The Kansas herald of freedom., 1855-03-24
agricultural.

1gficql!qfal.
Pasture ana Tillage Fifty Years Hence
The following well-written article gives
an interesting view of the progress of
tiilage in this country, and points out the
regions that will be occupied for grazing,
in distinction from the grain-growing
States, half century hence, when our
population win be nearly hundred mil
lions. The article is from the Louisville
Journal:
1t may be regarded by persons. who
have not thought on the subject, as evinc-
ing a disposition to take trouble on trust,
when we aver that the day is not very
far distant when we must seek other lands,
even west of the present western States,
for pastoral purposes. Cattle and sheep
cannotbeadyantageously grown, although
they may be fattened, on land that is
needed for agricultural purposes. It is
Improbable to produce them On land
valuable for It's growing qualities.
In years past the State of Ohio was re-
garded as the great pasture ground of the
West, on which flocks and herds could
and would be produced in vast profusion.
The tide of population swelled in from
the East, and these lands, which had
been used as pasture ground, now yield
tribute to the plow The husbandman
dispossessed the herdsman, and the lat
ter went further west. The vast prairies
of Illinois invited him to bring his fiocks
and herds thither, where he might enjoy
almost boundless space, covered with
luxuriant grass, planted there by the hand
of God, perpetua.ed By his care, and to
be enjoyed without cost, free as the air OF
Heaven. Here on these western prairies
it was thought an eyer-enduring pastur-
age was to be had. But the railroad and
steam whistle invaded the naked solitude
of the mighty prairies, and man is now
actively occupied in subduinS the rank
fertility of their native grasses, and suit
ing the soil to the growth of the cereals.
Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri have
within their borders vast areas which for
very many years to come may be used as
pastures, onwhich will be bred and grown
stock cattle. horses, and sheep, that will
afterwards be fat.ened in Kentucky and
Ohio, and sold for consumption in the
markets of the Atlantic States. But these
lands will become too valuable from theii
grain producing qualities always to re-
main devoted to cattle husbandry. The
increasing demand for grains, the natura
food of man, and also the requisite prop
erly to fatten animals, will ultimately
cause all of the limestone formation o
the valley of the Mississippi to be devot
ed to the culture of the cereals.
Wheat may be regarded as the first ne
cessity of man. So high has this com
modify been ranked among mans wants
that some political economists have beer
disposed to regard it as the regulator o
the ultimate standard of values. Be thi,
as it may, wheat is an article of such
prime necessity that its production mus
ever be regarded as essential to the prop
er sustenance of man; and lands tina
produce it in tolerable profusion will al
ways attain high value. 1t is know
that the wheat-bearing properties of land
are soon exhausted and require constan
renewals by the chemical action of prop
erly applied agents. The rich loans ant
calcerous ciays of the secondary forma
tons of the mid-valley of the Mississip
pi furnish the agents by which the whea
and grain growing properties of the sol
can be indefinitely continued. 1t oni.
requires that man shall have scientific
knowledge enough to know how to arai
himself of the means of reproduction tha
nature has placed at his disposal.
We conclude, then, from what has beer
said, that all the region of country from
the western slope of the Allegheny Noun
tains, to the termination of the limesten
formation ON the great plains west of th'
Mississippi river, will ultimately be de
voted to growing vegetable food ant
clothing for mans use.
In the compendium from the eensu
report recently published by De Bow
there are calculations predicated on va
rious ratios of the growth of the popula
ton of the United States. Taking the
ratio of increase of population between
1870 and 1859, and applying it to decen
nial periods, the population of the Unit
ed States, in the year 1900, (only 45 year
from this time, it is estimated. will b
1851, 1862 souls. There win then b
over forty millions of people in the val
ley of the Mississippi. This vast popu
lation viii require the appropriation Q
all the grain-producing land for It's Owl
use.
Where. then, it may be asked. are t
be bred and grown to useful age all tn
cattle. horses, and sheep that will De need
ed at that time for this vast population
The answer is at hand. la that vast re
gien of country which intervenes betweel
the western boundary of the Territory 0
Kansas and the Rocky Mountains, in
cluding Texas, New Mexico, and all th
Indian territory south of the Missouri
river, the Providence of God seems +
have furnished this nation with everlast
ing pasture and grazing grounds, com
mensurate in extent with the magnisud
of the wants it must ultimately be calle
on to supply.
According to the report of the Secre
tary of the Treasury, the snnualconsumy
ton of wool in this country is two hunc
red millions of pounds. of which we OF
ly furnish sixty millions, leaving DEF
cheney of one hundred and forty million
of pounds. In the year 1900, we sha
require at least e00, 600, 600 of pounds