PROSPECTS OF AMERICAN AGRICULTURE. 247 



The good farmer, on well-drained, well-prepared and properly 

 enriched land, will have, say 36 bushels per acre of 48 lbs. per 

 bushel. Deducting 2 bushels for seed and 2 bushels for scatterings 

 we have for sale 32 bushels at $1.50 per bushel, or $48 per acre. 



In the case of potatoes the advantage of raising a good crop in 

 an unfavorable season is even still more striking. And since the 

 advent of the Colorado beetle, rich land and better cultivation are 

 absolutely essential, for the reason that it costs no more to kill the 

 *' bugs " on a crop that will yield 250 bushels per acre than on a 

 crop that will yield only 100. 



I live in a great potato-growing section. One hundred bushels 

 per acre is a fair average crop. Last year (1875) the season was 

 remarkably favorable for the growth of potatoes in nearly all sec- 

 tions of the country, and millions of bushels were sold for less 

 than it had cost to dig and market them. In my neighborhood, I 

 have seen many pits of potatoes that were left in the field to rot. 

 The year before we got $1.00 per bushel for potatoes, and it need 

 not surprise any one if they are $1.00 per bushel again before next 

 spring. Such a season as this is the good potato grower's oppor- 

 tunity. With potatoes at $1.00 a bushel, a good farmer can make 

 money, and make enough to more than compensate for the loss he 

 sufi'ers from low prices in seasons when the average farmer has a 

 fair crop. But I must not dwell on this point. The truth of the 

 matter is this. With our large area, a fair average crop, such as 

 we have in a highly favorable season, means low prices and small 

 profits. A poor general crop means high prices for everything we 

 consume at home, such as beans, potatoes, barley, oats, buckwheat, 

 &c. A poor crop of wheat and corn does not always result in 

 high prices, for the reason that we export largely, and the price is 

 dependent on the price in England and on the cost of transporta- 

 tion. As a rule, we should aim to produce those articles which we 

 import, rather than those which we export. A short crop of barley, 

 beans or potatoes always gives us good prices. But such is not 

 the case with wheat and corn unless the failure is so general and so 

 severe as to entirely stop exportation. When the price of these 

 articles is determined by the price at which it can be delivered in 

 our makets from foreign countries, rather than by what it is worth 

 to export to foreign markets, the American farmer is sure of getting 

 full compensation for his labor. And in this connection let me say 

 that it seems strange that we have so long let the foreign seed- 

 growers supply us with such a large proportion of the vast aggre- 



