The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1875-08-13
GheqmteItigstreer
A Complaint In Regard TO AgrI-
culture.


picture OF the native richness, in deptl
anil strength, Of the soil along "the slope
drained by the Wheeling creeks, Shor
creek and Cross creek
The writer says that no country undel
the sun, in his opinion, possesses greater
natural and inherent powers Of produc
tion and self recuperation" than thest
slopes. And not the slopes and bottom
lands alone, but likewise the uplands
rising from one hundred to three hun
dred feet above the level OF the river
Terminating in beautiful undulatinq
farms, each field Of which is generally
indented by gentle ravines, which furnish
ncver.failing water for man and beast
In regard to the fertility Of the soil Of
these farms, the writer thus expresses
himself:
1--WE have planted corn on soil taken
from the bottoms Of wells forty feet deep,
that made the most luxuriant growth, aud
in raising fifty successive corn crops in
the counties Of Belmont, Harrison and
Jefferson, no year has yielded lcss than
fifty bushels to the acre, when the crop was
we'll cultivated, and sometimes ~ much
as 100 bushels. We have harvested an
average OF II bushels OF wheat to the acre,
and have seen an average Of lO9 bushels
Of oats taken from the same area. We
have trayersed the prairie states, the best
lands in Indiana, Missouri, Virginia,
Maryland, Pennsylvania, the level lands
Of Ohio, and the celebrated bluegrass lands
of Kentucky, but have no where seen
grazing lands superior to these portions
of Ohio and West Nirginia.-Aiter long
and careful observation and comparison
with other sections, we attribute the won.
deriul self sustaining fertility Of these
lands, to the gasses rising from the un.
derlying strata Of decOmpOsing lime
rock"
The above is certainly a very pleasing
ArCadian picture, and well calculated to
excite the envy Of people not so fortunate
as to own few acres Of the goodly soil
referred to. But il seems that there Is an
other side to the story. And although
the correspondent whom We quote grows
n little scattering and obscure in with
drawing the sunshine and letting on the
shading on the picture, yet We prefer to
let him be heard in hi1 own language
lie says that "thc truth however unwel.
come should be told" What is it? Why
that
"The annual abrasion Of the plOw.sharc
and the mower for thirty or forty consec.
utive years, and the multitudinOus mouths
Of OvergrOwn ilOCks, clipping and ,lenud.
ing the surface fall, spring and summer,
to which little or nothing Is added to
keep up the quantum Of vegetable mat
ter, has at last demonstrated the fact that
even here there is n boundary beyond
which the covetOns and indiscreet farmer
may not push the depletion Of the soil,
to swell his bank, stock or add to the
number Of his mortgages, or multiply
his sections Of western lands"
But this is not all. II seems that many
of the owners Of these rich farms have
been indulging beyond their means in
dine dwellings, costly furniture, fast
horses, fine carriages, and gorgeous equip.
ages" and that these indulgences are now
visible in the shape Of "dilapidated and
empty barns, rotten and foul fences, bald
and sterile fields, and the general decay Of
agriculture"
Itis the old story Of Jeshuran having
waxed fat and kicked, according to this
correspondent. These Wheeling Greek
Short Creek and Cross Creek farmers
feeling, like the man in the parable, that
they had much goods laid up for many
days, have forgotten their dependence on
Providence, and have oppressed their ten
antry, and in expressing them have sui.
fered we'll merited retribution. Their
sin has been in attempting "to demoral.
ile labor, which Is stamped with the dig.
nifty Of Gods own appointment" It
seems that they have turned "the working
man and his family out into the lanes
and highways, to occupy the leaky cabins
in the outskirts Of thriitless villages,
there ITO drag out a miserable life Of de-
pendencc on the reluctant charity O
others" This great wrong has reacted
upon the wrong doers. The result i.
that ia sharp and invidious line has been
drawn between capital and lubor-bc
tween the rich and the poor" and the end
promises to be drying up Of the la'I
sources Of patriotism among the labor.
ing classes" thus destroying that mutual
fraternity ofgenerous sympathy that con
stitutes the indispensable basis Of free and
prosperous communities"
What is the remedy for all this? Thi.
philosopher says that at ia nothing short
Of the morality Of the inimitable sermor
on the mount, viz, as YOU wonldtlIat mcr
should do to you, do ye even 80 unto
them and he applies tbia injunction a.
follows:
"The land owner must realize that he
has no natural right to spend his time In
idleness, while he is able 10 work for The
Well.being Of Others; that he haI NJ
natural right to tear down the hnmbl,
tenement that sheltered the lnborei
and his family from the summer sur
and winter frost; that he has no natura
right to fence them out from the aCrt
of ground from which the wife an,
children wrcnchcd their scnnty sub
sistence, and let it grow up il
bFiars and thorns; that he ha4 n,
natural right to allow the broad field
which he holds, not by natural, but pnly
a conventional title, to degenerate int,
stetility and thus rob the hungry mother
and children whom God has invested will
an older and higher claim to a share Of til,
products NJ the common soil; that he ha
no natural right, AZ an honest man To lc
the sun go down on the unpaid wage
earned by the poor mans toll.
Let the land holder rebuild hia lcnc
ments and invite the poor man aud hi
family back 10 assist matchmaking th
btiars and thotn4, and in planting til
tepanL vrounds in fruit trees and vine.