Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1879-05-19
AMERICAS ADVANTAGE.
Why Our Wheat Can be Sold in
England Cheaper than Wheat
of England'S Growth.

London Economist
The main advantage Of the American
farmer seems to lie in the cheapne3s
with which he obtains his crop. 1t is
somewhat surprising To find that wheat
grown in the far west still pays rs much
freight before il can be placed in the
English market aS the lei charge
amounts to at home. The average yield
of an acre Of land in England is thirty
bushels, against thirteen IN the western
states. The American farmer must
therefore cultivate two and a half acres
before he can sell as much produce rs
grown on a single acre in England.
This, however, he does at an incredibly
susll outlay. The difference in tillage
is most striking. An English farmer,
accustomed 10 drive three or four horses
painfully over stiff clay, can scarcely
imagine the ease with which a light
pillow runs through the loan OF a west
ern state. In northern Minnesota the
Red River settlement is Just being open
cd up. A furrOw may be drawn for
fifty miles across the alluvial prairie
without meeting a hill, 4 tree, or a
stone. Various estimates OF the cost of
labor for tillage and harvesting have
lately been published. IL these are cor
rect. an acre Of wheat in America can
be cultivated for about One-half the eX-
pense in labor OF cultivating an acre in
England. We do not, however, place
implicit reliance on such estimates. The
American farmer, rs rule, does ms
own work, or the greater part OF 1t. The
amount of wages paid in actual money
is comparatively small. 1.-The cultlvateS
fifty acres of wheat, and has growing
sons. he may manage without any help,
except ut harvest time, when he hires
an extra hand for a month. Ii he has
no family 10 assist him he will probably
hire a hand for the year at SD or Sl0 a
month. In all cases board and wages
are included, the hired men sitting
down 10 meals with the farmer and his
family. We may fairly estimate, then,
the capital Of cI2 required by an Eng
lish farmer 10 cultivate properly a SIN
Gle acre Of land will not more than sui
flee to purchase and cultivate the two
and half acres which will yield the
same amount Of wheat in America. Up
tO this point neither competitor has a
decided advantage, and, II anything,
the difference Is, in our opinion, on the
side of the home agriCulturist. But the
heavy WELD i'm England is only obtained
bv the application of costly manures,
and this outlay is spared the American
grower. At present only the richest
lands are cultivated, and the earth
Yields her increase without any assist
ance M his hands. OF course this will
not last forever. In twenty years
time all the more fertile lands will be
taken up, and even those will be eX-
hauSted by successive crops. In Calf
fornia the average has already fallen
from twenty 10 fourteen bushels. In
the Atlantic states it has long been
necessary 20 revert To rotation oil crops
and the application OF fertilizers. But
until this state of exhaustion is reached
i'm the western states, the English farm
er will require something more than the
Sct-oT of freight against rent charge.
This protection the Americans them
selves gave him until recently. The
Morrill, tariff imposed an excessive duty
ON iron. and the construction and main
fcnancc of railways was thereby render
rd So costly that IL was necessary To
uUItl lllt lIb'ANNNA AAA Nv i-'ib' -A'''f
the cost OF living was artiiiclally raised
bv duties imposed ON every article OF
manufacture. Prior 20 the war a COM
parativclv free trade policy existed in
the United states. Had this been con-
tinued agriculture in the Mississippi
valley would years ago have achieved
the prosperous position it has ut length
reached by the collapse Of the manuiac-
turing industries in the eastern states.
The prustration Of every branch OF man
uflcturcs has been So great that prac-
tiraIlv the tariff has been IN allegiance
for the last few years. Should these
revive. the cost of living will again he
raised. and To that extent the former
protection restored % the English pro-
durers. But this contingency IS too
remote to arrest the impending TALL IN
rents. 10 lies entirely at the opinion OF
the landlords whether this shall he
wholly giycl in abatement OF rent, or
partly take the form of security ot,crure
IuI protection tu the OCcuplcr : capital.
Furthr sake of the country ut large, 1t Is
to be- hoped they will choose the latter
alternative.