422 



TR-VNSPORTATIOX A BUHDEN. 



The bnrden of transportation is one that mnst ever hear heavily npon the farmers. 

 Should ship canals, of sufficient size for the use of steam power, ever be opened to the 

 sea-coast, or should a double-track freight railwaj', on which continuous trains could 

 be run at lowest possible freights, ever be constructed, either by the United States or 

 by a company under a charter drawn in the interest of the people, a burden of monop- 

 oly and excessive charges might be removed, but the expense would still be unendur- 

 able in the transportation of certain heavy products ; the necessity would still exist 

 for converting grass into butter and cheese, corn into beef and pork and high-wines, 

 roots and hay into mutton and wool, (and, better still, into woolens and Avorsted,) and 

 the elements of earth and air, through the alchemy of labor, into new and desirable 

 forms of production required by the increasing wants of advancing civilization, of high 

 value in proportion to bulk or weight, and of small expense for transportation in pro- 

 portion to value. 



The time has come when the farmers, in the exercise of their political prerogative, 

 and in the strength of imperious numbers, should combine to protect themselves 

 against the usurpations of railroad monopoly, and to thwart the schemes of gamblers 

 in railroad stocks, who, with equal unscrupulousness, " water stock," and despoil the 

 honest stockholder, and fleece the xmblic with high fares and excessive freights. If 

 farmers iiave no power to protecb tliemselves, then they are indeed at the mercy of a 

 set of reckless gamesters. 



MEAT PRODUCTIOX ANT) F^VP.M ANIMALS. 



It is not alone the fact that it costs ten times as much for the transportation of a 

 dollar's worth of cereals as for the same value in animal products, that I recom- 

 mend more attention to the live stock of the farm. That is a question of markets and 

 present profits. It is also a question of fertility, of a systematic and rational agricul- 

 ture, and the futnre value and permanent productiveness of the farm. I have the 

 satisfaction of knowing that the true philosophy underlying this question is well un- 

 der^tood by many farmers in Illinois, and, as a consequence, that some sections of your 

 fertile area is yearly increasing in productive value through the restorative agency of 

 stock farming. The high rentals in England are obtained by the restorative effect of 

 green croT)ping and meat production ; the feeding of the refuse of beets in France and 

 Germany, on the beet-sugar farms, results in more beef and mutton, and more wheat, 

 in addition to the sugar, than were secured imdcr the old system. So it will be in Illi- 

 nois with any system that shall enable its farmers to carry increased numbers of farm 

 stock; with the increase of cattle there will come, indue course of crop rotations, 

 increase of cereals, vegetables, and fruits required for the use of man. 



It is gratifying to learn that ^:l;e fi-.rmers of Wisconsin, Minnesota, and other wheat- 

 growing States, are feeling an increasing interest in farm stock, and enlarging the 

 numbers of their herds. They are learning wisdom by the sad exj)erience of last year's 

 prices. 



In view of the despondency so prevalent of late among wool-growers, allow me to 

 call your attention to accounts of profit and loss received from our correspondents, 

 which show conclusively, that while some by their own exhibit have lost money in 

 keeping sheep, others have realized a profit that should satisfy any reasonable expecta- 

 tion, and it clearly appears that these losses have been the direct result of that 

 despondency, leading to neglect and careh-ssness, and that the profits have come natur- 

 ally from iucrensed attention, judicious adaptation to changing circumstances, and a 

 moderate exhibition of pluck aud persistence. Sheep left to the mercy of scab and 

 foot-rot, or exposed to the severity of winter storms, or the risk of starvation in seek- 

 ing subsistence under the snow, or at the base of the straw stack, should not bo ex- 

 pected to secure a satisfactory balance sheet at the reckoning day. There is a scarcity, 

 notwithstanding our assumtnl surplus of sheep, of juicy, fat, and savory mutton. Its 

 production is everywhere a concomitant of good farming, and as lands advance in price, 

 and the tastes and purses of consumers favor the change, good fat mutton and heavy 

 spring lambs will be jiroduced abundantly and profitably upon the prairiea of the 

 West! But should a farmer make the mistake of keeping a Hock of mutton sheep year 

 after year for their avooI alone, it should surprise no one to hear the complaint that 

 mutton sheep are not profitable. There is abundant room in this country l)oth for the 

 long and the short wools, and I hope never to see the time when their numbers shall 

 be less than at present. 



The raising of swine, a remunerative branch of industry in connection with com- 

 CTOwing and cattle-feeding, demands the attention ot farmers toward a mode of rear- 

 ing and feeding which shall mitigate the losses from disease, which are in some places 

 60 severe as almost to exterminate the porcine race. Could these ca.ses bo obviated, 

 a percentage o Jprofit which few industrial callings could equal would be added to the 

 gains of pork production. I have noticed that the disease known as "hog cholera" 



