New-York tribune., 1870-10-04


to the clumsy old wooden mOd-boaTd cOntrivance
which had satisfied their gTandfathers; and being
questioned by Sir Robert as to their reason for
thus backslding, gravely replied that IN their
unanimous Judgment, the new iron pOw stimulated
the growth of weedSl Such was the blOckheadlsln
which Scientific Agriculture has been Obliged 10
circumN eut, resist, and overcome. -,
When speak of British progress in Agriouitunr1i !
allude 10 a movement wherein those who nave t Iui;
participated are still comparatively few me & I'm in
majority have at best been dragged part "y, n ycrv
spite OF their dOgged inertia and TepngnahOo t oil
large proportion have rs yet hardy SUIT ~ tbe ways
They ding, nearly as is still possible, IN spite of
of their Craudfathers: yet even these, III sPPnnle
their utmost pCrverseness. work with petteh h r re-
mcuts and Of course TO better purpose tboTouehiy
spectcd ancestors ever did And though at RTifain
Srontii tanners are still few even III Gigal ID III f
while those who have been paTtiaIy e.h tbn trnth
low like Peter afr on Sioulu millions of Dol
il stated that fully One lhouShu Mlil;;,a Mlion ,yih
i,rs L9, fberc been invested IN undeTdralhing Nun
tiles while an amount scarcely IL AT an le '
d other exotic fertilizers, with such effect
that many farmers usually harvest from loltE 80 w
fifty bushels PEI. PER acre Sds hoan so ongmented
tba, two bOunteOus Wheat-CropS are taken from
them every four years whereas, the tenants WERE
formerly restrained by their leases from taking more
than one Wheat-crOp IN four yeaTs-that neihg az
that could be grown withO-t eNhauStlng the sOh;
And to such perfection have the machinery ana
processes of Agriculture been brought Dy t 1ne
foremost rank that great farms are now kept
absolutely clear of weedS-nOt one beng alio"ed
10 seedat less than half the cost formerly incurred
n Martial wedding TO very little purpose am Nch
assured that lands wheTeOn the weeds nave Deen
kept in thorough subsection for years are now Sept
weedess AT the incredibly low cost OF a shining
sterling per acrel which is less than II would cOs us
to burn our weeds to stop their seeding aIter they
had been moved and dried for weeks. ,ox
And this brings into view that interdependence OF
the Useful Arts which is the central truth desire 10
set forth and ilustrate-that Harmony OF Interests
which is the core of all true Political Economy the
watchwOrd of an enlightened and benlgnant Ma
II we regard only the capacity of the soil and its
average product per acre, American Agriculture mas
not advanced during the last century, but rather re-
ccded Whereas if we regard the power over Nature
given TO Man by his Implements and Machinery, we
lind that this has been immensely advanced ana eX,
tended. An average field produces no more Corn ana
far less Wheat than il did two generations back; Dut
then We till and harvest twice ms fast as our grand
fathers did and thus feed our families at cost OF
half the labor required of them to fill so many mouths
Our Agriculture proper has hardly advanced; but
our Mechanical appliances In and OF Agriculture nave
made immense strides toward perfection. with our
best Steel PlOws two acres may be better broken up
and pulverized with less power than was formerly
required TO plow one acre. with our modern Mowers
and Reapers, we cut both Gram and Grass hve
times as fast as our forefathers did and with an eX
pcndture of hardly tlthe of the human muscle de-
manded of them; while our cOn-panters ana shelleIS
would have struck them dumb with amaZement ana
admiration. By the aid of modern machinery and
mechanism, Farming has ceased 10 be the most and
Is rapidly becoming the least labonOus OF nOnpTO-
fessional vocations; and we are clearly on @ the
tion of Steam Power to the breaking up and ulllng
Of the soil which will render the farmers calling
more decidedly intellectual and probably less mus
cnlar than any other department of Productive In
dustTy.
