The Hillsborough recorder. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1820-1879, 1862-07-02
From the Southern Field and Fireside.
BREAD, NEAT AND GRASS.

BREAD, NEAT AND GRASS.
All bread il formed from the seeds of
grass and nearly all meat is produced from
the blades and seeds Of the same class Of
plants. These facts indicate the importance
Of acquiring a thorough knowledge Of all
that apperialns to grass-culture. il we aim
10 supply ourselves with plenty Of bread
and meat in the cheapest, wisesi and best
manner. Grass culture as science has re-
cvived very little attention in any part If
this continent. One Of the natural results
4 of this neglect Of American farmers geuer-
ally was the advance IN the market price Of
meat in the CITY OF New York before the
present war commenced, of about 500 per
cent in forty years. 0aiario county Is Que
of the best farmed coanties III the State Of
/ New York aud its agricultural statistics
strikingly illustrate the truth 0i the state
ments We are making in this connection.
/ In 1915, Ontario cunty had 2 ,625 horses.
] IN 1850, l0.SI5. Decrease il five years,
2.3l2. In ls45 il had ID sos COWS in 1850,
fIl,253. TIE total decrease of neat cattle
I in FIVE years was 4.355. In lS4j il had
257 .s2l sheep; in 1850. 1854 Decrease
+ in hyesyears los ,2z7. In l645 il had So,
$50 hogs; in 1850, 20, l47. Decrease IN
five years. 1889. These facts are sufii-
cienlly remarkable to justify the prominence
NE are giving them. There wa no falling
I of in population in New York or elsewhere,
nor decrease Of demand for horses, cows.
butter, cheese, beef. pork, wool and mutton
to cause this extraordinary diminutlon OF
live stock. On the contrary. the population
in every eiix aud Siii.ge had increased, Civ
ing larger market fnr meat. wa0l batter.
slsrrse aud nUrsps, and there was larger
demand in the Southern States. Il was the
want II care and skill in grass culture that
literally compelled the farmers oi old On
tarin 10 keep much smaller stock ot sheep.
cattle, horses and hogs; aud The same deiec-
tive knowledge in all that belongs 20 gond
husbandry III nearly 4 thousand other coun.
ties. is fast working general revolution 70
American agriculture. Not one farmer ~
ten thousand has seen the wisdom OF study
ing bread, neat. grass and soils as science.
They vii! not even consider the statistics 81
production and consumption, nor the eSl-
dencr of diminished fertility in the lard q
the State whtre they live. There arc many
thousands, il not snme millions, WIN believe
that the impoyeriShment OF tie earth u pc.
, culiar 10 The territory cultivated by slave
labor. We drew up the census tables tor
collecting the agricultural satisfies OF New
York in Is45 with a view TO explode this
popular errur. The great principle OF max.
ing adequate restitution q the soil BY thc
assistance Of prreanial grasses American
farmers have vet To Investigate and compre'
hend II il not on al fields, nor under al
circumstances. that grass. 0r plants OF am
kind, any able 20 accumulate the elements .
. lertliiiy. If such were the fact. the prob
: lem Of renoya,ing al field, BY growing gras
on them would be very simple.
I. The ancient Greeks, Romans, Carthage
!. mans, Egyptians and Assyrians. nsed NOR
!. ing tcaftr, in which nature had dissolve,
!, agricultural salts, to tertiliza the soil, an,
feed those cereal aud other grasses whlcl
}. gave them both their bread and their meat
!. Profoundly impressed BY this historical fac
we ventuted 10 predict IN 1925. when th
!, Erie canal c0nnected the nayigable waiers.u
i Lake Erie with those Of the Hudson r,yet
that the time would came when that artihria
river, SOS miles in length, will be as yalua
y bic for irrigating improved land as Tor a
commercial purposes Moving water. grass
rrain, ilocks and herds. are of enduring
value. With 4 majority of our readers th
washing OF cultivated fields is an evil Of n
: inconsdcrable magnitude. Floods Of rain
: na,er, neglected. often do great harm
= Righlly controlled, this water will be I
aluable as tha, in The wells dug by the SCI
!. ants OF Abraham and Isaac, at which the Ia
iterwatered hisca,tIc, his grass and cornded
. md gathered an HUNDRED fold" Wat.
,rings unimpoye ished clay from gullies
= cultivated fields, from gorges in side h'l
= md mountains, which spread as tnp.drcs'
ng like the scdinentdepositcd by the Owe
ilow of a river, increases prnductisenes
5 Such clay has al The phosphatcs, sulPhase