The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1877-10-19

great trouble is breaking prairie. This is
done in the fall of the year, so that the sod
may rot during the long winter The
work is done with an immense pillow, drawn
10y twelve or fourteen oxen. The work,
after that, is easy enough. In the spring
they plant what they call sod corn. As
the sod has not rotted enough by that
time to enable them to cultivate the crop,
they simply make hole with stick, drop
in the corn, cover it over, and let it alone
till it is fit to gather. OF course, the first
crop is comparatively light, but it would
be considered good one in MANY of the
Eastern States. By the next year the land
is in good working order, and the crops of
wheat, corn, barley, &c, which are raised
are enormous. When first reached Iowa
nothing struck me more than the admira-
BILE condition of the farms, buildings and
agricultural implements. Every one
seemed determined to make the best of
everything, and the farmers were prompt
to use all improved agricultural machinery
in the way of plows, cultivators, reapers,
mowers, &c. On those broad prairies, free
from stumps and stones, these can be used
to the greatest advantage. have seen a
buggy cultivator in use that cultivated
five rows OF corn at a time. 1t was drawn
by two horses, and the driver sat upon a
covered spring seat, and was thus enabled
to get over the ground with very little
fatigue. remember hearing that from
one hill in Wisconsin, with the aid of a
field glass, 1870 patent reapers could be seen
in full operation at the same time. So YOU
see these Western men are determined to
keep up with times, and avail themselves
OF every Improvement. And the result is
the rapid development of the States of the
Mississippi Valley, so that Illinois, Mis-
souri, and Iowa are now the greatest corn
producing States of the Union, and Kansas
is not far behind them. But it may be
asked what interest do these facts possess
for the farmers of Hartford county 2 Much;
very much, my friends, for you must re-
member that these States are no longer as
they were short time ago, far distant
countries, but they are, owing to the con-
struction of railroads, brought almost to
your doors, and enabled to send their teem-
ing products to compete with yours in the
markets OF your own and adjacent States
We are apt to overlook the wonderful
changes which comparatively few years
have made in our country. l am compare
lively young man, and yet can remem-
Der when the time from Baltimore to
Wheeling was SO hours, and six DAYS from
there to st. Louis. Now the time from
Baltimore to st. Louis is SO hours. And
now st. Louis has population of upwards
of four hundred thousand and is one of
the great commercial centres of the United
States, like her great rival, Chicago. And
yet in 1882 Chicago was far-of Western
post, consisting OF Fort Dearborn and
some six traders huts. And there is now
on file in Washington Report of United
States Engineers condemning the site of
Chicago as unfit to build upon because of
its swampy character.
While | lived in st. Louis | met an old
lady, still active and vigorous, who had
just returned from visit to Hartford or
New Haven, having made the trip from
there to st. Louis in GO hours, whereas her
first trip between these points had taken
60 days, and her household effects were
then directed to st. Louis near Alton. And
there is now in the employ of the B. & o.
X. X. Company, an engineman on the
Washington Branch, and regarded as one
of the company's best men, a man who be-
gan his service with it as the driver of
horse car 10 Relay, then the north.
western terminus of the B. 6 o. R.R.
DO not these things show how wonderful
have been the Improvements in the means
OF communication between distant parts of
our countrys 1t is impossible fully to esti-
mate the effect of these changes, but we may
rest assured that corn will never again be
used for fuel in Illinois because it is cheap
er than coal or wood. And it is with the
energetic men who inhabit the great Mis-
sissippf Valley that you must contend in
the markets of the world. While this
thought should arouse your energies, it
should cause no uneasiness for there is room
and verge enough for all. But to be sue
cessful you must keep your eyes and ears
open and be ready to avail yourselves OF
every real improvement in the mode of
farming and the use of agricultural nipple
ments. In the language of St. Paul, prove
all things, and hold fast to that which is
good; cease all useless regrets for the past,
and act in the living present, looking hope
fully to the future, which, in spite of all |
that has come and gone, is full of promise
for us and our children if we are only true
to ourselves. And above all things do not |
attempt the worse than useless experiment
of cultivating large farms badly rather than |
small farms well. feel satisfied that the |
admirable system of cultivating small |
farms which prevails in Iowa has done |
more than any other one thing to develop |
her great resources and populate her fertile |
prairies, so that the Territory which in |
1910 numbered only 10000 inhabitants, in
tut tai Low
| 100000! And cannot relative result |
be meted out in our own State by the |
adoption of similar means She has all |
the advantages of soil, climate, great min
sral resources and position to attract i'm
and she has only to offer the in
aucement of small farms, at fair prices, to |
bring in population which will build up |
her waste places, develop her mineral re-
sources, and gridiron her with railroads. |
Do not think because have dwelt so long
upon the Mississippi Valley that l ever
forgot old Maryland. Amid all the adj
vantages and excitements of Western life,
always sighed for the State of my birth;
and when, after an eight years absence, / |
returned and received on all hands good
old-fashioned Maryland welcome home i
exclaimed:
Pm with you once again, my friends,
No more abroad to roam,
Where life began its journey ends
Amid the scenes of home;
No other lands have skies more blue,
Or streams more bright and clear;
And none, Pm sure, have hearts more true |
Than those around me here"
Heretofore ] have confined my remarks
70 your material interests, as connected
with your vocation. But there is another
view of the question which merits special
attention, and it is due to the ladies it
should be discussed. 1t has been said we
should cultivate the beautiful, for the USE
ful will cultivate itself. And in our in
ensely material age this maxim acquires
additional force. Although this is not my