs large as New York, men of science havo
OF taught the French I~ople how to harvest sn-
ii nuay eighteen times as much wheat as is
ne grown in our own Empire State!
d., In Germany, The science of agriculture is
ne taught in nearly all their common schools
rs According to the census returns of 1870, Tho
o. hay crop, grown i, this state in 1889, was
mt worth about $50, 900 900, As there are
he about two acres in pasture TO one in meadow,
d, the whole annual grass crop Of New York
X cannn. be worth less than 500, o0O, 0G0, ts-
he king the census statements for our estimate.
~ 1t would MOI be difficult to demons trate Iha,
- taking fair average of all the t,nds in this
or state, each acre might produce one third more
IT. than il now does, and at a less cos, of labor,
IN if it was wisely and properly expended.
10 Why no, open school. then, somewhere
!" near the capital Of this grea, state, and en-
u ploy tcw competent men to teach the
y science, the practice and the profits Of every
IL bvaneh of rural industry carried on in New i
> vorkl Why continne to- bose ten or twenty
~ millions of dollars worth os agricultural pro
u" ducts every year--wear OUT sar soil, and
~ drive thousands Of oar young and en,erprs-
III ing farmers away from their native state, Ia
S' grow wheat in Illinois, and by severe COM
y" petition, destroy the value OF farming opera
''' tons to ali that stay behind II practical
10 knowledge Of the science Of agriculture be SC
-, valuable to the people of France and Germa
Nv ny, where labor is comparatively very cheap
=, ~ can such know ledge be worthless here, shere
:" HE expense Of labor is tho creat draw hac L
wv upon the profits Of the husbandman? II the
" legislature will do Mtle 10 aid in establish.
al ing "A Stale Agricultural institute, patr,o,i,
" and liberal individuals will do the bs.hnce.-
~, The whole community viii share alike in the
~ advantages arising from a large increase o.
the best coMforts of life. L..
al