Tama County Republican. (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1867-1872, 1872-04-18
From the American Stock Journal.
Agriculture in England and America
Ccntrasted.

The first and leading fact that ar
rests the attention ot an American Oh
server OF agricultural phenomena IL
visiting Europe is, that in many Eu-
ropean countries the annual yield
per acre of all the land under culti-
va.lon is greatly on the increase from
year to year, while in the United
States the yield per acre is on the de-
crease. The question naturally arls
es: Is this gradual deterioration Of
American soil proof that Americans
are poor farmers, or that our soil Is
naturally poor? Our soil is the best
in the world, and practically we are
the most skilltul in nearly ali the me-
chanical appliances required IN farm.
ing. But thej question still arises,
Are We good farmers It ser.. ,i;,;,
the soil OF New England, New York,
Pennsylvania and Ohio to deterlor-
ate from a syield of so bu of wheat
to the acre land other crops in pro-
poriionl to less than fifteen bushels:
1t was not good farming that permit
ted large portions of the Southern
States 10 become absolutely barren;
and it is not good farming that is
now permitting the unparalleled soil
OF our prairie States to grow less and
less productive from year to year.
These facts suggest painful rctlcc-
tons, and indicate that our great
skill in producing and adapting ma.
chinery to agricultural purposes, and
our unsurpassed practical talent as a
nation, are being employed only to
exhaust the natural wealth OF the
country.
It was estimated, twenty years
ago, that to restore the land then un-
der cultivation III the United States
to its original fertility, would cost a
thousand millions OF dollars. The
same wastetul and exhaustive pro.
cess is TO a great extent still con-
tinuel.
Have we. WHO happen TO have pos
sessed the land in its virgin wealth,
any moral right thus to contract a
national debt, the burden of which
will Cypress our children and our
chilarcn's children? 1t is a dclusion
to supposesthat this crime is greatly
mitigated by the fact that our coun.
try possesses vast tracts of unoccu
pied land, to which we can remove
as soon as we have partly exhausted
cur farms. Even were there no lin
its to this, yet the argument would
be founded upon false principles o
political economy. There is limit
however; and he who rightly eati
mates the natural increase of oul
population, augmented by the mighty
tide Of immigration. must see tina
all our public domain will soon pas.
into private hands.
OF an average of five hundred pei
day Of emigrants who leave the Brit
ish isles, most Of them 60 to Ameri
ca. Of three hundred thousand en-
lgrants yearly from Germany, gree
majority 60 to America. Also
many other countries, where the pop
u!ation has outgrown the land, ar,
pouring constant stream Of emf
grafton into our country in search 0
land to till. Is 1t not high time
then, that we arrive at some system
of agriculture Which will secure t,
US, as Individuals and as nation III,
benefits of the progress that has been
made in countries where, from vari
GUS causes, more attention has bee,
paid to the cultivation OF the soil
England and Scotland are perhaps
justly cited as leading all other ma
lions i'll the art Of agriculture. Al
over-crowded population and a very
limited supply of land have made i
necessary to adopt the best practices
in the cultivation of the soil. The
fact that nearly all the land is titled
by tenant farmers, at high rental
prohibits poor farmer from holding
the land, and, sooner or later, tho
most skilllul farmers are put in pos
session. No matter from what causes
the Lest practices III agriculture arc
secured, they are equally valuable as
examples. Most tenants in England
and Scotland are found in the leases
to some system Of rotation Of crops.
That which is most common is call
ed the "four.course system" first,