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Show 0 American Agriculture Indebted f(?1 To Abraham Lincoln More Than ;d To Any Other of Our Presidents i ri :,4 Mt-! ftfti ''y)a'r,' laVMi-W ' 1 ihf..-fti"r--"' " wm..aa.- ..- i- ..... By ELMO SCOTT WATSON (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) A TALL man in rusty black arose from his chair on a flag-draped flag-draped platform and made his way awkwardly to the speaker's stand. He seemed ill at ease as he gazed on the weathered faces of the crowd before him. Then he began to speak. Almost at once his self -consciousness vanished. His sorrowful, deep-set eyes lighted up. His voice warmed. His hearers ' leaned forward to catch each word. "No other human occupation," occupa-tion," he said, "opens so wide a field for the profitable and agreeable combination of labor la-bor with cultivated thought as agriculture . . . Every blade of grass is a study; and to produce two where there was but one is both a profit and a pleasure. And not grass alone, but soils, seeds and seasons; saving crops, diseases dis-eases of crops and what will prevent and cure them; hogs, horses and cattle; trees, shrubs, fruits, plants and flowers each is a world of study within itself." The speaker was Abraham Lincoln. Lin-coln. The time was September 30, 1859. The place was the agricultural agri-cultural fair held by the Wisconsin Wiscon-sin State Agricultural society at Milwaukee. Most Americans remember Lincoln Lin-coln as our first martyred President, Presi-dent, as the Great Emancipator, as the statesman whose principles have stirred men everywhere. Few, perhaps, realize what a profound pro-found influence Lincoln and his administration left on the agriculture agri-culture of the United States. Yet all his life he was a close student of farming. He knew its needs and foresaw the possibilities of its advancement as few men have done before or since. And it was as a nationally recognized representative repre-sentative of the farmer and the small town democracy he knew so well that he was invited to address that meeting in Milwaukee. Mil-waukee. These things considered, it is not surprising that in the anguish of the Civil war that threatened the nation's existence, Lincoln found time to promote the cause of agriculture and give it an impetus im-petus that is felt down to this day. Boyhood on a Farm. Abe's early boyhood was spent on a farm of 30 acres near Knob creek, about 10 miles northeast of his birthplace at Hodgenville, Ky. Because of the hills and gullies only 14 acres could be cultivated. In the fall of 1816 the Lincoln family moved again this time across the Ohio river into the heavily timbered wilderness of southern Indiana. Here they established es-tablished themselves on a knoll surrounded by marshy, malaria-ridden malaria-ridden fields. There was no drinking drink-ing water within a mile. Although Thomas Lincoln acquired an option op-tion on 160 acres to be paid for in installments at $2 an acre, he completed payments on only half of this land. The elder Lincoln continued to vary his farming and hunting by doing occasional jobs of carpentry. In 1824, after the family had been in Indiana seven years, the cultivated area of the farm totaled only 17 acres. Thus young Lincoln as a boy of 15 was hired out to the neighbors to plow, hoe corn, split roils and make fences. lie also worked as a ferryman on the Ohio river. For this work his father received $0 a month. During the hog-packing season, however, he received nn additional 31 cents a day. Once more the Lincolns pushed westward. This time it w;is early in the spring of 1830 and the family fam-ily trekked to the bliilfs along the Sangamon river in Macon county, Illinois. Reaching majority ma-jority soon aflerward, Abraham Lincoln bade farewell to his fnrnily arid begun life for himself. Although he left farm work behind be-hind as a career, Lincoln never censed to interest himself in agriculture. ag-riculture. As a surveyor, as postmaster post-master and storekeeper at New .Salem, as a lawyer riding the court circuit around Illinoi.'i, as a congressman and (is President lie S continued to be a student of farming farm-ing and farm improvement. When Lincoln entered the White House, farming was being carried on much the same as it had been in the past half-century. Man and horse power were still the main reliance on the average farm, although an impressive start had been made toward mechanization and improvement of farm implements. It took about as long to plow a field, plant a crop and cultivate it as it had taken in Revolutionary war days. This was particularly true of the newer areas of settlement. The reaper had been invented about 30 years before, but its use was by no means universal. The steel plow had been introduced in the late 1830s and had helped speed the opening of the newly settled West. The science of soil chemistry was even more recent. Although experiments in plant feeding in Europe led to the establishment es-tablishment of the modern fertilizer ferti-lizer in this country in 1850, production pro-duction amounted to only 20,000 tons in 1800. Today American farmers use nearly 8,000,000 tons annually. Aids to Agriculture. Soon after his inauguration, Lincoln began throwing the weight of his influence behind measures that would strengthen JUSTIN S. MOKUILL the position of agriculture and promote its future growth. This was sound strategy in view of the impending Civil war. Within a year three bills of outstanding significance had been passed. These were