Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1872-05-20

| Dapi1se Them
Our Soil and Our Crops.
We have more than once taken occasion TO
| say that the very common mode and fashion of
| speaking of our soil, our climate and our agri-
culture as on the decline, did not represent the
| true condition of things, and conveyed a wrong
| impression to the minds of those who do not
look into the facts, and TO people at a distance
| who are not in position to Judge of the real
| state of the case.
Prof. Stockbridge in his very able address be
fore the Franklin county agricultural society
places this matter in its true light and shows
that we are not quite so far down in point of
material and agricultural prosperity as many
would have us believe. He appears after APP
parenty a very careful study, to see something
hopeful in our case, and says:
sit is not because Massachusetts is not good
home for q farmer, that such hard words are
spoken Oft, and 50 hany Of its sons emigrate;
but il is in most cases because the emigrant. in
obedience TO the law of his nature, must have
change, must explore new localities must have
variation OF circumstances either for better or
worse: and some there are 50 variable, tha. if
their location was in Paradise, thew Roul1 sa1n
conclude that by little exploration thev ooaE3
hod ci.Gse better SHifei 10 their wants and d.
Sires- NOS wh&f z7e he SiTsn.sseS 1aaesssrv
for successful prss EssE11S 2-rieH liure2 FIRST
ve U1sl have SUI capable q producing food
plants n sl1c5ent abundance 10 repay la5 labor
O c21IzE 8lao8- X ; sad en- sol i Ssrla u s.
Z - lc6EiEzly' Eoal3 3 sfels3e s15l hgz-a ur1-
1E.cs;1 AID supported ias asls5 grand 1j5 forests
F12a1 0zr 1Ethsrs sound herr eE1EaalzE from
I8r So 10 ne Anas1Ds We're TIE allurlsl BOT
a1Z zE1z q or TEllFT-lf ibe Cauuaeri-
t'His ne h9uslic1-le5 ne AtrrlEEaeEs and &
sears II aIBalS-1ht 1nH SWEEP bonn d aur
ial-nllis Sterile i Il ITussitae Tgs-,sz
slA1HtT ltfesi Tsras-1ls DGE, LIE WEluuf 1ht
rnas1s EDo rhH elIu--saIi Their ralts Iutq p sou
rl,ih ID LIS clements Of fertility. These valie7s
yiidac 70 -hsiT FIRST eIltEHr8rs stxrv tOid of The
cereal grains. Hn0 0ur 1ills were cErpated wi1h
liiitk covering % TIE MOST Hu1rIGiOUE mliE and
nesh forming Eraase= Until an IMMENSE MP
uiHell-flng p1pui8>tiun gathered here unai-inr q
g-rtli HfepanaefHnee o, consumer ans guiI led
RIG clOtieG iIE people, and produced q surplus
iOr EKportRu0n. But some one savs- TINT ullr-bf
be 1rne OF our Stale when FIRST sertleds vet
nov Our soil Ii s1erI.e IN consequence of i'm
proper cultivation, and mRHv an old homestead
Is Deserted, and lis heias are being raBdlv re-
{ stored 10 forest. Tins lnsl ] grant and reiniee
+ IN consequence Of the fact; for many 8 rocky
mountain TOP, steep hillside and deciivirv was
cleared and called 3 farm which nature never
designed for, Dor wDuid allow 70 be successfully
cuuFateds and il we Willingly, or uuwilinE7Y
4 are giving il up 70 the purposes for winch ii II
adapted Tit better VIII il be ior our other fields
and the aggregate production. But DENY Thai
gtJ SOL Is NnDie Is 50 depleted fhaT rs mo
qnefs IL the aggregate do not Weld as rirb
3 reward as other sections Of the com
Try. Compare the value Of the important
crops acre for acre VIII the states famed for
fertility, and the balance Is 10 our favor. Hav
sE an example, Is & leading and important crop
throughout tie DOrthsrn states, IN some re-
speets more valuable than any other Now
t5e money value Of 81 average acre Of nav
in Massachusetts IS S22.75. 10 New York 4
Is $3.50; in Ohio, Sl7.58; 10 Pennsylvania,
sl5-o5; and 10 Illinois, slS.so If yOu compare
rrfs ur5fT ass .4rs~e
butter and cheese acre for acre the balance Is
in our favor. II we LOOK At the average Weld
PER acre, We shall find We staBd in tfe front
rank; iof tue very reliable statistics Of 1863
show that that year Illinois produced Oh the
average, ZsS.D pounds per acre; Massachusetts,,
1890; Pennsylvania, 400; Ohio, 1900: aud
New York, 1000. Inrn now 70 grain, aud sex
how poor, poverty stricken Massachusetts com
psTes with her famed sisters in their prod uctiVns
Indian corn il our great national crop. 10 1859
the value Of this cereal produced by the whole
country was $3.50, J00,OO0. That year we aver
aged more corn per acre than any state in the
Union, excepting Nebraska, Kansas and CalifOr.
