Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-11-27
Diversified Agriculture Possible only with
Diversified Consumption

found under this headl
Diversified Agriculture Possible only with
Diversified Consumption
The wheat-groae Of California have read
many long and well-meant lecture from the
press of the State the Importance of
diversified agriculture, and the folly of ad-
herring to the production of wheat so con-
stantly. They have been told that the man
who depends on his wheat crop exclusively
has but one chance for success, and if that
fails all fails and his years operations are
failure Now there is no class of people in
the State that have realized the truth of this
statement so frequently and so pointedly as
the grain farmers. They have been told that
wheat grown SO continually year after year
on the same land exhausts the soil of It's fer
tility-particularly of those ingredients that
are required for wheat growth. There are
no other class Of people in the State who
know the truth of this statement so well as
the wheat farmers, and no other class that
looks forward to the time when they can
leave off the one-crop system and introduce
variety of culture with greater hopes than do
the wheat-growers. They have been told
that If more diversified agriculture were in
troduced the change would give more con-
slant employment to the farm laborers. and
this more constant employment would tend
to reformation of this class, making them
more reliable and more profitable help; that
it is in fact the only sure remedy for the
tramp evil prevalent in the State. No other
class realizes more keenly the disad-
vantages of the present periodical labor
season and labor system than do the
grain trainers of the State. They have
suffered more and longer from this system
than have any other class, and no other peo-
rle will be more benefited by change that
shall bring about a system by which they
will be able to employ the greater part of
their farm help the year through. And no
other class is better posted than the grain
farmers are as to the reasons why they are
compelled to adhere to the one crop system
at the expense of the fertility of the soil,
and notwithstanding the gambling nature
of their business and the Generalization of
the labor system and of the laborers them
selves, they know full well that to enable
them to produce a diversity of crops there
must be diversity of consumption-a con-
sumption that will demand non-trans-
portable as well as transportable pro.
ducts. and that in the absence of such
consumption Of on-transportable products
they must produce the transportable pro-
ducts. In other words, if there is no paying
demand for articles that can only be con-
sumed at home, then they must continue to
produce articles that have foreign demand,
supply foreign consumption. The cere-
ais and wool and wine are these articles and
cereals and wool and wine must continue TO
be the chief agricultural products of our
State until the demand for more diversified
products shall be created by an increased
consuming population. That increased home
consumption cannot be brought about
so surely and SO rapidly as by
an increase of manufactures. The agri-
culture of all manufacturing States
is necessarily diversified agriculture, be-
cause there is demand for such an agricult-
ure, and the agriculture of all non.rnanu-
featuring States is just as necessarily limited
in the main to few crops. The character of
these few crops must and will always be de-
termined by the foreign demand. The rea-
son why we produce wheat 20 80 great an
extent, to the exclusion or neglect Of other
crops, is plainly because theresis and has been
in the past foreign demand for whoa. T. e
agriculture of all the Eastern and Middle
States is a diversified agriculture, while the
agriculture Of all the Western and South
ern States is ike that Of California,
confined mainly to few leading articles.
Take Massachusetts,, for instance. The CEN
sus brings out the fact that the agricultural
products of that State are of the value of
$40, GEO. 600 per annum, while the whole value
of the cereals aud wool-transportabe arti-
cles-is but S1,724, 346, showing that the an
nual value of the mont irresponsible articles
those that make up diversified agticulture-
is over S3S, COO GOO. Now this great charge
between the character Of the agriculture of
Massachusetts, and the agriculture Of Califor-
MA is owing almost wholly to the fact that
Massachusetts is manufacturing State,
while California is not. The population
necessary to carry on the manufacturing
industries creates a home demand TO Sup
ply a home consumption, and this
is a diversified consumption-the neces-
sary condition to bring about and support a
diversified agricultural production. a home
market for agricultural products not only en-
ables the farmer to introduce diversity of
crops, but it enables him TO sell what he does
produce without first paying transportation
to distant foreign markets, thus making more
certain and greater profits. Nor are home
markets subject to the fluctuations and I'M
certainties that always attach to foreign
markets. The agriculture Of California is
to-day and always was subject to greater IN
certainties and greater fluctuations than the
agriculture of any other State in the Union,
because it is more dependent than
any other upon foreign markets for
its products. The real condition of cur agri-
culture Is we'll portrayed in the following ex-
tract from the recent report of the National
Agricultural Statistician, Mr.. Dodge, while
speaking of our general wheat expectations.
He says: "Tae proportion of expectation
is so large, and the range of its fluctuations so
great, that serious disturbances in the market
often result. II not unfrequentlY occurs
that a moderate yield is accompanied with
low prices AMI large crop is marketed az
high rates. There is no doubt that the wheat
farmer is at the mercy Of the foreign demand.
If British fields are bighted there is rejoicing
on our prairies over remunerative harvests.
If the granaries of continental Europe are full,
and England's wants are at minimum, there
is dissatisfaction at the West liable to be vent,
ed on the currency, the tariff or the railroads.
While subject to greater fluctuations than
other crops from the vicissitudes of the sea-