The weekly pioneer and Democrat., 1865-02-03
Hemp against wheat Growing.

q 1. l.r
To the Editor Of the Pioneer:
I think the history of Western agricul-
ture will demonstrate that wheat growing,
though a tolerably safe business, is not
nearly SO remunerative to the farmer as
some other crops which, without extra ex-
pense or labor, might readily be substitu-
ted. ',.' "" 'H ''f
The great drawback which the wheat
grower has to contend with, and which
cannot be obviated, is the weight of the
article in proportion to its value, and the
remoteness of the market to which it must
necessarily be transported. The st. Paul
merchant must be paid for storage and
handling; the same to the carriers to La
Oresse; then the Railroads come in for
share; then Milwaukee then again the
lake boats; tLen Buffalo; then the canal,
&c., dc., till the grain is stored in New
York or Boston. By this time fully one
half of the market price is consumed, or
lost to the producer. 1t costs him one
half of his crop to put the other half into
market. .ag,l lg..-. -n.q.s.s.. -.--'s
This is the evil which preys destructively
and must continue to prey upon the wheat
grower. 1t costs him as much to bring
the fruits OF bis labor in market as it does
to produce his crop; and unless some
scHsne can be devised to relieve him from
tn xcessive taxation, he never can pros
pc
/ will now compare wheat with
different article Of much greater value in
proportion to its weight-Hemp 'aau
/ will not pause now to discuss the adap-
tation of eur soil and climate to the pro-
duction of this crop in its highest perfec-
tion, equal to the best imported from Rus
sia, nor to the facilities for water-rotting
in the small lakes to which almost every
farmer has access, but confne myself
closely to the question of freights the diff
ferent products undergo before reaching
market. From different reports before
me, l make the following tables exhibiting
the yield of hemp per acre.
NJ. Burnett says 700 pounds per acre.
R. Hughes, 800 to 1000 do
W. M. jackson, 700 to 1000 do
j. L. Winn, 700 do
Il. L. Brown 800 do
This gives an average of abont 800
pounds which for new. land is low, as 0.
S. Leavitt in an elaborate essay, gives the
average of all the hemp districts at 700
pounds, some localities reaching as high
as twelve hundred.
/ will base my calculations on an aver
age of 300 pounds per acre, and $500 ton
for first quality hemp, which is very low
and freight to New York at $40 per ton.
An acre Of hemp at 800 pounds yields
1920.
An average acre Of wheat will yield
about 1000 pounds, which at 50 bushel,
will be $36.
Now the next point is to forward the
two articles to market, deducting the ex-
pense from each. Deduct the freight from
the..wheat and it leaves balance per acre
of $26. From the hemp and the balance
is $112.
1t will be seen by the above estimate that
I have only deducted ] of the wheat crop
as the price of bringing it to market.
When it is an undeniable fact that it usual
ly takes more than one half. Not unfre-
quently wheat is So. 80 and $2.4O in New
York, and but $1l0 on the Mississippi
river.
To make make this important fact still
more conspicuous, we will suppose one
man cultivates 80 acres of wheat and an
other the like number Of hemp The ac-
count would stand thus:
Wheat, q tons, freight. $40
Hemp, 20 tons, freight. ht............... . 400
Value of wheat 81 800 less the freight. 1890
hemp $4,000 "...... 5000
From this we see that the wheat grower
gives one-third of bis crop in search of
market, while the hemp gives one-fifteenth;
one, one pound in three, the other, one in
fifteen.
Another prospective advantage the hemp
kAOWOA u0os WAiOh IAIC WuCoU SAOWCA OoA-
not anticipate. Hemp in this State may
be manufactured into cordage and sack
ing, near where it is grown, thus farther
diminishing the freight in proportion to its
value; or rather escaping the costs of dis
tant transportation altogether by supply
ing the demands at home. .-
Again the hemp grower furnishes him
self with profitable winter employment,
and may thus keep his hands the entire
year, while the wheat grower, in a meas
ure, loses fourth Of the year for want of
the proper kind of work at hand. ..
should add that have never raised
nemp, nor had any experience in that line,
but make up what I have said above prin-
cipally from the various reports of those
who have written upon the subject both iu
this country and in Europe. -r,...f...., !,
-, - T. T.. MANN.
COTTAGE GROVE, Jan. 1865 : . - ~ IT.
Gen. Sanborn, commanding the Dis