Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1881-09-21

The cultivation Of tobacco, now nc
longer a novelty or experiment, has
reached its greatest development il
that country which even before its
general introduction had reached the
front place in American agricultural
districts and now far oul-ranks all
Others, Its profits arc notably large,
and sufficient time has elapsed to dis,
sipatc all fears of the most apprehen.
sive ior the exhaustion of the soil. The
Lancaster county farmer, rejoicing in
his gross receipts of from $3.50 to $500
per acre tor his tobacco, has discovered
the secret and the sufliciency of am.
| ply replenishing all the drain upon his
soil by the application of stable ma.
nure, the production of which is not
Improbable in itself; and after TWEEN.
ty-fve years fair trial / am supported
by all the facts when | declare that
the strength of tha tobacco lands of
Lancaster aud the general fertility Of
its farms-on few of which tobacco IS
not now grown-is far greater than
when its culture began. To an audi.
ence Of intelligent farmers | need not
entor into further details than to say
that tho fair average yield per acre
nets TO the owner of the soil Sl00 per
season, and the profits TO the cropper
OF one mans labor for six months av.
erage 5000, Surely no branch of farm
labor yet become common in this sec.
tion can show results commensurate
with these. Incidentally the effect
OF this interest upon the material de.
velopment of the community, the i'm.
mense warehouses erected for its han
ding, the employment furnished to
thousands Of laborers, the exchange Of
money and the great stimulus given
TO trade are an unmiXed good. Incl.
dentally the increased number of cat
tie and horses required TO be fed to
supply the larger demand for manure
has been in itself a source of profit
| cannot look far enough into the fi.
ture to see when the farmer OF Eastern
Pennsylvania will abandon so lucrative
an interest as tobacco culture.
The cultivation Of the sugar beet is
slowly but surely making its way to
the attention of our farmers. It's ulti.
mate practioability and profit can
hardly be doubted. With little over
tenth as great acreage in potatoes in
1880 as Of wheat the yield was nearly
n third in value, a fact which iorcibly |
illustrates the improved uses to which |
lands near market may be devoted |
under the system of high farming. |
with onions, for the sale |
OF which there is never dullness-and |
our increased immigration gives no |
cause to despair of perpetual markets
for potatoes and onions-exhibit much |
more striking comparisons, and the
developed possibilities of seven hun.
dred bushels to the acre point to an
industry which will mark a most
profitable departure in East Pennsyl.
vania farming.
OF the profits of fruit raising and
truck gardening the data are less &C.
cessible and the experience of those
who engage in them may vary more
widely, but Of their certainty in the
long run there can be no reasonable
doubt. With constantly increasing
demand, due no more to the increasing
than to improved taste, an
enlarged desire for luxurles and re.
gard for the sanitary uses of vegeta.
bles and fruit, the garden and orchard
may be widened upon every farm in
Eastern Pennsylvania with assurGn-
ces Of q safe Investment. No longer
need he who plants an orchard wait
for another generation to pluck the
fruit, but my middleaged hearer can
yet realize for himself the profits from
such an enterprise inlly equal to the
ordinary branches OF his agricultural
operations. A gentleman who now
gathers from l6 acres of orchard 5000
bushels of apples realizes on his invest
ment a far greater percentage than
your wheat raiser the corn grower or
even the tobacco hocr. To far
greater extent than now will the fu-
Lure farmer Of Eastern Pennsylvania