The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1894-09-01


In modern life one of the most striking |
features that has been and is being Gevel |
oped more and more rapidly is the inter
dependence Of the members of the |
human family. AS the population
increases tha hermit or quasi hermit life
80 frequent years ago, when the farmer
for months in the winter saw hardly any
faces except those OF his own family, ana
when he conducted his farming opera
tions in almost complete iudepeuder &c
of the rest of the world, IS fast becoming
an impossibility. Il old times the
farm was self supporting world in
itself. The wells, springs and ciste-ns
supplied water; the domestic animals
got ali their food from it, and it Pre-
duced it's own fertilizers. By rotation of
crops, by letting land lie tallow and by
the use of fertiizing material produced
on the farm the land was kept fertile.
Rain descended from the clouds without
any human ageucy. Now the condi-
lions are very different. The farmers
children wish 10 compete with city chill
dren in education and in general culture
But outside of the personal aspect of
which this is but one element, modern
conditions affect his lie in much
broader sense. The tendency now is to
| work tho soil in large areas devoted to
single crop, and to use machinery in all
| farming operations. For many years
past the American inventor has been
busy inventiDg most ingenious machines
for cultivating tie ground, for sowing
the seed and for harvesting the crops.
| Ga account of the inventors work, the
Western farms, with fields OF wheat
| reaching to the horizon, cultivated by
steam-drawn plows, and whose crops are
| harvested by great machines drawn by
teams of many horses, have become
possibility. The great cereal crop of
| the United States is due to the mechan-
ical inventor.
| 10 the same order OF things is the
modern fertilizer. For different crops
different fertilizers are made IL factories
| AS the great natural sources OF phos
| phorc acid were oVerdrawn, the Euro
pean agriculturist has utilized the
finely ground Stag of the basic steel pro
cess. The farmer depends no longer on
his barnyaGd, but purchases his plant
food in the most approved form, made in
factories from the most unpromisipg
sources Of supply. The Atlantic coast
is patrolled by steamers whose Cccupa-
ton is the catching Of menhaden or bony
fish. After the oil is extracted from
these fish the farmer has q claim on
what is left as q source of nitrogen for
his crops. South American nitrate of
soda is another source of nitrogen. The
German mines supply him with his pot
ash, and the blending of all the elements
is effected i'll the fertilizer factories,
whose processes are guided by the most
exact chemical analyses of their mater
ials. Even in the matter of local trans
pol tation the farmer is being taken caro-
of. The electric road, to whose opera
lions, needless Of vested rights, so many
highways have been surrendered, bids
fair to revolutionize the aspects of rural
life. It is believed by many that the
electric road will eventually haul the
farmers products to the cities or rail,
road stations, and the improvement of
country roads has actually been discour.
aged by those who believe III the highest
developu ent OF this form Of traction.
Where the process of development of
modern life will end, it is hard to see.
The farmer, who would seem to be the
last to be subjected to modern scientific
advancements, is really, speaking rela.
lively, the one most affected. Mechan-
ical, chemical and electrical science have
changed bis entire status. Among in
ventors the farm is recognized as the
field for most useful work in invention.
Man may yet learn to dispense with coal
ard the steam engine may be relegated
to the past. The self contained energies
of the cosmio system may yet be used to
replace the motor which, during the last
decades, has replaced them. Wiudmills
and water wheels represent tho utiliza-
ton OF cosmic energy, and mankind may
yet be driven to more extensive use of
tne mechanical powers OF nature. Bat
for food production, it seems as if the
soil for many years to come had been
the only resource. Synthetic chemistry
has to make enormous advances before
it can produce palatable FOOD. Already
it has done something in producing gu
cose and saccharine as sugar subtitutes,
but until the synthesis on the large scale
OF carbon aud hydrogen is effected, the
synthetic chemistry will be inGhoate. In
the modern march of progress the farmer
will hold his own. The changes in his
processes, the adjustment Of the quiet
rural life, ard of tho farm as au almost
self contained unit OF existence, are
brought about by the devotion to his
interests OF the enlightenment of the
world, and the world i'll It's turn is more
and more dependent upon him.