The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1871-11-16
FEWER ACRES AND HEAVIER
.seg,9 CROPS. Y = =

ton reminded that what We should ain
ais, fewer acres We are a great beef.
eating people, and are taking kindly.
to good mutton when it can be found.
Alreadya large proportion Of the beet
consumed in the Atlantic cities is
raised vest Of the Mississippi. Tie
price for the moment happens TO BE-,
low, but it will not remain so long.
The farmer who raises good beef or
muttoa in New England, New York;
Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, or
any Of the older, settled States, need
MT fear that tho hslf.wild cattle Of
Taxes Or elsewhere are going to drive
him to the wall. There is no sort OIL
danger. Unaided nature cannot COM
pete with agriculture any better than
the Indian can compete with the
Anglo Savon.
Our population is rapidly increasing,
and the demand for meat will continue
to increase from year to year. The
causes which lead to 40 over supply
tor few months are only temporary.
The demand is INCREASING, aud he is a
wise farmer who looks ahead and
quietly and prcsevcringly improves bis
ta1m and his stock. He is certain of
his reward. i Wool, mutton, beef,
pork, cheese, butter, milk, poultry,
aud all other animal products will be
wanted more ;and more as tho, condi-
ton Of tie world improves. There are
m'llions.of people even in Europe Who,
seldom taste fresh meat. An Irish
mann eats double the.~meas and does
double the work here that he did at
home. Even the Chinese in this
country eat meat as soon as they can
earn money enough to buy it.
The point I'waut to get at is this |
Wsshave a largo country. Land is
comparatively cheap, aud labor CON-
paratively high: Crops are great in.
extent but small in yield, and many of |
oar farms are getting more weedy and |
less productive. Now, what We must
aim at is to make them cleaner and
richer. We must devote less land to
the: production. OF wheat and other
grain that is. sold, aud more to the |
production Of such crops as are fed
out, to animals on theftarin: '.;''' ho@. =. i
We. all know that it is tar bc,t;r to |
raise 300 bushels of wheat from ten
acres than to pillow, seed aud reap TWEEN
ty or thirty acres to get the same
amount. We obtain no moro money |
for the crop in the one c,se than the |
other, but the profits are quadrupled.
The market is not gluttcd with graio,
and, there will be more meat and WOOL !
to sell, and more m4aure to use. To-.
bring this about, we must summer.
fallow when necessary; SOW clover
frequently, and not sell pound let
our land lie longer in grass and when
it is broken up and planted to corn
cultivate it very thoroughly, and o t
overcrop it before. it is seeded down
agaio. In some cases it will pay TO-
summer-fallow, and then seed the land
down to grass without grain crop.
We must aim to save labor, enrich our
land, reduce the area under tillage, and,
when it is plowed, cultivate thorough
ly to kill weeds and develop the latent |
plant-food in the soil.
Plaut-food is the farmers capital. |
1t IS present ia large quantities in
most Of our soils, but q great proper
ton of it lies idle. Our profits will be
10 proportion to the amount of this
plant.food that we can render available |
and keep in active circulation without
allowing it to diminish faster than
fresh quantities are developed from the
soil by the decomposing and disiu te-
grating action Of the atmospherc.-J.
Harrn, in Am. AgricuNur,st.