The Washington herald., 1908-05-15


this country. but a cooperation between
nation and State that shall be as help
ful in our political as these deliberations
ought 10 be In our economic future?
There Are Two Ways.
There are two ways IN which the pro-
ductve power Of the earth IS lessened;
first BY erosion and the sweeping away
Of the fertile surface into streams and
thence 10 the sea, and second by exhaus-
ton through wrong methods Of eltiuva-
ton.
The former process has gone far. Thou
sands of acres in the East and South
have been made unit Ter tillage. North
Carolina was. a century ago, one Of the
great agricultural States OF the country
and one OF the wealthlest To-day as you
ride through the South you see every
where land quilted by torrential rains,
red and yellow clay banks exposed where
once were fertile fields. and agriculture
reduced because its main support has
been washed away. Millions Of acres, in
places 10 the extent OF one-tenth of the
entire arabic area, have been so injured
that no industry and no care can restore
them
Ear more ruincsis. because universal
and continuing in its effects. is the process
OF soil exhaustion, It is creeping over the
land from East to West The abandoned
farms that are now the playthings Of the
clty's rich or the game preserves OF pa
irons OF sport, bear witness TO the mel
ancholy change. New Hampshire, Yer
mont, Northern New York, show long
lists os them. In Western Massachusetts,
which once supported a fiOurishing agTi-
for al
for half the cost Of the improvements.
Prof Carver, of Harvard, has declared
after personal examination Of the coun-
try that agriculture as an independent
industry, able in itself 10 support a COM
munity, does not exist in the hllly parts
of New England
THE same process Of deterioration is
affecting the farm lands Of Western New
York, Ohio. and Indiana. Where prices
Of farms should rise by increase of pop
ulatiOn. in many places they are falling.
Between 1880 and 1900 the land values Of
Ohio shrank S60000000 Official investi-
cation OF two counties in Central New
York disclosed g condition OF agricultural
decay In one land was for sale for about
the cost Of improvements and $50 vacant
houses We're counted in a limited area.
IN the other the population in 1905 was
nearly 4.G00 less than in 1855.
Practically Identical soil conditions ex-
ist in Maryland and Virginia, where lands
sol al from $40 10 $50 an acre.
Under Cultivation.
Within the last forty years a great
part OF the richest land in the country
p has been brought under cultivation. We
should. therefore, in the same time.
have raised proportionately the yield of
our principal crops per acre; because the
yield Of old lands. II properly treated.
tends to increase rather than diminish
The year 1906 was one Of large crops.
and can scarcely be taken as a standard
We produced, for example. more corn
that year than had ever been grown in
the United states in a single year before.
But the average yield per acre was less
than it was in 1872 We are barely keep
ing the acre product stationary The
average wheat crop Of the country now
ranges from 1211s, in ordinary years, to Is
bushels per acre in the best seasons. And
80 It is on down the line.
But the fact Of soil waste becomes
startingly evident when we examine the
record Of some States where single crop
ping and other agricultural abuses have
been prevalent. Take the case of wheat,
NtAE AtAfAtA-GtAg Va 0AA4StE~NAtH aAA5Es many
Of US can remember when New York was
the great wheat-producing state of the
Union The average yield OF wheat per
acre in New York for the last ten years
was about IS bushels. For the last FIVE
years Of that ten-year period It was 1874
bushels, and for the last I'VE ia bushels.
In the farther West, Kansas takes high
rank as a wheat producer. It's average
yield per acre for the last ten years was
1416 bushels. For the first FIVE OF those
years it was 1914 and for the last I'VE
1918 Up in the Northwest Minnesota
wheat has made a name all over the
world. Her average yield per acre for
the same ten years was 1886 bushels.
For the first five years it was 1872 and
for the last flve 12S We perceive here
the working OF a uniform law, independ-
ent of location. soil, or climate. Il Is the
law Of q diminishing return due TO soil
destruction. Apply this 10 the country at
large. and il reduces agriculture 10 the
condition OF a bank whose depositors are
steadily drawing out moro money than
they put in.
When the most fertile land in the
world produces so much less than that
Of poorer quality elsewhere. and this low
yield shows a tendency to steady decline,
the situation becomes clear. We are rob-
bAAA6 LA+U lJl4s III an EILUEL 10 EGA the
largest cash returns from each acre Of
ground in the shortest possible time and
with the least possible labor This soil
is not mere dead matter, subject 10 any
sort OF treatment with impunity
The two remedies are as we'll ascer-
teined as is the evil. Rotation OF crops
and the use Of fertilizers act as tonics
upon the soil. We might expand our
resources and add billions OF dollars to
our national wealth by conserving soil
resources, instead Of exhaust!ng them as
we have the forests and the contents of
the mines. For there is good authority
for the assertion that the farmer could
take from the same area Of ground in
four years grain crops out Of q total Of
seven years as much as the whole seven
now give him, leaving the products Of the
other three years when the land rested
from grain as a clear profit due TO better
methods
He can do far more than that BY Join
ing stock raising with grain raising Ma
ture has provided the cattle to 20 with
the land There is as much money IN
live stock as there is In grain. Looked
at in any way, there is money in live
stock; money for dairy products, money
for beef. money for the annual increase,
and most money Of all for the next years
crop. when every particle Of manure is
saved and applied to the land
Cover Less Ground.
'Sva need not consider at present really
sc farming. such as is done by
gardeners with high profit, or
ilture as In France. IN Holland, IL
:, and in the island Of Jersey pro-
financial returns per acre that seem
beyond belief. What our people
o do Is 10 cover less ground. cultl-