Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1888-11-02
FERTILITY OF THE SOIL.
Impoverished Lands of the United States.
Causes and Results,

Causes and Results.
/ venture the statement that neither
the agricultural class nor the world at
large estimates at its value the discovery
of the preparation and use of artificial
manures. What we are accustomed TO
lcall the natural fertility of the soil is soon
exhausted. For long period after the
settlement of the American colonies the
inhabitants relied chiefly upon the ma
tural fertility Of the soil The begin
nings of flocks and herds were by import
alton, and the means of the settlers were
limited, and the opportunities for obtain
ing a supply of animals from England
were infrequent. AS each new state
to the west was open for settle
ment the pioneers relied upon the
natural fertility Of the soil, and
very generally they were deluded with
the notion that its fertility was mex
haustible Except in a few favored spots,
as in the valleys Of the Scioto and Miami
rivers, the delusion has been expelled by
experience. Those valleys are kept fer
/ tile by an annual deposit Of finely COM
lminuted vegetable and mineral matter
brought down by the river freshets of
the spring. Thus one section is robbed
bf its fertility for the benefit of another
The autumn crops that are gathered In
fhe river valleys have exhausted the
natural resources of the earth as much
IS they would have been exhausted if the
Bame crops had been gathered on the
hillsides of the country above.
Although the forces of nature are at
work constantly in refertilizing the earth,
Ehe process is SO slow that its present pop
Illation would diminish rather than in
crease. Beginning with New York and
going west there has been common ex-
perience. The lands that have been
chopped for successive years without the
The application of manures have yielded
annually less and less returns per acre.
The experience of the south previous to
he war was the same. With the excep-
ion of the river bottoms the cotton lands
, were soon exhausted. 1t was the GUS
kom of the planters to secure a quantity
pf land SO large that not more than one
! third or one-quarter would be under Gull
ovation at the same time. The larger
part was given over to a process of
: Natural renovation.
Yet even under this process the plan
, ers of the older cotton states were i'm
} diversified, and there was consequently,
m annual movement westward to the
ALLEY of the Mississippi and the plains of
} texas. 1t is manifest that under this
} sstem of cultivation there must have
t leen a serious diminution of the cotton
! Iroduct in less than half a century from
, the opening of the war. In the north and
vest, as the fact of diminishing product
q wheat and corn was realized, the far
, ners began to apply animal manures.
, But the ability to command even a
Moderate supply of animal manures inn
: pies conditions which do not everywhere
exist. First, the country must produce
g'ass-it must yield pasturage on which
, clttle can live during part of the year.
! II the most practical sense call flesh is
Eass." Next. the seasons must be such
: that the cattle will require shelter for a
q. period of time, as otherwise there can be
M accumulations of manure for the use
! Of special fields and special crops. In the
south neither of these conditions existed
5 Consequently, under the old system, the
: people of that section could have adopted
5 no other plan of culture than that under
. which they were acting.
In the north and west the country is g
, grazing country generally, the winter:
2 are harsh and long, and consequently the
accumulations of animal manures Fare
considerable, but manifestly the supply
would be inadequate for the support of {
t great population. Beyond this the dis
trbution of animal manure over large
fields, and its transportation from the
1 towns and cities to distant country dis
? tricts, is heavy addition to the cost of {
,rop.-George S. Boutwell, in Boston
Globe.