The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1881-05-26


rhreshing -------------.----...-. 80
Total ..---.--....... SD
- bushels, or 81 cents per bushel
ON hemp land:
Seed ..-s 81 10
Planting ..-........-.-. / 90
Cutting .-.-..-.-..... | -
lhreshlnE- --------------, .----------- ; %
at - bushels, q cents per bushe: at 30 bushels
w cents per buNhel,
Barley is growing in favor. The fore
man Of a fine farm showed me Il field of
blue grass laid by for winter pasture on
which hehad madeforty bushels of barley
to the acre The Year before. No manure.
Hay is also coming in as Il salable and
very profitable crop.
Much of the wheat is now carried south
w.cg the Cincinnati southern Railroad,
nd Is distributed from Chattanooga and
ATLANTA. There is d growing demand for
Wheat in the South, accompanying the
increased prosperity which has ensued
.rou the establishment Of free labor
ID may he asked why Kentucky should
Ho.d 50 small place in the production of
heat her crop being only five to seven
iiHon bushels. The answer is that the
uld is held by a race of men with whom
-.ock-breeding is almost hereditary. AS
havc stated. the pasture is practically
perpetual. and OF the best description.
heure most of the bluegrass country is
.eyoted tn the raising OF horses, mules,
and cattle. This occupation is easier,
and WAS much more consistent with the
system Of slave labor bl which the pro
gress of the St9te was retarded until Il
period considerably after the surrender Of
tue Confederate army
The land is now changing hands with
considerable rapidity, and, under the
impulse OF the new force that have come
Il With free labor, it seems probable that
Iming may be substituted for stock
breeding, and that larger crops of cereals,
'ohaeco and Of hemp and flax will ensuc.
In Kentucky the farms of less than ten
acres in size increased in number from
d06~ in IS60 to I6,292 in 1870, and the
'ltaI 5t farms under 100 acres increased
i4c same period from -, $50 to 92Il9,
lille the number of farms of over 500 and
4der 1000 acres decreased.
lccess TO the sea- board is now bv way
CINCINNATI but other lines are being
constructed that will give outlets ut the
uu" harbor of Norfolk and on the York
Nd James rivers. Virginia. This line
"Ji be completed to Lexington by June
4cAt. From the centre of the blue grass
'o-Ion 10 Richmond, Virginia, by this
lite viii be 30 miles, and to Norfolk $40
aales At present the distance to New
y ork from this section by rail is $50 miles
hr completion Of projected roads will
F.. So give a nearer outlet to the south.
When the railway service is completed.
1Nsoidated. and worked as cheaply be
Neen this section and the sea board as
1T is now between the Western States and
NeW 0lk. The cost OF transportation will
not exceed ~;}J0 to - per ton, or II or
~ cents per bushel. Add to this the
.aright and charges to Liverpool, and it
.l appear that it may not he impossible
Lat a time may come when the actual
.-t In Liverpool of wheat raised in Ken
Ky viii not exceed 80 to 20 cents per
0~hel Of 90 pounds, on, at : bushels to
-r quarter of 500 pounds. - to ~5.o4,
lal to about pos IOd. to 225s per quar-
''r. all charges paid. At or above 3ls.
e.4uarter the production and traffic Will
o permanently profitable.
This limestone region which have de-
-Ibcd, known as "Blue-GrasS,' COM
tilaeS 10000 square miles, or 6, 100, ,000
ures. The area Of land now under cul-
atIon in wheat in all Great Britain is
5 than 5000 square miles, or under B.
"t9.00O acres, on which little less than
aal tile flour used by the people is BOW
aased. Edward Atk mson, in IIarners
Magazine for June.
French and American AgricuIturlsts Com
pared.
Dur attention is often called to an
1A4logous system of landhoding estab-
shea in France 10y the Code Napoleon
ure than three-Quarters of Il century
.-u. But engratted as this system has
.crn On people unused to ii and igno-
rant OF ITS effect upon the political econo-
my ui the state it has not secured those
popular advantages which, in our own
country. led the eminent French phlOs-
lAer De TocQueylle, TO attribute to it
lAe stability and vital force OF our insttu-
IONS lesson learned here, and not in
.Nning, we may perhaps learn a lesson
.ou France. In her area OF 207 ,4S0
.lare miles, not larger than the largest
STATE in the Union. her production of
I"al and staple crops is enormous Her
heat crop equals our own. Her cattle
hd horses almost reach our number, and
lrr sheep 0utnumber ours. With a thrifty
population, among whom wealth is quite
generally dlttuSed, her resources in war
lhd in peace are unb0unded ; and her
rational vitality is the admiration Of the
}lllAed world. That much of this agri-
cultural prosperity is due to the fact that
he people devote their energies to the
dtlYatiOn Of small farms, there can be
Ao doubt. But it should be remembered
THAT the state of society which goes with
Ibis system in France differs 50 entirely
iIom our own that she furnishes no such
Example of popular intelligence and per-
'onal independence as is found in the
uited States. There the home known
io the American farmer is not found.
HE American farm-hou is almost un-
shown. The peasantry gather for the
ught INTO crowded towns away from their
2nds, and go forth by day to till their
lew outlying acres. The demands of the
State upon them are not large. They are
seldom overtaXed, except in time of war.
lhey are tempted by none of the honors
or emoluments Of public service. They
aspire to no civil distinction, and, even
while organized as Republic, they are
warmed into no personal ambition, and
us It social organization furnish no eX-
ample which their own philosopher and
b4oIicst can commend as a guide to the
civilized world. From The Problem Of
Nnerican Land Holding. by Hon. George
. l.oring Of Massachusetts.