The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1878-08-24
Ghe Sarmer.
American Farming as Viewed by Scotch
Farmer.

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American Farming as Viewed by Scotch
Farmer.
The British cattle growers and other
meat producers have been seriously dis
turbed by the large and growing supply of
American beef on sale in England, and
they wisely determined to look into the
matter For this purpose the scotsman,
a leading newspaper largely devoted to
agricultural interests, sent over an expert,
Mr.. James Macdonald, to visit this coun-
try with view of giving to British farm
ers some trustworthy information on the
export Of meat from the United States, as
asubjeet threatening seriously TO affect
their welfare He has now reprinted the
letters written for this purpose, with some
additional chapters on the science fbreed-
ing and feeding, and added notes and facts
and figures bringing his information down
TO this year, under the title Of ''FOod from
the Far West, or American Agriculture,
with special reference to the Beef Pro
duction and Importation from America to
Great Britain There is, of course, both
interest and instruction in thus seeing the
results of an examination of our great
agricultural resources and methods by
competent foreigner, and Scotch farmer
nowadays is synonym for intelligence
and education far beyond the average.
The threat that American beef and NUT
ton would be sent abroad at such prices
and in such quantity as to reduce the
price in the British market fifteen to
twenty-five per cent. naturally excited very
serious alarm in a country where capital
and science are both taxed to the utmost
to make production meet cest, and, of
course, the wisest thing to do was to get
competent man to visit the cattle produc-
ing States and ascertain whether the
American farmer can raise beef and NUT
ton Of good quality, carry it across the
Atlantic aud sell it in the British market
at n lower price than homegrown meat.
If this could be done, then the next thing
was to ascertain the extent of the present
available supply, and, what the probabili
ties Of its increasing in accordance with
was to answer these frequent questions
that Mr. Macdonald spent four months and
travelled over ten thousand miles in this
country, spending great deal Of pains in
gathering information on the subject in
hand and giving his knowledge freely to
his anxious countrymen. The details of
his report can be read in his book, and it
win no doubt be Of use to many Of our
own cattle growers and dealers.
Mr. Macdonald's journey took him
through Texas and the great Western stock
raising regions Of Kansas and Colorado,
and the older States of Ohio and Illinois,
and, Of course, into the great slaughter and
shipping houses Of Chicago and Jersey
City, and the information he gives as to
their several resources and prospects is
valuable alike to those who are living in
the midst Of this great industry of feeding
the world, and to the hungry souls who
look to this country for cheap meat and
plenty Of il. How many people ever
worked out the average of cattle necessary
per head to feed great community? Mr..
Macdonald tells US that every hundred
Americans require eighty head OF cattle.
His visits TO the great breeding farms show
that, while the quality is improving, the
number is by no means increasing to any
thing like figure that can supply a great
excess of good meat for expectation. His
visit to the Victoria Colony, settled by
Scotchman, Mr.. George Grant, on a hun
dred thousand acres, in Kansas, enables
him to point out the good results of sys-
tematic investments on a large scale, with
capital, skill and experience combined, in
reaping the best fruits Of virgin soil,
boundless native wealth of resources, and
only such enemies as potato bugs, grass
hoppers, droughts and other natural ills as
are best overcome by large body of pio-
neers working under common and intel
ligent supervision 1t is this that has
made the crops and stock Of Colorado more
valuable, as well as more certain, than the
yield Of its mines, and the ''cattle king" of
that region, with a herd Of over thirty-fiYe
thousand head and farm of over fifteen
thousand acres, is adding permanently to
the wealth of the country, while his ex-
ample in improving his stock is followed
by others, both American and foreigners,
who have brought their knowledge and
their money here TO enrich themselves
while making common advance in the
right direction. The great wheat growing
region of Illinois is the largest body of
rich land under the sun, producing fine
crops for ten or fifteen successive seasons
without draining or manuring, and these
will come only when the farmer cannot
abandon his expansive fields for richer soil
at a cheaper rate Mr.. Macdonald shows
that while land near Springfield, Illinois,
rents for five dollars an acre, the same sort
Of land near his native Edinburgh would
be worth twenty dollars an acre, and the
difference would almost be saved in the
careful saving of the Scotch farmer.
He speaks with evident feeling and
knowledge of the inferior system of cult
walton in this country, where farm imple-
ments are far ahead oC that Of any other
country in efficiency and economy, and
points out that what America is now doing
in the way Of producing crops and stock
is but a 1.-THE of what it is capable of do
ing, if its magnificent soil were only work
ed as it ought to be, and as it viii be by
and by, when farmers have learned that
true economy means an application of
scientific knowledge TO all that is done, so
that everything shall be of the best, and
that saving shall take the place of waste.
The Agricultural College of Michigan has
made itself felt in the farming of that
State, so that it is successful competitor
with adjacent Canada, where English cap
iial and experience have long been com
bined. In strong contrast TO the close and
careful management of a great Illinois
farmer with over two thousand head of
cattle Is the srreat waste IF soil and timber