The comet. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1877-1882, 1880-05-29

Let a. farmers give i few moments
thought 10 tlllb problem d American
agriculture, and the inevitable eonae-
qnencea " The present system 81 de-
pletIon upon the future condition q
our country. Only philosophers We.
know, deal with questions the r.
suit a which reach q hundred YeAn
into the future NuE for che time being
we win imagine ourselves all pllIiNef
piers. that We may think little
about one such question fpf III fact 4
huudHNd years does not seem ~ long q
time after Il y past We look haek
10 the times IN the Hev0Iuflon suN
seem fslmlgIaf aud acquainted With
the men who took part IN those events.
They acted HI our behalf; they felt the
responsibility Of the future bearing
upon fhetn ssfiff every step ara every
thought. Let d for 4 moment lnaK-
Inc ourselves thinking and mcting
for the generations which are q come
after.
Only few years ago the agriculture
Of the East was eelf-supp0rting. we
raised enough Of corn, wheat beer
and every commodity for our Own use.
Stately and comfortable farm houses
were found all over New England,
where was present the largest amount
Of comfort and Independence: FROM
the State Of Maine cattle and wheat
we're both sent to B0ston markets ~
large quantities. What Il now seen
In many places In eastern and northern
New England. where once were these
large farms, but weed-OYergr0Wn
fields and dilapidated farm houses and
barns? Young men, comparatively,
OF the present day, can remember
when -four began to be purchased
from Genesee and corn from Virginia.
Then Ohio was In the fur West. To-
day. one Of the leading questions
among Ohio farmers II how they shall
restore the exhausted fertility OF her
soil, Farms In that State, which
twenty years ago would carry twenty
five cows. are now hardly able 70 sup
pOrt half that number. What has
cauaed the ifnpOverishment Of this
once rich soil Why is not the valley
OF the Genesee to-day, as 1t was for
wears regarded, the granary OF the
East ? A depicting and thOughtless
system Of Understanding, answers.
The crops Of corn, wheat and tobacco,
and the cattle and horses grown In
such abundance upon the productive
! virgin soil, have robbed 10 OF disability
TO longer yield remunerative crops.
| The farms have been sold by the
bagful and baleful they have been
transported by rail and ship and team
to near or distant Cites leaving a
barren soil that can only recuperate
itself by long period Of rest, or be
accomplished by the farmer at an
expense almost too great TO be under
taken. And westward the system Of
eastern spoliatlon has been transferred.
! The grand prairies are now contribute
/ ing Of their life-blood the food needed
by hungry world, yet men think
their fertility inexhaustible, and for
getting the lessons Of Old-time farming
IN the East, say that the land Of the
West Is never to need artificial plant
! food, 1t will always produce. 1t will
not always produce the crops and the
stock 1t Is producing to-day. Let us
be philosophers. Is 1t not reasonable
to expect, to believe, that the same
course which has brought agricultural
dependence to the East will also bring
1t to the West, however fertile the
West may be? There IA limit to al
natural fertility--that limit is only
measured by time. In improving
farming especially, the future is sure
to reproduce the past; for the same
condition and agencies that have
brought 1t about in the one case arr
at work to bring 1t about IN the othcl
case. Nature self-executes her own
laws.
1t would seem that we Of this gen.
Grafton ought to have gathered wis
dom from the experiences Of the past
But we have not. Had we done so
there would have been manifest more
positive principle OF economy In using
the fertilIty0f nature and desire *
restore wastofL RESOURCES. and to leaYf
/ to future Oecupiers an unlmpared sQll,
hut there are few evidences at tht
West of providence in agricultural
operations. The soil Is being sem
across the ocean in wheat and beef
The experiences of the Genesee, thu
Ohio, the Wisconsin farmers, are
being repeated, and In less than l
hundred years the story Of devasta
ton will have sad meaning TO al
prairie farmers Of America. Why no
Stop? Why not be philosophers
why not save manure? Why no
husband natures resources VIII.
not adopt now that well-balancet
system Of cattle feeding, sheep hus
bandry and cropping which shall
maintain our land in good condition
at the same ltime 1t gives fair return
for the demands made upon it?-
American Cultivator
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