Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1868-04-03
Wheat Culture of the West.


We commend the following article. from
the New York Shipping Lnt,H to the
careful consideration oi farmers in this State.
who are making the experiment of wheat
hints which il would be well 10 make a note
of:
The extreme faulty system OF farming in
the West is beginning TO attract the alien
ton il merits. In late report from the
Bureau OF Ayr icrltuIe. some severe strict
ures are made on the Whea, culture OF that
section, and some reflections haza, ied as
to the impending consequences. The g,sd-
ual impoverishment of the soil, 70 an alarm
ing extent, is shown BY statistics. First.
thirty bushels 10 the acre. is the boast OF
the farmer. and then the yield drops to
twenty. fifteen. and finally. TO ten ard eight
In the older States oil the Union, where a
much better system of farming obtains, the
average yield is far greater. notwitbs,and.
ing the sterility OF the soil. impaired with
the rich prairie and bottom lands Of the
West. This is because The rotation system
OF the crops is generally resorted TO. and
because Eastern farmers generally reeog.
nizc the principle which Liebig has applied
to the repIemishmen, of an exhausted soil,
viz: the giving back those essentials 10 its
nutrition which ii has lost by The exhaustive
alton of constant cropping. In the North
Western States crop after cropis taken from
the same field. The straw often burned, and
other wasleful practices adhered 10. II Is
high time the tact should be recognized nv
Western farmers that dependence on
growing Wheat, or the exclusive produc-
ton OF any one staple. is ross mistake;
experience in Europe and In the older set
tied sections OF our own country has shown
it to lie almost inevitably fatal one. The
reflections OF the Commissioner on the
present unhealthy condition OF rhe Wesi.
induced by unlimited aud iiuproyident cut
turc of Wheat. and a demand for i change
that shall restore the equilibrium. are judic-
ious and timely. The remedy is in var, ing
the industrial enterprise Of ,be West by IN
q o iacing mechanical and manufacturing
industries. That the Comm ssone ? thinks.
viii prove to be the balance wheel 10 the
present imperfect system OF farming We
make single extract:
Cattle are high in price, horses very
high, milk is scarce. and butter sometimes
unknown. while straw stacks are burning
and the wheat a; 4 merry OF spectators
and the railroads, and bringing high prices
olly under the curse OF God upon foreign
wheat fields AMI when foreign nations are
in danger of famine, and even sben tut
moie,y OF The supply comes from this coun-
try. Exchanged for thousand other :, e,c,l
things al exorbitant prices, the wheat brings
little; so improvements are ignored and
wheat fields cxter ded. until. by and by. the
sod exhausted or given Up to weeds, they
viii share the fste Of cotton fields. leaving
the land poor, the owner poorer and po-
neer in some more distant west.
Reliance on he raising oil grain for expor-
taiion has ever been i,liacy in this coun.
try, and ever viii be /; has ever proved. and
ever will be, curse to our agriculture -
We want more grain, and we want II all
eaten in ihis country; NE want The wheat.
eaters amcng the wheat growers; We wan,
cloth makers among wool growers; we
want in the West tenfold greater variety ia
agricultural, manufacturing. and mechanical
industry then twenty-five bushels per acre
will bring two dollars per bushel. and the
railroads will be employed in more profit.
able business than carrying wheat Tor ship.
ment to Europe