Agriculture in the past has been the least progress
sive the most Obstnately stationary of human pur-
suits Ip 10 very recent period, the average far
mer was ihteTate, apathetlC, confined to ms native
valley or slope by horrible roads, and so remained Tor
years unconscious of improvements devised or
ndopted within few miles of him. He hated innO-
VatiOn for that required him to thnk-a process IN
citing headache His conservatism was as sturdy
tltata ,-irp. hr fhp 81 n
always seen burdens carried on the head refused to
consider any alternative and when furnished with
wheelhaTTOws and required 10 use them, each piled
his load on his barrow, lifted his barrow to and
poised il upon his skull and SO bore the cane or srup
to its destination Ignorance hates e
did always will. "The good, old way is its ideal OF
perfection. have known farmers who never grew
one really good crop of Corn IN thirty years trying
who secuted the suggestion that city man could
grow Corn though my crops of that staple averaged
nearly double theirs and never once failed 10 be re-
spectacle. OF ilheIate farmers, the great majority
move only when dragged, ana stop Wheh Jhe uhpuls'
Bnt here Invention and Mechanics have stepped il
and supplied the Indispensable motor. My neigh
boT who will not subsOil nor buy bOne-dust though
he must see that something has doubled my crops
and he has cause for doubling my statement that
>ubSoiling and Bone have done IL, Will buy push
hoe or cOrn-sheler if he that my efforts with
are twice as efficient his are without that lmple-
ment. Nay, he will Though 1T goes against the
p1ainl pay $50 for a Mower and $50 for Horse
Rake after scratching his head year OF two III per
plexitV over the undeniable fact that my hands
make twice the Hay per week or month by the help
of those laborsaveTs that his do or can do without
them The demonstrations afforded by farm and
a season he can somehow withstand, but not those
which are peTfected in one long day and a single
field and repeated indefinitely so near him that he
can only ignore them by putting out his own eyes.
immigration and Railroads are great enlghteners.
The Western is the Eastern man tTansplanted; but
that process has cleared his brain of the cObwebs Of
prejudice and tradition. Having been lifted out of
his old Tuts, he hesitates to sink INTO new unless
they are considerably broader He has seen more
during his journey OF migration than his great
grandfather during his long life; and the more
he the clearer is his consciousness that the uni
verse larger than his respected prOgentOr supposed
il. and vast, eyer-grOwlng network of Rail
roads coming and nearer TO his doors tempts
him 10 revisit in three days the ancestral cot in New
England. whence three months OF haId shedding and
heavy wheeling scarcely suhced, forty years ago, 10
bear him 70 his pioneer home IN the west, we
travel immensely more than our 1OTe1atheTs dld, ana
some rust of prejudice is inevitably rubbed off of
"a we journey. And this is one among the reasons
why the acceptance of modern Agricultural Ma
chincry has been more prompt and general in the
West than III the East. 1t Is tins which enables us
20 compete for the grain-markets OF Western Eu-
rope with the ill-pad labOTer on the nch lneryales
OF the lower Danube and the vast plans OF Poland
and Russia
Ii were superfuous, l trust, to argue or demon
strate that Agriculture and Manufactures are nat
ural allies. who ought TO be near nelghbOrs How
obscured by prejudice or partisanshP this truth
is nstincvely recognized by the general mind. Say
TO any purely Agricultural community, " We will es-
tablish works for the production of Iron, Steel
Woolens Glass Porcelain tOT almost anything elsel
among YOU, which will thenceforth employ a thou
sand hands provided you Will give a square mile
of eligible land for our buildings, and subscribe
$4,000 10 our stock" and those requirements will
be promptly satisfed-he who for fifty years has
maintained that Manufactures are a curse cbeerfuly
paving his proportion if he must, though he would
rather let the whole sum be made up by Others-Out
of regard for his consistency, of course. And even
this delicate consideration will not prevent his dOub-
ling because of that factory the asking price OF his
farm.
There is region or district devoted to Agricul-
ture which would not be benefited by the establish
ment therein of Manufactures, and rice reTsd In
dustry supplies the larger and think better portion
of tbe Education of the Masses and il is yitally i'm
portant to them that the portion of its processes
Hhch they are seveTay called 10 observe shOuld be
i...or.L Id mnltifnrm "a maN he Ii Won I'll rrl