OCR Text |
Show THE FIRST CENTURY OF THE REPUBLIC. RE-PUBLIC. The developments of the first century' cen-tury' of the American republic, in view of our approaching centennial celebration, are being reviewed by the scholar and the hi-torian. This anniversary, as it will attract the attention at-tention of the civilised w jrld towards the United States, naturally calls into exercise the highest native talent for the exhibition and illustration of our remarkable progress since the formation forma-tion of the government. Prof. W. H. Brewer is publishing an entertaining series of p tpers in Harper's Monthly, allowing the progress of the country in science, art, industry, etc., during the period referred to. The Mai-number Mai-number is devoted to our agricultural progress, and it gives many facts which are not to be found in the books, but have been gleaned from various fragmentary eources of information, in-formation, it is interesting to know the ditiieuities and experienced our early colonists labored under in their etloita to br.ng a virgin soil to its most ell'octive and profitable cultivation, cultiva-tion, to adapt the proper crops to the climate, to ascertain the character and value of the wild plants , surrounding them, and to tin-i tin-i lock the secrets of the vegetable and animal kingdoms. Though tht emigrants urougnt witn mem irom Europe the plants they had known at home, they found here a climate entirely en-tirely unlike that of Europe, and the adaptability of each imported plant to this country was only learned by patient experiment, and one crop after another was abandoned or accepted according to the results. In New Eogland hemp, indigo, rice, cotton, madder, millet, Bpelt, lentils, lucern, etc., were tried and failed, as well as European and Asiatic plants, and a similar result was had in the south in regard to other crops. Before the war of the revolution the problems of the selection, adaptation or naturalization of plants and animals ani-mals had been completely solved, and it will surpriso most readers to learn that not a single important species of domestic animal has been profitably introduced since, and but one plant, sorghum. Agriculture as an art had reached nearly as high a point a hundred years ago as it occupies to day, but the history of agriculture as a science lies nearly all within the century of our national existence, but this history his-tory is not confined to the United States. Agricultural chemistry was not known one hundred years ago, and through its influence most important im-portant triumphs of the farmer have bei-u achieved. It is to mechanical invention, however, that the greatest progress in agriculture is due. Tne simplest tools of a century ago were made mostly on the farms where they were used. They were clumsy and costly. The progress in farming implements is shown by a glance at the census reports tf 1S70, which states the value of the farming implements im-plements in use at about $337,000,-000 $337,000,-000 against a value of about $150,-000,000 $150,-000,000 in 1S30. A Biugle laborer can now till more than twice thei acerage of a century ago, and with some crops three, four and sometimes five times as much. Now animal and steam power performs much that was then done by human muscle. A man with a team of horses and a modern mower or reaper will average about six times as much aa with the scythe. A century ago all the processes of gathering the hay crop were by hand labor, now nearly every part of this! work rs done by machinery. There has been no like advance with the crops of cotton, Indian corn, pota toes and tobacco, though the inven-I inven-I tion of the gin in 1793 gave opportunity oppor-tunity for our wonderful successes with the cotton crop. Threshing machines first came into general uee between 1S25 and 1S35, and lately steam is being extensively introduced to run them. One of these steam threshers will turn out from 40,000 to 100,000 bushels of grain in three mouths, and these figures have been exceeded. A hundred years ago to cut one hundred bushels of wheat required re-quired three days' work, to bind and , stack it four days, to thresh and clean it five days. A day's labor would not get more than sixoraeven bushels of grain through the various processes, proces-ses, while a recent California estimate esti-mate gives an average of about fifty bushels per man per day. The art of manuring the soil has been revolutionized during the past century. Rotation in tillage, the use of superphosphates, guano and gypsum gyp-sum have nil come in to the aid of the agriculturist duriug the century. The knowledge of the methods of producing new varieties of plants had reached a very primitive sttte early in this century. No longer than the year 1740 a writer remarks that there was known but one sort of potato in Boston, which was saircely eatable A single American experimenter claims to nave produced and tested 6,000 different varieties. The importations impor-tations of blooded" cattle from Eogland Eog-land commenced in 1S00. Now all the more distinguished breeds of Europe are successfully bred here. Even the Spanish cattle of Texas and California have been rapidly changed and improved through these fine breeds. Tne quality of American horses has been greatly improved. America is now scarcely surpassed by any country in the quality of her sheep and wool. The census of 1S70 estimated the value of live stock st $1,500,000,000. The cash value of the farms, implements and live atock was fixed by the same census at upward ot $11,000,000,000, and the annual value of all the farm productions produc-tions at about $2,4 IS, 000, 000. Six million persons were engaged in ' agriculture, or nearly one-half of the effective working force of the nation. Agricultural schools and colleges are comparatively modern institutions, and there are now about forty in existence in the United States, and they havo been stimulated by the appropriations of public lands under the congressional act of 1S52. |