mia. The average worth Of an acre Of corn that
year, taking into account both the corn and the
fodder, was: in Massachusetts, 81; in Ohio,
SIS; in Missouri, SIS; 10 Michigan, $3.50; 10
Wisconsin, sl5.60i in Kentucky, SIS; and in
Illinois, $3.50. The same facts exist in relation
TO the production OF wheat. Oregon alone aver
ages more wheat per acre than Massachusetts,,
and Vermont is the only state which produces
an equal amount. The money value % the
farmer Of an average crop Of wheat, including
grain and straw, is greater here than in any
other state in the Union.
These facts are the answer which the soil Of
Massachusetts gives TO those who say it is sterile
and will not pay for cultivation, and show con-
clusively that, Notwithstanding the exhaustive
cultivation from which it has suffered, and vet
possesses the power to reward the labCrs of the
hn flIun oh n,,.
tor, admit your crops are good enough, but it
IS by the hardest of work you can get them; and
then your climate is cold and nhospitable: your
long winters consume all your summers pro-
ducts, and when the year comes round there is
nothing left. Now genial climate is the second
great requisite for successful agriculture and has
as important an influence in determinino the
character and quantity Of the products or a
given area OF land as the soil itself. 1t Is the
ehmate which in the vegetable world Of the
tropics produces the palm, the sugar cane the
banana, and all its magnificent fora: on tbe
great plains Of tie west, naught but the mjser
able sage; in the polar regions, lichens and
moses; and in the temperate zone, the cereals
and nutritious forage plants In the animal
world, il Is the climate which produces tbe ele
plant, the lion, the anaconda, and myriads of
gigantic, poisonous, tOrmenting insects of the
tropics; the white bear, the walrus and The seal
81 ingid regions; and the horse the OK and
sheep Of temperate attitudes. As Of other ami.
mails, 70 Of man, j is climate as prime cause
which has made different races with their neon.
llarities aud characteristics. The climate Of
Africa made the Negro race: Of Greenland, the
Es4uimauE; OF southern Asia the Monaghan.
and Of the temperate belt the Caucasian, with
its minor families, TeutOnic and Celtic with
their special traits.
Now for what and 10 whom Is the climate Of
Massachusetts really uncODgenial and unhos-
pitableP It's uncOngenial to the palm Of the
south; 10 the worthless sage and lichen Of the
| north 20 the lion, tiger and tOrmeuting insect
world Of the tropics; and TO the white bear and
seal Of the Arctic circle. But for everything
which is really the most valuable and useful,
both in the animal and vegetable World-fof
| every product whose influence, in It's production
| or ITS use, tends TO promote the welfare and
| happiness Of the individual and the prosperity
OF state--tbe climate Of Massachusetts Is
| genial Removed from the eneryating and de.
| bilitatng influence Of the south and The north.
| the climate has just enough Of yiQor to give
strength, vitality and exhilaraiOn 10 all organ.
isms, vegetable and animal, which it produces.
Had the passengers Of the Mayhower landed
| few degrees TO the north or south of Cane
| Cod, Notwithstanding their many virtues, they
could not have created Massachusetts, II Is
TINS climate, in Its direct and indirect influence
IN our mental and physical constitutions, which
nas made y what II is-the graudest common.
mea .tn oi me nations-and, though but speck
on tne earth's surface, has given ii an influence
az wlue as CIVILIZATION has extended He who
iirSuVlSs ~, and emigratcs, except on the same
i LILY VI temperature, rellnquishes for himself OF
ne ROsse,y a It's legitimate results, and
OF humanity TO his desire for ease and inact;v
ity. 'e anu i''ac'F
The next great requisite for suecessfrl oor;
culture is good market. Markets for N,
farmer are maze ny large consuming popula
ton, whose labor is not directed 10 the maxim
! Of food products; but that the market may h