Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1871-04-01
IMPROVEMENTS TN AGRIoUL-

According as nations become clVlll1eQ,
their agriculture improves. Man in his
savage state never excelled IN the cultiva-
ton of the soil; his aim was to satisfy
his present wants, and this he generally
contrived to do by hunting and fishing.
| For the sake of variety, he gathered the
wild fruits, and dug from the ground GER
| tain esculent roots. Even after the half
| civilized men have abandoned their habits
| of rowing and settled down permanently
on land, their implements of husbandry
were of the rudest kind; and they con-
tinued so without the slightest improve
ment for thousands of years. Even at
the present day, the agricultural imple-
ments of the East Indies and China are
similar to those used in those countries
two thousand years ago. One hundred
years ago, the agricultural implements of
the best cultivated countries of Europe
were rude and unwieldy, and greatly In
ferior to those of the present day.
l The establishing of Agricultural So
cieties and agricultural magazines and
newspapers has had wonderful influence
toward improving agriculture, and diff
fusing knowledge among the tillers of the
soil A century ago, valuable breed of
live stock, or newly invented or improved
machine or implement, might exist or
he at work for years in one locality, while
in another not very far distant it was
never heard of. Now the state of affairs
is quite different; farmers meet periodi-
cslly, and have opportunity for seeing
the most improved varieties of the domes-
tic animals, the best and most modern Ia
bor-ssving machines and implements, the
choicest agricultural seeds, fruits, vege-
tables, etc. The results of useful expert
ments, and the experience of practical
farmers, are published by the agricultural
periodicals, and very extensively circula-
ted among th0-e persons who are likely
to derive benefit from such information.
A century ago, the theory and practice
of thorough drainage were but imperfect
ly understood, even in England. The
Ellington system of drainage which was
originated in 1894 by Joseph ELLINGTON,
farmer of Warwickshire, was thought
to be a wonderful improvement in its
day. 1t consisted of tapping the ground
with large augur at the fountain head,
and removing the water by judicious
draining. Another part of his system
consisted in boring through hard sub
soil into grayelly or porous stratum and
letting the water run down in the aper-
ture thus formed. Artesian wells $50 call
ed from Artois, a province of France,
where they were invented) seem to have
been constructed on plan somewhat
similar to that of Ellington. The well
is sunk in the center of the basin; and if
the dip or declivity of the surround
ing strata is sufficient, the wa
ter is forced upward through
the tube, sometimes many feet
above the surface of the land. 1t is not
fifty years since Smith, of Deanston, in
vented the system Of drainage which
bears his name. This combines the best
points of the systems which were in use
up to his time, and is now very extern
sively adopted. The chief popularity of
his plan of drainage lies in the direction
of the drains, which are made up and
down the declivity, in the form of the
drains, which are wedge-shsped, and
in having them always closely covered.
The invention of reaping and moving
machines, horse hay rakes, horse hay
forks, ETC., has afforded the farmer q
means of, in great measure, dispensing
with manual labor, and harvesting his
crops at the right time and in suitable
condition. Those most valuable man
ures, gusno and gypsum, were not gen.
orally knownor much used fifty years
ago; now millions of dollars are expen-
ded annually for these fertilizers; and
their effect upon nearly all kinds of cul-
tivated crops warrant the outlay. Drill
husbandry, rotation of crops, the cultiva-
ton of green crops, and the house feed
ing of cattle, are comparatively mo dern
improvements, which have made but slow
progress as yet in the United States, but
will be universally adopted when dense
population has to be supported, and
the fertility of the soil must be increas-
ed
The introduction of the steam plow,
and the manufacture of sugar from beet,
will probably cause wonderful improve
ment in the agriculture of the United
States. 1t is said that about /, 500 steam
plows are now at work In Great Britain |
and Ireland with the most satisfactory
results, their deep culture increasing the |
agreeable yield of all kind of crops SINH |
lar results have been produced by steam
culture on the exhausted soils of the
plantations in the Southern States. Su-
gar beet is admirably adapted for mich |
cows and all kinds of neat stock; and,
leaving sugar entirely out of the question,
it will be profitable to grow this crop on
an extensive scale. When the cultiva-
ton of sugar beet and the manufacture
of sugar from it becomes general, and
the immense sums which are now sent |
out of the United States to purchase su-
gar in foreign countries are expended at
home, the wealth of the American far
mer will be greatly increased, and profita-
BILE employment will be afforded for q
large number of hands in the fields and
factories. = Western Rural.