REPORT OF THE STATISTICIAN. 393 



effort. Tliouglit iu agTioulture must be alert and practical, as in nie- 

 chauical aud constructive industries in this era of mental activity. 



Our a,i2:riculture is too much controlled by accident and caprice. Free 

 prairie lands, improved reapers, and railroad extension make a ft'lut in 

 wheat. The coltou-gin, slavery, and a strong: foreign demand once 

 made the South poor in buyin;; supplies for man and beast engaged in 

 growing cotton. Thus unequal development reduces prolits. While 

 one-third of the wheat is exported, one-seventh of the consumption of 

 barley is imported. AVe do not grow even the cereals required. 



We boast of our exports of i)roducts of agriculture. We foolishly 

 talk of feeding the nations of the world. We do not feed ourselves. 

 In 1883 we paid 8240,000,000 for food and drink imported, and the 

 freights, conmiissious, and customs duties in addition; and our food 

 exports, at prices on the farm and in the packing-house, scarcely sufiiced 

 to pay the bill of costs of such imports. A large item of this was sugar. 

 Thirty years ago half the sugar used in the United States was pro- 

 duced in Louisiana. Is it possible that European agriculture can be 

 threatened with paralysis by American competition, and that this coun- 

 try cannot produce sugar on account of European competition ? Less 

 than a century ago it cost $1 a pound to produce it there; now 3 cents. 

 "While we do not expect to manufacture it from sorghum at a cost of 1 

 cent per i^ound, or llood the markets of the world with our surplus of 

 production in live years, it is fair to assume that the great maize-pro- 

 ducing country of the world will ultimately obtain much of its sugar 

 from sorghum. The cane regions of Louisiana, Florida, and Texas, by 

 the aid of some process which shall not allow a waste of 40 per cent, of 

 unexpressed sugar, should aid materially in the home supply for the 

 wants of consumption. In addition to the cane in the southern belt 

 and to sorghum in the great central zone, there is a belt along the 

 northern frontier suited to beet sugar, and there has been no test that 

 throws a shadow of doubt of success on the experiment. The Maine 

 experiment was a successful manufacture, except that the farmers would 

 supply the beets only from garden patches iu insufiicient quantities for 

 economic manufacture. They lacked laud in proi)er condition, rotation, 

 fertilization, and high culture necessary to success; with all these requi- 

 sites, experience in the cultivation of sugar beets would be essential to 

 full success. In California a single factory i)roduced 2,000,000 to 

 3,000,000 pounds of sugar last year, and has made it at a prolit for 

 several consecutive years. If one can do it, so also can one thousand. 

 The trouble with our farmers, with all their energy and dash, is a dis- 

 like for new methods, an adherence to routine, and impatience in wait- 

 ing for results. They will exchange sheep for hogs, or vice versa, in a 

 twinkling, as prices veer, but will not experiment for the ultimate suc- 

 cess of new rural industries. As a rule, they cannot well afford to ; it 

 is the duty of the Government, the proper business of this Department 

 and of the agricultural colleges to do the necessary experimental vrork 

 which shall usher in new and profitable enterprises in production, which 

 shall relieve the crowded competition iu cereals and cotton, give to the 

 laborer a demand for his work, tlie producer a market for his varied 

 products, and the country added wealth and foreign exchanges in its 

 favor. But the prosperous farmer should cultivate a generous public 

 si:)irit, as well as a laudable esprit de corps, and take some risk in intel- 

 ligent experiment that promises beneficent results to his class and 

 advance of the public welfare. 



This is but a glance at this great subject. From these contrasts it 

 may fairly be assumed that only agriculture which applies the discov- 



