Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1866-08-16
VOLUME XVII.

|
is very great, If he is the head of tami
ly, or twenty-one years of age, he receives
from the Government, substantially as a
free gift, one hundred and sixty acres OF
land and each Of his children, on attain
ing the age of twenty-one years, receives
the like. If he chooses to pursue his trade
or to seek employment as laborer in any
of the large towns or in the more densely-
peopled parts of the country, he finds wages
much higher than in Europe, and the ne
cessaries of life comparatively cheap. The
high price Of labor generally compels the
settler who becomes farmer to depend on
himself and his family for the cultivation
of his farm, but he can confidently reck n
on produce more than sufficient for his sup
port. The increase Of population in some
Of the newly-settled districts has been ex-
tremely rapid Minnesota in lS49 had a
population little exceeding four thousand
in 1860 the population exceeded one hun
dred and seventy-two thousand and in
1864 it was estimated at three hundred and
fifty thousand. Wisconsin had only 531S
inhabitants in 1880, and in 1860 it had us,
SSl. Indiana had population Of 1875 in
1900, and in 1860 population of 1861
| 428. The annual produce of wheat liz this
State is now nearly ten million bushels.
The prosperity of California began with
the discovery of gold, but it is already a
wheatexporting country, and seems likely
! to become the granary OF the Pacific. The
rapid prosperity of the States is generally
! due to their agricultural resources Sir S.
NJ. PetO says hope | shall not wound
the national esteem Of my American friends
when | say that | regard their country as
essentially agricultural, and by no means
essentially commercial or manufacturing.
But | think their own records establish my
position. Of about SPIT, 900 heads of
families and other individuals whose occu-
pations were recorded at the period of the
| census of 1860, it appears that up " ard of
three million, or more than one-third, were
directly occupied i'll the tillage of tn, soil
.... On the other hand, the number of
merchants and clerks in America is only
three hundred thousand The population
engaged in manufactures does not assume
a very large proportion to the whole popu.
lation"
The American estimate of American
manufactures, and of the number of peO-
pie engaged in them, is only reached I" by
including all the fishermen, blacksmiths,
carpenters, tailors, shoemakers, mantua-
makers, seamstresses, painters, varnishers,
printers, hatters, masOns, mariners, mlllers,
sawyers, lumbermen, and handicraftsmen
of every sort in the community. Manu-
featuring industry, properly so called, is
almost entirely confined to a few Of the
Northern States.
The extent of improved land in farms in
the United States, according to the census
returns of 1860, was 1913, I10,7 acres :;
the extent Of unimproved land included in
farms was 144, l0l,S SIS acres and the I'M
cultivated territory not yet included in
farms was l I,466, ,969, ,862 acres The rapid
progress of agriculture is shown by the
fact, that while the cash value of the farms
under actual cultivation in 1850 was esti-
mated at $3,261, ,565, 900, it had risen in
1860 to $6,645, ,045, ,000-being an increase
of no less than l03 per cent in these ten
years. The amount Of agricultural pro-
duce has also increased even during the
war. In consequence of tn high price of
| labor, the farming is generally very imper
feet yet, mainly from the advantage of
climate, the American farmer is able to
produce a bushel Of wheat at much less
cost than the most scientific farmer in Eng
land can. The wheat, we'll protected by
the deep snow in winter, comes rapidly for
ward in the cool weather of spring, and
the bright sunshine Of the summer months
brings it to great perfection. Wheat and
Indian corn are the grains principally cul-
tivated in the more northern parts of Amer
ica Rice is grown in some parts of the
South Indian corn supplies the principal
part of the food of the people, both in the
o,J in bo II =, o.
ly easy cultivation, and its productiveness
is far beyond that of other grains. Peas
and beans are largely cultivated in Ameri-
ca. Potatoes are produced in great guam
titles in the Northern States, and sweet po-
tatoes in the South. Turnips are little cul-
tivated, the climate being too dry. The
dairy produce, both of butter and cheese,
is large. The improvement of quality in
American cheese since it began to be i'm
ported into Britain has attracted the notice
of almost every consumer. 1t is account
ed for by the establishment of a great
cheese-fact.ry' system in the dairy dis
tricts of the State of New York and neigh
boring regions Each farmer sends his
milk to the dairy, and is credited for the
quantity supplied. Skilled persons are en-
ployed at the factories to make the cheese
and it has been found that these factories
turn out an article of far better quality
than used to be made in private dairies"
The prices Of grain and dairy produce in
America, depend mainly upon the prices in
London. The exports of grain from the
United States in 1868 amounted to seventy
seven million three hundred and ninety-six
thousand and eighty-two bushels, of which
forty-seven million eightytwo thousand and
twenty-six bushels were sent to Great
Britain and Ireland. The grain-trade was
rapidly developed after the opening OF the
Erie Canal in 1925, and of late years it has
increased with wonderful accelerated ra-
pidty much grain produced in the North
western States finding its way eastward by
the Erie Canal, much of it from the lake
ports by the St, Lawrence, and much of it
by railways. Milwaukee, in Wisconsin,
which was scarcely inhabited twenty-five
years ago, and which exported only 1000
bushels of grain and flour in I84l, exported
| Is, ,Sl2,3 $50 bushels in 1868.
Wool is not Vet an important article of
| produce in the United States, although in
some places there are fancy farms, where
great attention is paid to the breeds Of
. -