The sun., 1893-11-08
p,'E:i. eT:i bs';:': %1ss: ss.s:i. o s.:s.i:. 1s"
as y so4sssra eSa1n state ss.. 81 ,s5 $iss

! Bt'As'.. Bris,. n~hsi.. s~ss':
sssSs sS'sSn sssa,s ss;. Isl 81 ,s5 aass a5S sfiss
Northern fields produce more than twice
as much an acre as do those Of the South.
Thus. with Southern yields it would require.
to produce the 1850. .OOO. 900 and more BUSH
els Of corn annually consumed at home.
130.00o.0OO acres; to grow the $50. 900. 600
bushels Of wheat required exclusive OF that
used for seed. would employ not less than
"a, ,000000 acres. and to furnish the oats
needed for domestic consumption we should
SOW l61 100000 acres. In other words. to
supply the existing population with cotton.
corn. wheat. and oats alone. we should with
yields averaging as much as those OF
the cotton States. employ 2620O0.000 acres.
and an acreage immensely greater II we are
to depend upon such lands as can yet be
brought Iunder cultivation at the South.
AS it is. with the average yields given by
the whole country. we require but 140.0O0.0OO
acres to furnish as much Of the products
named as Is required by our own population.
That production has nearly reached its
limit in the cis-Mississippi regions OF the
South until prices shall have so advanced as
to render profitable the cultivation OF lands
Of exceedingly low fertility. is evident from
the paucity Of yields, that decline with each
half decade; yields that decline despite al
legged intensive culture. and an ever increas-
ing use OF fertilizers; yields that decline
because the small annual additions to the
cultivated area are of lands Of lower and
lower average fertility. much of recent ad-
ditons being from fields abandoned rs worn
out forty or fifty years ago. and have since
grown up to old-field pines. Were moro
productive lands available, it Is absurd to
suppose that they would remain idle when
yields are less than hell the Northern aver
age. and millions Of farmers are still seek
ing homes and employment upon the land.
We were somewhat familiar with South
ern lands and agriculture prior to 1861.
Since after the war we were frequently
called to the South and were able to see
much of such agricultural development as
had there taken place. That we might
know what were existing conditions at the
South. we made very extended Journey
through the Cotton States in the autumn
Of 1892. West Of the Mississippi we found
some new land being reduced to cultiva-
tion (but very much less than when we last
visited that region). the farmer fairly pros
porous. and good crops OF cotton and grain
being grown. East OF the great river the
valley lands. where not too often over
flowed. were found to be fairly productive;
the great mass OF the uplands sterile. pro-
ducing most meagre crops and requiring
applications OF increasing quantities OF
commercial fertilizers (the only ones avail
able in the absence OF any considerable
number of farm animals) barely to main
tain their productive powers; that the
agricultural populations were not pros
porous; that crops OF grain which would pay
the cost OF production at the prices re-
ceived by Northern farmers were things
unknown; that the new acres being reduced
to cultivation were nearly nil that the
unoccupied lands fit for cultivation were
but an infinitesimal part OF the whole and
were. as rule OF very low fertility; that
very nearly all the lands. other than
swamps. from which fair crop could DO
hoped for had long been in cultivation; that
on a vast majority Of the holdings there
was an entire lack of improved implements;
that the absence OF such implements was as
much due to the thin and hungry character
OF the soils as to lack OF enterprise on the
part Of tho cutivators; that the territorial
IuuuoiOu Vi udyb Uuu, Ill n ma
jority OF cases. been abandoned, the owners
having moved to town and engaged In
business. when land rents were insufficient |
for support: that the aggregate value OF
the negro tenants equipment including
household goods, farm stock, |
and Implements rarely exceeded $50 and |
was frequently less than two-thirds that |
sum; that the agricultural population, SO |
largely black. afforded but the narrowest |
market for the products Of manufacture. in |
this respect being on a level but q trihe |
higher than that OF the Indian ryot:
that the average Southern porker would |
dress about 120 pounds Mt "a to 30 months
old; that the rolling and hill lands
had. over immense areas. been so de
puded and quilted by the rains that mill
lions of acres had been abandoned and
were now covered by worthless growths OF
broom -sedge and old-field pines; that upon
many, or the most. OF the uplands still in
cultivation this was possible only by "cir-
cling" around the slope and SO blowing
from year to year as to raise weed and
grass covered ridge every two or three rods
to prevent the rains from carrying away
what soil remained. a soil that is often as
liuid as soft soap: that circling renders 1t
impossible to plant In straight rows or In
fields of any considerable size; that much
Of the cultivation. especially In the hill re-
gions. Is in plates or patches OF from a
tenth Of an acre TO two or three acres. as
rutivaGIe areas may be found in the mar
row valleys where the dctritus from tho
slopes has gathered and formed a moder-
ately productive soil; that the small size
Of the fields and their irregular shapes
add materially to the labor and cost OF