Nebraska advertiser., 1862-01-23
From ihe Country Gent leulan and cultl,a.or
Ehe Close OF 1he Year.

Z
The Close OF the Year.
The year lS6l--se full Of startling and
important incidents - so frohght with
mourning and desOiation in many sections
of our once united and happy country, is
drawing to a close WiIhinthe last nine
months the unwaHted note of war has
sounded throughout the length and
breadth of the land, and everywhere has
been heard the clash and clangor of dead
ly weapons as our neighbors and friends
have armed themselves for fight. Trea-
son has reared its black front, and brother
has raised his fratricidal hand against
brother, until our couDtry, from being at
once the glory and the envy of the other
nations of the earth, has become a thing
to be pointed at with pbes and jeers by
''old world despots''-to be looked upon
with grief and CONSERVATION by those
whose large sympathies and noble hearts
have led them TO admire and reverence
her free institutions, her unexanpled
prosperity. The end of these things is
not vet; but we believe that Con will
prosper the right. and though,he furnace
may be "seven times heated" that shall
purge away our country's dross, she will
come forth unharmed from the fiery trial.
But, notwithstanding the deploral state of
our country politically,we have unboun-
ded cause for gratitude to the Giver of
all good for the bestowment Of. the boun-
uful farm products of the year now just
closing upon us; and itseems appropriate
that we should, upon this, occasion. take
retrospective glance at the agricultural
results of the past season, which, In many
respects, has been one OF bountiful har-
vest, aud of Unprecedented demand of
breadstufs for shipments to foreign coHn-
tries. s
The corn crop has been good in nearly
every section of the country; the mild
and favorable weather of autumn, ripen-
ing it in nearly all sections, where from
early frost the two preceding years, 1t
failed to mature. The indigenous cereal
of our country is the most important farm
crop of the United States. IN fact, the
two next greatest in the union, wheat and
hay, do not equal it in money value. -
By the census return for 1850, our corn
crop was over 590,000,O00 bushels, and
in 1860, it was estimated at 900, 900 900,
thus euualling the wheat crop of the
whole earth, and undoubtedly the ''sobnd
corn'' of 1851, exceeded that of any
previous wear. The sales of corn for
for export at New Yorh from the 9Th of
|. October, to 9th of November, exceeded
nine aud a quarter millions of bushels
At the first glance it would seem to be
prosperous times for the corn-growing
farmers of the west, whose crops have
been so bountifdI and the foreign demand
Fso large. Immense quantities. of corn
have been sold by Western farmers at
ten cents a bushel, freight, commissions,
INSURANCE, SC, making the cost 80 cents
per bushel ia Liverpool. ''Wteh the
Edemahd cotnes so suddenly from foreign
markets for breadstufs, large portion
of the profits of the business falls to the
share of the inland and ocean carriers"
Time, we trust, will soon regulate these
matters, so that the producer shall share
a fair proportion of the profits, 81
The yield of wheat per acre the past
season, over large districts of the country,
fell far short of that of 1850; the yield
of that year being unprecedenay large.
YET in the aggregate the last crop was
enormous, which, while the old stock on
hand the lst of Janary, has enabled US TO
supply France, England, and other for
eign markets, almost fabulous amounts
of wheat and -four The actual sales of
-four in the city of New York from the
! 27lh of November amounted to 795, ,000
barrels, and S,998.O0 bushels of wheat.
The total of wheat exported from New
York from January 1st to November 18th,
was % 1854, ,963 bushels. During the
same period there were exported 2.4S4,
O79 barrels of -four. The above 6guers
give but faint idea Of the vast agricgl-
lfuraI resources Of our country. Had the
cereal crops of the United States the past
two seasons been as deficient as in France
and England, il would seem as FAM
inc, such as we read of in history, masI
have followed. England and France al
the present time can do better without
American cotton than they can without
our breadsiHffs. @
The oat crop, in large districts of the
country. was greatly deficient both IN
Weld and weight. contrasted with the
extra crop of 1860. Backward and We
weather 10 a large extent prevented earLs
soaring, which is an important item iE
oat culture, The late sown being more
liable 10 rust, smut, and injury from birds
insects, etc. Thousands Of fields Of late
sown oats were badly injured by legion:
of aphides, or plant lice. Where tbs
myriads of lice. over such extensive dis
| tricts nf ahn cnrntrr. cana from ia 3