Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1873-07-10
The Mississippi Valley.

The old time farmer was q man who
strove by means of his own labor and
that of bis family, to produce from the
land the simple and wholesome things
which he regarded as the comforts of
life, and after supplying his needs, he
used the surplus fruits of his toll to
| procure a few tropical luxuries, and
to improve his home and educate his
children. He regarded his one or two
hundred acres as a large farm. and
| looked forward to its subdivision
among his descendants. Knowing the
character and quality of every foot Of
his holding, he took pains to vary his
crops for the benefit of the soil He
looked upon his acres with the affec-
ton of intimate personal acquaint-
anceship, and while his living was
plain, he was, when out of debt, in
condition of comparative independ-
ence. Financial fluctuations and the
rise and fall of markets were not TO
| him matters of much concern.
This class of farmers still generally
predominates, and their industry and
thrift, honesty and economy, are
wholesome and conservative elements
of society. 1t is however true that in
some of the States, agricultural indus
trv is undergoing a change which
places the small farmer at a serious
disadvantage, and he is being gradual
ly eliminated by the modern type of
agriculturist who is a capitalist and
| speculator. The man who plants five
| thousand acres in corn, is not farmer
in the proper sense, and the man of a
hundred and fifty acres, who enters in
to competition with him, is situated as
the artisan would be, who would at
tempt the hand loom weaving of
cloth in Lowell, or the hand-naking
of watches at Elgin, Illinois.
Agricultural industry, in so far as it
is practicable, is being gradually sub
jected to a transformation, which the
manufacturing, mining, and transport
ing interests have undergone. The
tendency is to consolidation; small
and weak adventurers are squeezed
out, and business is getting into the
hands of great establishments, en-
ploying improved machinery, and
welding immense capital Whether
| this tendency be wholesome or other
wise, it must be recognized as fact,
and it seems to be necessary in those
manufacturing industries which en-
counter the rivalry of great industrial
establishments in foreign countries.
In agriculture we believe that, for
the present, consolidation works badly,
and that land monopoly is the cause
of some of the evils of which com
| ri, ;o4 I,o
In riding along the great lines of rail
road which traverse the State of Hi
nois, the traveller is struck with the
immense size of the fields of grain,
the large herds of cattle, the numbers
of sheep and hogs. He looks out on
every side, as far as the eye can reach,
on a level sea of fruitful soil, dotted
here and there with little houses, shin
ing like the sails of ships away under
the horizon. A foreigner would ask
himself, where do the people live, who
own all this wealth, and he would
naturally conclude that it had poor
tenantry, and non resident proprietor
ship. In fact a considerable proper
ton of the richest soil in some of the
States, is in very large holdings; the
| OHnCLS are diJlGdllSIS VIII run a
Just as they would run a bank or q
store, and their operations are always
of commercial and speculative char,
acter. 1t may be said that this will be
otherwise when the country fills up,
but this form of agriculture prevents
the proper settling up of the country,
and drives the man who is looking
for small farm, into the far Western
States aud Territories.
i While there are model farms of very
large size, it cannot be denied that
generally the management of large
holdings is not careful or economical.
The crop is carelessly planted, and
more carelessly harvested, and if the
soil was not proof against every form
of abuse, it would take an ample re-
venge. AS it is, its native fertility is
so great, and the employment of ma
chinery is so effective, that the pro
duct is enormous, and as there is no
use for it on the spot, its price is de
termined by foreign demand and the
cost of transportation.
There is a striking contrast in the
agricultural rebellions begun stimuli
taneously in England and in the
United States. The movement OF
English farm laborers, headed by
Joseph Arch. is a demand by the poor
est and most oppressed working peo-
pie in the world for such a small pro
portion of the food produced by their
labOrs, as will preserve themselves and
families from starvation. The agri-
cultural uprising in the Western States
is based upon the desire of the larges,
body of rich and influential land
owners i'll the world. to find more
profitable market for their surplus
products. In the one case there arc
the pains Of poverty, in the other
there is embarrassment of riches.
We put the case, as we think, fairly
and while we favor such practice
measures as will give our Western
manufacturers of corn, wheat, and
pork, substantial relief, we cannot hell
observing that their grievance is o
exceptional character, and it is not :
case for agonizing sympathy.
1t is safe to assume that the presen
situation may and will repeat itself
The consolidation of land will con
) tinue, the operations of machinery
will be more effective, the proportion
of acres under cultivation to farm
laborers employed will increase, and
/, there will be less of the crop con
< sumed in the process of making it
The manufacturing States will still b,
D the best customers for Western agri
cultural products, but they cannot b,
e depended upon to take off the con
= stantly increasing surplus. New rail
roads will afford but partial and tenn