The Brownsville daily herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1897-1910, 1909-09-14


| is being fastened by legislative
stimulation il favor of other indus
tries while overlooking this
People EIOck to Cities
In 1890 oniy- about 5.4 per cent
of the American people lived in
towns At the time of the Civil
War the percentage had risen to
Is IN 1990 more than 8 per cent
of our population was urban The
/ change IS porteRtiOUs; and there is
no doubt that the coming census will
show it to have proceeded IN The
last ten years with accelerated
speed. In spite OF the warnings of
/ economists, the ameliOration of farm
me- the opening OF new and attrac-
tive employment on the land
through the spread of irrigation and
! the growth of the fruit industry. the
encouragement Of public men and
the wider dissemination Of agricul-
turai education, the percentage of
our population who work on the
farm constantly declines. If that
! proceeds too far. it is as if dry-rot
had eaten through the timbers sup
| porting some great structure. We
! should consider now the change ac-
| CEN lis"cd and that impending.
With our annual Increase of ov-
/ ef ID per cent III population from
/ natural causes, and immigration
! that has not been less than three
/ quarters of a million any year since
/ So, there viii be from TWO to two
! and half million more mouths to
! feed every year. Having in view
! this increase i'll population, the de-
/ Ginning average yield per acre of
/ cultivated land in the United States
after it has been farmed for a few
/ years. che rise of per capita con
sumption with a higher cost of Iiv-
ing and the movement of the work
ing population away from the land. /
/ the time is now approaching when
We shall not only cease to be a I
wheat selling nation, but Viii find /
IT necessary to import d portion of !
what we consume
Our foreign trade il the past las /
rested mainly on our exports OF pro
ducts drawn from the earth directly. +
or only once removed Our manu- [
features for export are to a large ex- /
tent natural products subjected to /
few simple processes. How are we /
to meet the immense trade balance /
against us, how prevent financial I
storms OF frequent occurrence ana /
destructive force; how feed the COM F.
ing millions, if the farmer, who pays /
most of the bills, has retired to the /
city or the country town in order /,
that mis- children may the better /
enjoy their automobiles and enter /
into the delights Of the social game2 +;
~ stationary or declining pro
duct. soil becoming annually less
productive, ii revolt against the life
of the farm and consequent rise Z.
in wages amounting, since 1895, to
55.6 per cent with board. compel .
such q rise of eli prices rs bears ru- ;
inousiy upon town and country .
alike Our real concern Is not so
much to save the home market from
the inroads Of the foreigner as TO
Keep it from destruction by an en-
larged city life, q crowded artisan
population clamOring for food and
a foreign demand for The product Of .
their wages limited TO fields where
ne competition OF all the world
nust sc met ana overcome.
Tho consumers of bread through
out the world increase by probably
rom four TO five millions every
year In our own country we shan
require from 1900, zoe 10 1000
UO0 bushels more annually for seed .
and home consumption. The dOmes- .
tic supply cannot be maintained by
present methods Not only is the
cultivation OF the soil being neglect F
ed but il is also VIGOROUSLY lnef- r.
fective. Cur wheat product per acre
from the older lands falls steauuy- I
Our national average is less tnan
half that OF England or Germany, f.
both Of which have soil inferior to
cur own Only by bringing rich new .
land under cultivation have We pre-
.ented the fall from becoming an
rupt. Good farms in the Mohawk {
valley in New York state forty years /
ago we're worth 500 to Sl3O per /
acre; now many are sold at from |
s25 to $50. This is not because /
wheat has become cheap, for 1t !
is dear; not entirely because OF /
Western competition, bat because i
there is neither good cultivation nor /
enough cultivation. The younger /
generation thrOngs the cities; and /
The land. rented by its owners to (
tenants careless of eyrything but i'm
mediate profit, is abused and robbed /
Of its fertility. In New York State /
10000 farms are for sale. The /
southern central portion shows a /
progressive loss of population. II /
anybody imagines that this process /
of exhaustion and abandonment or
transfer to other uses is peculiar to
the East, let him look at Iowa, /
whose average wheat crop in the five
years 1SS3-S7 was 29,628,96O bush
els. and in the five years 1904-0S
was 9,976,4SS bushels In 1905 it
was S,06S.000-
All this has come about notwith-
/ standing economic changes favorable
/ to the occupant of the farm The
perfection of our transportation sys-
/ TEN has made market accessible
to every farmer, and carries his pro