Daily Yellowstone journal., 1888-11-16
FERTILITY OF THE SOIL,
Impoverished Lands Of the United States.
Causes and Results.

Cause, and Results.
venture the statement that neither
the agricultural class nor the world at
large estimates NJ its value the discovery
of the preparation and use Of artificial
What we are accustomed 10
call the natural fertility of thesoil is soon
exhausted For a long period after the
settlement of the American colonies the
inhabitants relied chiefly upon the ma
mral fertility Of the soil. The begin
nings OF looks and herds were by import
alton. and the means of the settlers were
Hunted. and the opportunities for obtain
ing n supply Of animal, from England
were in~irequent. As each new state
90 the west was open for settle
meut the pioneers relied upon the
natural fertility Of the soil, and
very generally they were deluded with
the notion thaG It's fertility WAS mex
Iauslihic, Except m a few favored spots,
ms in the valleys Of the Scioto and Miami
rivers. the le,Isiun has been expelled by
experience. Thu7e valleys are kept fer
tile Dy an annual deposit Of finely com-
minuipd vegetable and mineral matter
brought down 10y the river lreshcts of
the spring. Thus n section is robbed
of its fertility for the benefit Of another.
The autumn crops that are gathered IN
the river valleys have exhausted the
natural resources Of the earth as much
as they would have been exhausted if the
same crops had been gathered ON the
hillsides Of the country above.
Although the forces Of nature are at
work constantly in rofurtilizing the earth,
the process is so slow that its present pop
ulatiOn would diminish rather than in
crease. Beginning with New York and
going west there has been a common ex-
perience. The lands that have been
chopped for successive years without the
the application of manure have yielded
annually less and less returns per acre.
The experience Of the south previous TO
the wal was the same. With the eNcep-
ton Of the river bottoms the cotton lands
were SOM exhausted. Ii was the Gus
tom Of the planters * secure a quantity
Of land so large that not more Ilau ono
third or onc-Quarter would b. under cul-
t~ivation at the same time. The larger
part was given over To "A process Of
natural renovation.
vet even under this process the plan.
tiers If the older cotton states were I'M
povcrished, and there was consequently,
an annual movement westward IL the
valley Of the Mississippi ana The plains ul
Texas. II Is manifest that under thi,
system 81 cultivation there must have
been a serious dimiruiiUn uf the cotton
product in less than half a century from
the opening Of the war. In the north and
west. as the fact of 4 diminishing product
of wheat and corn was realized, the far.
mcrs began 10 apply animal maUmes.
But tie ability TO command even a
moderate supply of animal mauurrs i'm
plies conditions which do not everywhere
exist. First. the country must produce
grass-it must Yield pasturage IN which
cattle can live during Il part of the year.
In the most PRACTICAL sense ''all flesh is
grass" Next. the seasons must he such
that the cattle will require shelter for a
period Of time. us otherwise there can bt
no accumulatiOns If manure for the use
of special fields ami special crops. In the
south neither of these conditions existed.
Consequently, under the old system. the
people of that section could have adopted
no other plan of culture than that under
which they were acting.
In the north and west the country is n
grazing country generally, the winters
are harsh and long. and consequently tho
accommodations of animal manures{ar
considerable. but mlBiiestly the supply
would he inadequate for the support of a
great population. Beyond this the dis
tribution of animal manure over large
fields. and its transportation from the
towns and cities to distant country Ills.
triots, is heavy addition to the cost Of a
crop.-George S., Boutwell, in Boston
Globe.