the Act Establishing the United States Department of Agriculture, the Homestead act, and the Land Grant College act. Agriculture today owes a debt to the administration which sponsored spon-sored these acts. The progress it has achieved in the past 75 years would never have been possible without them. As early as his first message to congress in December, 18G1, Lincoln Lin-coln pointed out the necessity for a department of agriculture. "Agriculture, confessedly the largest interest of the nation," ho declared, "has not a department, nor a bureau, but a clerkship only assigned to it in this government. "While it is fortunate that this great interest is so independent in its nature as not to have demanded de-manded or extorted more from the government, I respectfully ask congress to consider whether something more cannot bo voluntarily volun-tarily given with general advantage." advan-tage." The Act F.stablishing the Department De-partment of Agriculture was the result, and in his second annual message the 1 'resident was able to report: "To carry out the provisions of the Act of Congress of May lfil.li last, I have caused the Department Depart-ment of Agriculture of the United States to be organized. The Commissioner Com-missioner informs me that within the period of u few months, this department has established an extensive ex-tensive system of correspondence and exchanges both at home and abroad which promise to effect highly beneficial results in the development de-velopment of a current knowledge of recent improvements of agriculture, agri-culture, in the introduction of new products, and in the collection of the agricultural statistics of the different states. Also it will be prepared to distribute, largely, seeds, cereals, plants and cuttings, cut-tings, and has already published and liberally diffused much valuable valu-able information in anticipation of a more elaborate report which will in due time be furnished, embracing em-bracing some valuable tests in chemical science now in progress in the laboratory." Lincoln closed his statement with the hope that the department would "realize at not too distant a day all the fondest anticipations of its most sanguine friends and become the fruitful source of advantages ad-vantages to all our people." How prophetic was this hope is a matter of history. Although the department was not represented in the cabinet with a secretary until 1889, it proved its worth immediately. im-mediately. Today every farm home feels its benefits. County agents everywhere assist farmers in improving their farm methods, testing their soil to determine its plant food needs, advising them on how to increase the productivity productiv-ity of their holdings. The Homestead Act. Another milestone in agricultural agricul-tural development was the Homestead Home-stead act, signed by President Lincoln on May 20, 1802. During the course of its operation nearly 250,000,000 acres of public domain have been thrown open to private farm ownership. Instead of requiring the payment pay-ment of $1.25 or more per acre, the Homestead act gave 100 acres free to every settler who would live on it for five years. Settlers Set-tlers rushed into the new lands, and while the Civil war was still in progress 2,500,000 acres were thus given away. This created more than 15,000 farms of 1(0 acres each. New railroads were built to link the western farm lands with the eastern markets. The new crops helped feed the Union armies, furnish fibers and raw materials to factories, and provided an exportable surplus which built a profitable trade with Europe. Most important step in aiding the cause of scientific agriculture was the Morrill act, or Land Grant College act, named for Justin S. Morrill, representative in congress and afterwards senator sena-tor from Vermont. Signed by President Lincoln on July 2, 1802. this law gave to each state as many times 30,000 acres of public-land public-land as it had senators and representatives. rep-resentatives. This land was to provide funds for the establishment establish-ment and support of a "college of agriculture and mechanical arts." The far-flung system of agricultural agricul-tural colleges in every state of the Union today owes its existence exist-ence to this act. These colleges are a powerful factor in discovering discover-ing new facts concerning the soil, its needs, crop and live stock improvement im-provement and better farming methods. Not only do these colleges col-leges educate young men to apply these facts and methods in actual farm work, but agronomists and soil scientists are continually carrying car-rying on experiments with crops, soils and fertilizers in their slates. As a result of their work, the average farmer can have the benefit of expert and practical ad-vice ad-vice in preparing his soil for profitable prof-itable crop production. Many of these colleges provide recommendations recom-mendations for fertilizer grades best adapted to the needs of a farmer's soils and crops after a test has established the necessity for nitrogen, phosphorus and potash. pot-ash. "Lincoln's contributions to the development of agriculture," said an olllcial of the Middle West Soil Improvement committee recently, recent-ly, "stand as much n monument to Ins greatness as any of his other oth-er achievements during his presidency. presi-dency. It was astounding that under the stress of war and dost do-st nicl ion lie could have sponsored and supported measures that would have such epochal consequences conse-quences to our development." |
