Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1854-05-03
ESSAY ON THE RENOVATION OF
WORN OUT LANDS

WORN OUT LA N DS.
z'1ddiuheI Gg request Of the Committed ap,
painted to examine the Essays offered for
the Premium ofMe Maryland Il gricuitu
raj Society.
l OTTER All essay on the Renovation Of
Worn out Lands" AS the most impor-
tant subject which can engage attention,
either individual, state or national. IL
may be regarded as an acquisition OF ter
ritory, both peaceful and profitable, and
especially Important to the old States, as
the surcst and most desirable means Of
retaining population. 1t is the neglect
Of such improvement or renovation which
has caused so many of our choicest ciLi-
zens to forsake in despair their Patrimo-
nial possessions to seek brighter desti-
ny in the wilds Of the great west.
The cultivation of a more extended
surface, has been deemed necessary to
produce the indispensable supplies; but
in this operation, the increased labor and
number of operatives Of different kinds.
requiring subsistence, greater distance Of
hauling, quantity Of fencing, &C., have
caused still greater sterility, and still
smaller amount of nett remuneration, un =
til the possessor of a once princcly and
fertile patrimouI, abandons his own home
and that of his fathers, and once severing
the attachments Of his youthful gambOls,
and Juvenile associations, loses that incen-
tive to permanent improvement, so essen
tial to coutentment and profit.
The sparseness of population, thus in
duced, becomes barrier to the progress
of those works Of Internal improvement,
furnishing facilities for the renovation of
lands and transportation of their product
tions. ...
Anything then, which will curdle, il
! not entirely stagnate the choice blood,
flowing in such rivuletS from the old
States, must be regarded as Of paramount
importance TO individual States and ma
tiOns.
There is another controlling incentive TO
attention to this subject, which is the pre-
sent high price of labor.
The time required for the preparation
of an acre Of heavily timbered land for
cultivation, cannot be safely estimated at
less than two or three months, which at
present prices would amount 10 twenty or
thirty dollars.
Less than half that amount would re-
novdte an acre regarded as exhausted, so
AS to produce larger yield, with less la
Dor of cultivation. Indeed, the remark
may be safely made that very few Sec
tions of the country will justify the ex-
pense of clearing heavily timbered lands,
for the mere purpose of cultivation
What then is the alternative ? Certainly
the renovation of the worn out lands.
Very few plantations in the old States
have any timber to spare, and in such ca
ses the difference between the reduction
Of the forest land, and the increase of the
arabic surface from the exhausted lands,
is very essential ingredient in the esti-
mated value of the whole tract.
On most large plantations. the lands
were first cleared and exhausted near the
buildings. and the fresh lands for cultiva
ton are frequently on the outside ; and
the necessity is thus created of greatly
increased labor in hauling up crops, be-
sides the space occupied by roads, the at
tentiou necessary 10 keep them in repair,
and the distance and time in travelling to,
and returning from the cultivated lands.
Indeed, the importance and advantage
of improving lands convenient to dwell
lings, are so great that it would be diff
cult to enumerate them.
Some allusion has been deemed an es-
sential preliminary to the main subject,
because success in enforcing the impor-
lance and utility of such Improvement.
may be regarded as an accomplishment
of the whole object. There is truth in
the maxim, that "where there is will
there is a way" Convince a man that
his interest prompts a certain course, and
there is little difficulty in inducing its
pursuit, ssa~ .- aaa
Many instances can be presented in
which 5000 lbs. of tobacco, 90 barrels of
corn, 80 bushels of wheat, 500 bushels
potatoes, have been produced, each on
single acre of land. If the materials
could be commanded conveniently, it
would be probably impossible. to exPend
enoughto render such production unpro6t-
able; not to speak of the permanent i'm