The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1850-07-18
Agricultural Principles OF Protect ton.

The Highland .Ne,cs, commenting upon the
report of the Ohio Board of Agriculture, says
"There is nothing wanting to make it worthy of
all praise, except the failure upon the part of the
writer to explain the nature Of the difficulty under
which the farmers OF Ohio laboring. We
conceive he would have added to the usefulness Of
his report if he had set forth and demonstrated
that, unless there is way provided for the con-
sumption of the greater part Of the agricultural
products of the State within its borders, State
county fairs will be of little service but to
the multitude lie could easily have proved that
any State which annually exports millions of BUSH
els OF wheat and corn, millions Of hogs, and thou
sands Of horses and cattle and relies upon other
States or countries for its clothing, iron, imple
and utensils of all sorts, must in the end be-
come impoverished.
''Its exports will consist of articles containing
considerable per ccntage Of mineral elements,
drawn from a soil having but limited supply OF
them, if it is of the very best quality while
its imports will be deficient in them nearly alto
gether and it must follow that in process of time
the soil will be completely deprived of these ele-
nents, and no longer fit to afford nourishment to
plants Vast tracts Of country in the southern and
eastern statcs exhibit this fact In moet striking
manner. Large portions of Virginia and Mary
land have been exhausted by the expectation OF
successive crops Of tobacco and wheat, which have
annually drawn elements from the soil which
were not replaced by the husbandman, because he
had them not. Extensive districts in South Caro-
lima and the older cotton growing States havebcen
rendered hopecssly sterile by the annual cxporta-
ton of their staples. Even the great State Of New
York is beginning to suffer the fate, for 1t
appears that counties which averaged thirty and
thirty five bushels OF wheat to the about the
time Of the revolutionary war, now can scarcely
average seven.
owe conceive that the president OF the board Of
agriculture should have called the attention of the
people Of Ohio 70 subject Of such vast importance,
md have pressed upon their consideration the inn
portsnt agricultural principle that State can be
cultivated with an enduring profit TO the farmer
unless it export the greater part of lite food in the
form Of manufactures; these being nothing
thsn a condensed representation Of agricultural
produce which leaves the ground nearly all the
elements Of the food consumed in its production"
| The .Ne,cs has well stated one Of the endur-
ing laws of agricultural production, which those
devoted to the tillage Of the soil can never es-
cape, though they may postpone the conse-
quences of its violation for a time, and, by dint
OF large expense In fertilzing agents, may pur-
/ blldSN udNh NhuA CAV ioA h''hiilS aho poih
for carrying away. That the earth works for
man upon the condition that, after extracting
from her fruits all that are fitted for his own
triton, the surplus shall be returned into her
bosom to strengthen her for fresh production, is
a truth which agricutursts everywhere I'M
derstand. They either practise upon it or are
driven away from the injured land by the de-
struction of its power to sustain them; and thus
nature works out its revenges.
What, however, cultivators Of the earth do
not all see is, that density of population is re-
quisite to supply the conditions under which
alone can the earth do its best for man, and in
crease instead of diminishing its capacity for
yielding him the materials Of food, Of clothing,
and Of shelter They cannot fail to see that
density Of population, impossible as it is with
out diversiication of employment, would be
comparatively valueless in this point Of view,
| lift were attainable. Ifall the dwellers on the
land were engaged in its cultivation, one Of
these results must follow: They must either
produce only enough for their own subsistence;
and this is the way the system works in Ire
land, condemning its people TO idleness and
starvation, from which they find, under the
policy of England, which has compelled them,
as it seeks to compel us, to be mere agricultur
lists. no relief except in flying from the land
or, if they produce surplus above their own
consumption, this must be exported, and in
exact proportion TO that surplus is the impov-
ershment Of the earth, which furnished it
to fertilize the soil to which il is transferred