The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-08-11
n..s,hilties Of Aariculture.

T
fI I'LL 81 all over the world-in England,
- Germany, Russia and France
Aii'e s-N~,ars maintain that "wheat-growing
A. not pay" aud England consequently
ls,,oss from year to year the area OF wheat
80 the French peasants steadlly increase
ne'Ne % under wheat, and the greatest in
'N . due to those peasant families
80 themselves cultivate the land they
WIZ circa the end of the last century
w. ~ have nearly doubled both the area un-
dar wheat aud the returns from eacn acre.
- N increase almost fourfold the amount
:. ,,,baat grown in France. At the same
.;,,a the population has not lncreased even
~ n per cent, so that the ratio OF IN
oresse Of the wheat crop has been TWO ana
lie times greater than the ratio of in
1853 of population, although agriculture
- hoen hampered all the time by series
g serious obstacles taxation
~, ,a- cent. of the gross returns), military
loo migration to cities, poverty or the
peasantry, and SO on
But the ratio of progress IN ariculturs is
..;l halter seen from the rise of the stand
ord If requirement as regards cultivation
of land Some thirty years ago, the French
considered crop quite good when 1t yielded
+,,entv-two bushels to the acre; but with
the same soil the present requirement Is at
losst thirty-three bushels, while in the best
soils the crop is good only when 1t yields
from fortv-three to forty eight bushels. and
II .Lo rroduct 1c az rnuch as h5X
b,sbsls to the acre. There are whole coun-
trie,-Hesse, for example-which are salts
fed only when the average crop attalns
tb;rty-seven bushels. while the experiment
tsl farms of central France produce from
year to wear, over large areas, forty one
bushels to the acre, aud number of farms
in northern France regularly yield. year
after year, from fifty-five to sixty-eight
bushels TO the acre. Occasionally, even so
mich as eighty bushels has been obtained
upou limited areas under special care. In
fact. it is now proved that by combining
series of such simple operations as the selec-
ton Of seeds, sowing in rows, and proper
manuring, the crops can be increased by at
least rs per cent over the best present av
ersge. while the cost of production can be
reduced by 50 per cent. by the use of some
inexpensive machinery; to say nothing of
costly machines like the steam digger, or the
puverizers which make the soil required
for each special culture. They are now oc-
casionallv resorted to here and there, but
they will come into general use as soon as
humanity feels the need of increasing the
agricultural product tenfold.
1t is not the infertility of the soil or the
climatic conditions that prevent all wheat
growers from raising sixty bushels to the
acre; it is simply the systematic running of
the tiIlers of the soil by the landlord, the
state the middle man and the capitalist. So
we must continue taking examples from
small, specially favored spots. till the time
comes when whole nations shall break the
bonds which now fetter agric ulture.
One such example may be seen in the dis
trict OF Saffelare, in part of East Fland-
erS which nature has endowed with an I'M
productive but easily cultivated sandy soil.
Its territory Of $1,000 acres has to nourish
$4,000 inhabitants, all living by agriculture
and yet these peasants not only grow their
own food, but they also export agricultural
produce, and pay rents to the amount of
romSl5 to SIS per acre. By means of
catch crops" Second crops in the latter
part OF the summer) they succeed in taking
three and four crops every two years from
The same land; AID their regular crops are
1our five ana six times as large as those of
IlaN IS
Illinois, Moreover, they keep in the same
small area-two- thirds of which is under
cereals, flax and potatoes; no less than TO-
~ horned cattle, $500 sheep, 1875 horses,
anu 900 swine A population which is
uenSer than that of England proper, inclu-
aVe Of its cities is thus no curse at all. It
Noa'iiy Iceland could be fed much better,
were 1t not for the ever-increasing rents
upon an unproductive soil, simply improved
pY rational maturing
anu yet, If we compare the Saffelare
VIII Vnose which are obtai Jed with heavy
maturing we must say that heagriculture
y. flanders Is still in its infancy. Inst cad
io''y-three tons of beet root, Mr.. Cham
tO"' al Whitley, Eng. and very many in
1' 'u'e' Will obtain from seventy-seven to
'iO IONS OF beet from each acre. M. Golf
a'' VIII grow for fourteen consecutive
Vi the same plot OF land, an average
'of'Y Tons of green fodder for ensilage-
'Oa' Is The food of at least four cows-and
proper care, he occasionally will OBJ
NJ" w. 90 nluch as $50 tons from the acre. And
-, 'iailett, by simple selection of grains.
''o'aln In few years a wheat which
Ao'o4J grains on each stem grown
~ SINGLE seed; so that from 700 to 500
u LIS stems of wheat (which cop,d bs
siU"n upon score OF square yards would
n,o Tue yearly supply of bread for a full.
grown person. -A'-
-s low step further, from the we'll
Iar3 -'0d helds of Flanders to irrigated
soiI We see how the productivity of the
bean oN De further increased if labor mas
In,ha 70 improve it, once and forever.
and q h pds' Oh Flanders just mentioned two
uda,a4 1at TONS of hay to the acre are con-
uestau Ialr crop. But as soon as a
wstar >. LAS been irrigated, even with pure
tmes uegias to yield three and fonr
the vo.,. nus on the irrigated meadows Of
uugrstas'' 'ae Naucluse, etc., even upon an
becoms s'a' soil, six tons of hay to the acre
mora tb. '1e rule, and that means a little
mean LOU the annual food of one cow Rv
from s1 % irrigation, a money return Of
Which f 70 S~oo Is obtained from a soil