The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1877-05-18
faK sn1AD surrtH AND THE RUSSIAN


,hle.S If the report of the United States ag-
ricultural bureau is to be credited the stock
of this country is not half of that in the cor
responding period ip. the last calendar year.
1t is not agreeable 20 reflect that among the
natural causes towhich much of this must
DO attributed are the grasshopper devasta-
tions in the wheat growing States of the
northwest. The problem Of the possible Ca
pacity of the grasshopper for destructiveness
is serious one, especially at this season of
the year, and emphatically, in view of the
demands which may be made upon us from
abroad. At the same time the culture of
wheat has not made such progress here as
other grains, such as corn, oats, barley,
buckwheat, rice, and rye. Perhaps, ON the
whole, this may be arnetser Of congretpla
sstio1, 80. far as tho consampti IN our '8Wn
country is concerned, and after all that is
the main matter to be looked after. This
subject is of practical interest everywhere
in the United States, and especially in the
South. Almost everybody in that region
buys bread.
The Petersburg (Va.) Iader expresses
tho belief that great deal of the -four con-
sumed even in Petersburg, surrounded as it
is with grist mills and water falls, is brought
from the West and North. A correspon-
dent of that journal suggests that the ada
cent country, which was once famous for the
grain it raised, should once more turn its
attention to that cultivation. The North
west, which will furnish Europe with bread
stuffs, may be made rich by the European
war, and the North and Fast gain from the
demand for arms clothing and supplies, but
tho cotton and tobacco of the South must
suffer- and the South will have to pay war
prices for meat and breadstuffs unless she
devotes her fertile coil to the supply of her
own wants in these respects. While the
South may not be able to compete with the
great grain areas of the West and North
west, it ought to raise enough for its own
consumption, and thus avoid paying the in
creased rates which breadstuffs Of all kinds
will command ia the North till the war is
over. The Inder revives the tradition that
when Commissioner Blair, of Virginia, and
his associates, went to England in 1890 in
the interests Of William aud Mary College
of that State. Attorney General Seymour re-
ceived them with the ungracious counsel.
. "D-n your souls, raise tobacco" 1t is q
good deal better and more Christian advice
now to the planters Of the South-bless your
souls, raise corn and meat and whatever else
is necessary for the support of your house
holds.
All wars, as we have already shown,
bring want aud ruin in their train. except
to the speculatirg buzzards, who fatten up
on the corruption and decay. What should
be our first object is to supply food for our
own population. So far as the wheat culture
cac accomplish this object and leave SUI
plus to supply the foreign demand, it should
be raised, although it has deadly enemies
in the Hessian fly, the wcvil and other de-
structive insects. Maryland is we'll adapted
to the permanent culture of wheat, and, in
stead of receding westward, it might be
centralized upon the Atlantic seaboard so rs
to enable:the country to command the wheat
markets Of the world At the same time
we do not accept the asseuion that the uni
vcrsal demand of civilized men is for wheat
bread, or, if it is SO, his civiliaation perverts
his taste so as to make him look upon that
which is merely pleasing to the eye and
DEN Or as more important than other food
tatves last Ks next in importance for the pro-
portion Of the human family it supports to
wheat 1t is in some parts of India the
chief agricultural produce, end is the prin-
cipal support of the vast population of China.
It's extensively cultivated in parts of Africa,
in Southern Europe, in the tropical coun-
tries of ofNorth.and.. South America, and while
it has Aourished especially in the Carolinas,
has been found as far north as Virginia, and
sometimes Maryland
-, Maize, or Indian corn, is of American
origin, and was not introduced in the old
world until after the discovery of tho new.
It is estimated that maize is eaten by a
greater number of human beings than any
other grain except rice its analysis shows
it to be admirably adapted to sustain life
and to furnish material for the growth of
both human beings and domestic animals.
It furnishes large share of the breadstuffs
of oSr farming populations, and although
but little consumed in cities, it largely con.
tributes to the support Of city populations in
the way of meats, poultry, butter, &c. Ac-
cording to the federal census the United
States produced more than 760,944 ,b49
bushels of Indian corn in 1870. Illinois,
Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio
and Tennessee are the chief corn producing
States, though the Southern States are more
remarkable for the superior quality Of their
corn. In those States it is more general
article of diet than elsewhere, and is so pre-
pared as to make it as palatable as wheat
We, therefore, invoke our fellow.citisent
of the South to diversity their agriculture
and place tho production Of corn, whea
and rice among their leading industries
The Philadelphia North american, one o
the leading Republican papers Of the North
savs tJJnlcsS some change shall occur il