The Cadiz sentinel. [volume] (Cadiz, Ohio) 184?-1851, 1845-04-09
From the Ohio Cultivator.
FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE OF OHIO.
Decrease Of the Wheat Crop-Om Glory de
parting!

parting!
| For the last FIVE years, it has been published
to the world, that Ohio produces more wheat
than any other State in the Union. This is the
proudest boast of her citizens, and it has done
more than all else to establish her credit abroad.
With wheat crop from twenty to twenty five
millions of bushels, one-half surplus product, it
was we'll known that the farmers of Ohio would
be able, without difficulty, 10 pay their taxes,
and the indebtedness of the State, and speedily
to become prosperous and wealthy
But the reports of the Commissioner of pa
tents, show that our State is fast losing this en-
Viabe distinction; and it is probable that nezt
gears report ,ciH strip our farmers of this their
highest honor! The report for last year af-
fords an argument in favor of the promotion of
agriculture in Ohio, that ought to cammand the
most serious attention of hercitizens, and cause
them to put forth immediate and rigorous efforts
for the diffusion of knowledge of improved
methods of cultivation among farmers.
The wheat crop of Ohio for the past three
years is estimated as follows
Crop of ls42, 25,3s7 ,439 bushels.
lS43, ls,7S6,705 $3.50 per cent loss.)
" 1914, l5,969,0O0 I" 10 do more loss.)
Showing decrease of 45 per cent or nearly
ten millions Of bushels in only trO years!
And this too, while it is we'll known that the
number of acres devoted 10 this crop has every
year been greater than the one preceding! And
another important fact is, there has not been
proportional increase of other products TO make
up for this immense loss. Is it any wonder then
that our State is embarrassed, and that farmers
find it difficult to meet their taxes? (The reports
of the Board of Public Works show decrease
in the aggregate amount Of wheat and -four
shipped on all the canals in the State for the past
four years)
AS evidence that this falling off is mainly at
trbutable to defective farming, let us look at
the example of New York, where knowledge
has been ditfused for number of years past, by
five or six widely circulated agricultural papers,
several Of them numbering from ten to twenty
thousand subscribers; and where forty or fifty
county Agricultural Societies, and one for the
State, are sustained by the nid of $4,000 per
year from the Treasury. There the reports
show marked increase in the wheat crop du-
ring the same time that it was decreased in
Ohio. The figures stand thus
For ls42, l1,132,472 bushels
1S43, 12,479,497
lU44, l4,975,OUO
Showing gain of nearly four millions of BUSH
els in two years; and most of the other products
of the farm in that State, have increased in a
Iproportionate ratio for the past four years.
From these figures it is easy TO see, that in all
probability the next annual report will rob Ohio
Iof the honor Of being the first wheat State in
the Union, and award the palm to the farmers of
the Empire State!
And yet Ohio possesses at least double the
number of acres adapted to this crop that New
York does; and there can be no good reason
why we should not retain this high honor; or if
so unfortunate as to lose it for the coming sea-
son, it should be regained, and made more Sc
Icurely our own than ever before. 1t is true our
Legislature, in the heat Of party strife, have
seemed to neglect the greatest interests of the
State, but this only renders it more necessary
for the people themselves to awake and exert
themselves
The first thing necessary to be done is to CIR
cuIate agricultural papers among the farmers,
and point out through them the necessity and
means of improvement. Until this is done more
efectually than now, il will be Of comparatively
little use TO legislate upon the subject or form
associations; for till then, not one IN twenty OF
the farmers will cooperate in such measures.
If the friends of the cause, who perceive the
evil and the remedy, will 60 to work for this
purpose, with one-tenth part of the enthusiasm
that is manifested during an ordinary political
campaign, we should soon see results that would
cheer the heart of every true patriot.