The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1879-05-09

As 1t 10 of no use to try to compete with
the West In the production of grain, may ii
not be well to ask, must the amount OF grain
produced In New England be necessarily les
seDed In consequence? If we cannot devote
as much land to the grain crop as the farmers
OF Kansas can, still do not see the virtue OF
the common cry that it is no Logger profita-
bic to RAISE grain IN the Eastern States. Do
our farmers take into consideration their
market facilities their close proximity, com
paratively, to the place of cousum ptiou
Whether their products 60 to England or not
there are considerations which should make
the New England farmer think twice before
he forsakes the homestead up n which he
was raised to run the fearful risks OF Western
agriculture. Our soil is as ready as ever to
yield its abundant harvests, needing only the
same treatment as in lis most fruitful days,
with allowance made for many years OF ex-
hsustive cropping, which is the sole cause Of
the d'f1ereuce between the original fertility of
New England and the sterility of the present
time. The cultivation of the soil fifty, and
even twenty-five years ago, was certainly
crude and unscenti6c, from lack of the i'm
proved, labor saving. mechanical appliances
and modes OF the present day. say our soil
has been abused-wrongy treated. Tue Gus
tom of many farmers las been dictated by
ayarice and ignorance, and this thriftless
sion to agricultural journals and book farm
ing. Intelligence among the tIllers of the
soil must precede the adoption of improved
machinery, aud the soil will become poor if
the mind is not cultivated.
Do we, as farmers intending to live by our
honest aud time-honored calling, study suffi-
GENTLY the things that relate to our business
Leaving aside much of the theoretical RUB
bush abOundiDg in book-farmiDg literature,
At rnNtN rrnh frNt hn
condemn at sight every well-meant ANALYSIS
of the air, the soil, or the elemental condi-
tions and combinations ia fertiliziDg agents,
necessary to force the plant into active aud
healthy life. think there would be an in
crease OF respect for the New England soil, II
the people who till it generally recognized
that their hillside farms contain the most va
ried aud necessary essentials, that is, the nat
ural materials or elements, which with right
cultivation and manuring will produce a
third more grain per acre, ON the average
New England farm, than can possibly be
raised on the average Western farm. Maine
is richer than Minnesota, and Massachusetts,
than Kansas, for all pracIIcal purposes for
the extra est of production is more than
equalled by the proximity to high priced aud
eager markets. But we admit that for a time,
until the native fertility of the Western soil is
exhausted, the Western farmer can SOW large
areas, and raise his grain without the atten-
ton requisite here; still the fact is not lost
slgnt OF that the West will produce the grain
that shall make the bread for the world. But
the New England farmer who thinks that in
consequence his profitable grain-growing is
at an end. makes big mistake. Remember
that grasshoppers, and tornadoes. and
drought, are not here among the avenues and
forest crowned hills and sheltered farms OF
our native New England, as at the West =
considerations Of paramount terror, to agtate
and trouble the peace OF mind, aud lay waste
the fields OF the patient husoandman. But
shall reserve for consideration in future let.
ter, some practical hints, concerning the rela-
tive value aud cost OF production OF the corn
and barley crop East and West. Corr. Amer
ican Cultiudtor.