The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-02-12
THE LIMIT OF FARM LANDS.

/
other generation the United States may not
| be able to raise the wheat its people will
| consume. On paper the government has
large unoccupied domain. but the larger
part Of it is worthless unless some other
forces than are now in possession of man
kind shall be discovered to utilize alkali
deserts for which there is no water. We
| have become so accustomed to the declara-
ton that our public domain offers homes
for the worlds homeless that we will not
willingly cast aside that pleasing fiction
of the Fourth of July orator.
This whole subject is brought freshly to
public attention by an article in the current
issue of the North American Review by
Mr.. John Hyde, statistician of the Depart
ment of Agriculture, entitled America and
| the Wheat Problem" This paper is not
the depressing prediction of pessimist,
but a presentation of facts drawn from
official reports. Mr.. Hyde predicts that the
| population Of the United States in 1881 will
be 100, 100000. He bases this prediction on
the fact that a generation ago the popula-
ton of this country was about 100000,
| and upon the estimate that it is 100000 at
the present time. Because there has been
an increase of 100000 of people during
| the last generation, when we had lands to
! give away and States foolishly sent agents
to Europe to solicit immigrants. does not
seem to justify the prediction that the in
crease the next generation now that we
| have no land to speak of worth giving away
and the popular sentiment is adverse to i'm
migration, will be 55OOO,OOO. Accepting Mr..
Hyde's prediction as to population q gen.
Grafton hence, at the present rate of con-
sumption the United States will require for
! domestic consumption a wheat crop of
70OO00O0O bushels, an oat crop of ,250, OO0, 900
| bushels, a corn crop of $3.50 100000 bushels
and a hay crop of 1OOOOO,OOO tons. 1.-The area
necessary for the production of the three
! cereals-wheat, corn and oats-will be over
10 per cent. greater than the total acreage
now devoted to grain, cotton and hay, while
the mere addition of the two aforementioned
products and of the minor cereals will call
for an acreage exceeding the total area of
improved lands in farms at the present
time" Such is the fact demonstrated by
the statistcian.
Those who have the figures of the census
in their minds will ask if in 1890 the unim-
| proved lands of the United States were not
| 1915 per cent of the total farm area. This
| is the fact, but, as has been stated very
| little of this area compared with the whole
| is adapted to the production of useful crops
or can be made available for cultivation.
Mr.. Hyde gives the figures of the public
| domain in every section of the country with
the portions which can be utilized for
farms. The idea prevails that there is a
| large area of good lands on the Pacific
| coast. Mr.. Hyde's figures show that the
inconsequential. and what there is is wild
land and forest Furthermore, 72.7 per cent.
of the entire area of unsold public land is
| in States wholly within the arid region,
| and all but small part of the remainder is
| desert mountain or suitable only for graz
| ing purposes. Much has been said of the
extension Of farming lands by artificial ir-
rigation. The geological survey has demon
strated that the entire water supply of the
| Pacific States available for irrigation is only
sufficient for 23OOO,0OO additional acres, or
about one acre in four of the unappropriated
public lands in those States. The same au-
thority shows that in the entire arid region
the available water supply is only sufficient
for 71,5O0,OOO additional acres, or one acre
| in seven and half of the area owned by
the government. The reclamation of land by
| irrigation is slow and very expensive, the
cost per acre for lands the most easily
watered being $21.74. In this manner Mr..
| Hyde goes over the whole country and finds
that there can be not over a net increase
of los, OOO, 0OO acres of land made available
for crops under the stimulant of higher
prices Against this increase the subsistence
of 1870 100000 people at home will require, in
1884, on the basis of present consumption,
13,5OO,OO0 acres for wheat 66,OO0OOt acres for
corn, %, 100000 acres for oats and 4O5OO, O3C
acres for hay-a total of 159, 200 900 acres,
without any provision for the increased con-
sumption of other products of the soil.
1 With these figures it must be admitted
that the statistician of the Department of
Agriculture has made out very clearly that
the area of lands suited to agriculture is
very limited, and that the period is over in
which the opening of new farms of cheap
lands has had the effect to depreciate values
in farms in the older States and to reduce
the prices of agricultural products With an
increasing deficiency of land that can ne
probably cultivated values in farm lands
and the prices of farm products must ad-
vance. His figures also demonstrate that
the only way TO escape the necessity OF
importing wheat in'ten or twenty years will
be to adopt better system of cultivation
which will increase the acre product of
wheat and other crops. France produces
twice as much wheat per acre as does the
United States, not because of better soil
but through better cultivation. In conclu-
sion Mr.. Hyde's figures prove that the one
kind of property which is sure to advance
in value is farm land.
PRETENSE IN MUSIC.
A young French woman who is giving