Republican vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1857, 1850-02-11
AG RICULTURAl,
THE UNITED STATES AN AGRICULr-
TURALCOUNTRY.

Agriculture commerce, and the arts, consti. |
tute the chief business ofthe industrious portion |
of our race, and it is to the physical peculiaries
OF country that we are chiefly to refer the pre-
dominance OF one or other of these pursuits
Thus England with her vast mineral wealth, and
her dense population, must almost OF necessity
be manufacturing nation and although she is
also noted Tor her extended commerce, and her
improved agriculture, the great attention which
she has paid to the latter, may, perhaps be fair
ly ascribed to those peculiar views concerning
the interchange between nations which have
heretofore prevailed. The rich and valuable
mines OF the central portions of the continent of
Europe, and the numerous arts which can -four
ish only in their immediate vicinity, must ever
give occupation to large portion Of her inhabi-
tan's. Comparatively few commercial advan-
tages are enjoyed by them and the produce of
their agriculture seldom rises above the amount
which is necessary for the supply of their own
immediate wants In all these countries, there
fore, the failure of single crop is the cause of
serious apprehension, and in some of them, as in
Austria, although large portion of The popula-
ton is engaged in agriculture, there is need Of a
yearly importation of breadstuf1s This has
been ascribed to defective mode oftillage but
am inclined to believe that it arises in part at
least, it not entirely from the high price Of the
land, 1t is the large returns which the farmer
must extort from the soil in order to meet the in
terest OF the heavy investment which discoura-
ges him In his efforts, and which at length has
the effect OF diminishing the amount ofthe agri-
cultural products. All the appliances of science
and art may be called into requisiton to increase
the yield of the soil, but every improvement of
this kind only serves to increase the price Of the
land and the amount of rent which must be rails.
ed from it. When We look at the contrast which
the United States presents i'll this respect, we
need not wonder, that while travellers speak in
rapures of the agriculture of France and Belgi-
um Germany and England, the famished popu-
latlon OF some OF these countries has been fed
by the surplus produce o. comparatively rude
mode oftillage.
During the year 1S47, breadstuffs TO the value
OF $43, 100000, were exported from this country
to Great Britain and Ireland alone The vast
agricultural resources of the United States, were
then for the first time duly appreciated. Not
wlthstandlng the quantity exported during the
present year bears no proportion to that of the
preceding one, there can be little doubt that
our country is destined to be the granary Of the
asorM. We cannot boast of those mineral riches
which are found elsewhere; still deposites OF
iron ore and coal, those most valuable products,
exist here in great abundance. But our chief
treasure is the soil, and the immense extent OF
our republic, and the liberal policy which has
been pursued in regard to the disposition of lis
lands, places it in the power of almost every
inhabitant to become the owner of domain,
which in Europe could be possessed only by a
favored few
1t lisa common mistake that the land which is
IN the highest state of cultivation and yields the
largest crops, is necessarily the most valuable.
1t is stated by Boussingaut, thata field in the
neighborhood of Pampeluna, where the rent of
land is extremely low, gave profitable crop of
wheat although the yield was not more than
from SIN and half to seven and a half bushels
A,,E G., IT,. !.
ton in letter addressed to Arthur Young, t'must
have very indifferent opinion Of our soil when
ne hears that with us an acre produces no more
than eight or ten bushels of wheat, but he must
not forget that in all countries where land is
cheap and labor DEAR the people prefer cult
waiting much to cutivating well''
1t IS this very extent of our country, and the
cheapness of the land, which now, as at the date
OF the letter Of Washington, contribute TO render
our comparatively rude culture the most profita.
Die in the world. Thus, while the average of
the produce of wheat in the United States is not
probably above Is or 16 bushels TO the acre
That In Germany is more than 25 bushels; in
England, 25 or &c and in France "a Still, as
has been already stated, the amount of bread
stutfs raised here, far exceeds that produced in
either OF the countries above named. And the
same consideration, viz cheapness of land TO-
gether with the rapid and cheap rate at which,
oy machinery, the crop harvested and made
ready tor the miller, must give to the Western
States and Territories great advantages for the |
cultivation of the cereal grains
n Mr.. O'Reily stated at one of the meetings of
the New York State Agricultural Society, during
the winter of 1874, that the product of the wheat
lands, between Seneca lake and the NIAGARA
river, had not, for the preceding three or four
years, exceeded the low average of eleven or
twelve bushels per acre. The land in Western
New York generally bears high price, and the
problem to be solved is, whether by more eff.
fcient system of agriculture the average yield
can be so much increased as tc afford return
Tor the investment. What will be the result
may be inferred from the we'll known fact that |
large proportion of the wheat flour, with the
"Genesee and Oswegon brands, is obtained from
wheat grown in the far western States.
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