Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1894-06-07
CROPS AND POPULATION.
Limit OK Cultivable Acreage In th,. Conn
try Almost In S,vbt

Limit OF Cultivable Acre.va T., ..,
Try Almost In Sight.
0one persons who serve their fellow
men by looking forward into the future
ana estimating the consequences o,
events and tendencies, hold the opinion
1ha' the time is approaching when this
country Will cease to be an exoorter I'd
wheat 'er "
1here can be no doubt that this is q
true view. provided the conditions NJ
agriculture remain unchanged. For il
Is clear that the increase in the area nj
land devoted to the wheat crop can NOT
long be as rapid as the increase in non.
ulatlon; and in a few years the increase
III wheat area must cease altogether.
or ten years prior to 1887 there was
enormous development of the wheat
iahos OF the United States, and of rail.
Ioads crossing the wheat areas. This
useeiopment was far out of proportion
70 the increase in population. 1t ena-
o,eo the United States not only to sup
ply It's own citizens with the best of
gram food, but to export hundreds OF
millions of bushels.
. We did not realize that those happy
conditions could not continue. The
lano available for wheat culture in the
United States is limited. Almost all Of
II Is now under cultivation. Population
mas grown rapidly, and it has been
Predlcted by able men that before the
beginning of the next century the
United States will be consuming more
wheat than it can produce.
This matter is not to be settled with
d out taking into account the very large
possibility of increasing the production
OF wheat from a given acreage. Dur
ing the ten years ending with 1893 the
yield per acre in New York was aim ost
three bushels an acre greater than the
average of the great wheat-growing
states of Nebraska, Minnesota and the
two Dakotas
Ih1S was not because the soil or the
climate of New York. was better. but
because greater care and more fertiliZ-
ing material were used. If the area
devoted to wheat can not be increased.
the methods of agriculture may be i'm
proved.
On the other hand, the area availa-
bic for the cultivation of maize or In
dian corn may be greatly increased.
so wise man as the late Gov. Tilden
predicted in public speech that be-
-OAS viz cSS ihhihS VI tilc I"CuIitth
century the farmers of the United
States would be feeding Europe with
corn products instead of wheat.
Mr.. Tilden, a few months after the
presidential election of 1876, spent some
time in Europe, and he returned to this
country convinced that the great Amer
lean markets in Europe for food pro
ducts were hereafter to be of maize
either in the form of flour or converted
into pork and beef.
We have already been feeding Europe
for many years with corn in its second.
airy form, that is, in the shape of pork
and beef. But we have been unable to
teach Europe the nutritious. whole
some and palatable uses of corn when
cooked for food.
The Europeans regard it grain
fit only for animals, and although fol
some time Americans have been trying
to teach the middle and peasant classes
of continental Europe American ways
of cooking corn meal. yet the success
of these experiments has not been en-
couraging.
AS the era when new land was abun.
dant. and when the virgin soil would
yield enormous crops, has now closed,
we are brought face to face witt. this
alternative: either to cease producing a
great surplus for the food of the world,
Or to turn attention systematically to
high culture.-Youth's Companion.