THE POSSIBILITIES OF AGRICULTURE. 8 1 



you_feeL that you deal with a nation in which agriculture 

 is in respect Or read the publications of the scores of 

 experimental stations, whose reports are distributed 

 broadcast over the country, and are read by the farmers 

 and discussed at countless " farmers' meetings ". Con- 

 sult the " Transactions " and " Bulletins " of the count- 

 less agricultural societies, not royal but popular ; study 

 the grand enterprises for irrigation ; and you will feel 

 that American agriculture is a real force, imbued with 

 life, which no longer fears mammoth farms, and needs 

 not to cry like a child for protection. 



" Intensive " agriculture and gardening are already by 

 this time as much a feature of the treatment of the soil 

 in America as they are in Belgium. As far back as 

 the year 1880, nine States, among which were Georgia, 

 Virginia and the two Carolinas, bought 5, 7 50,000 worth 

 of artificial manures ; and we are told that by this time 

 the use of artificial manure has immensely spread 

 towards the West. In Iowa, where mammoth farms 

 used to exist twenty years ago, sown grass is already 

 in use, and it is highly recommended by both the Iowa 

 Agricultural Institute and the numerous local agricul- 

 tural papers ; while at the agricultural competitions the 

 highest awards are given, not for extensive farming, 

 but for high crops on small areas. Thus, at a recent 

 competition in which hundreds of farmers took part, 

 the first ten prizes were awarded to ten farmers who had 

 grown, on three acres each, from 262 to 346^ bushels 

 of Indian corn, in other words from 8j to 7/5 bushels 

 to the acre. This shows where the ambition of the 

 Iowa farmer goes. In Minnesota the prizes were given 

 two years ago for crops of 300 to 1 120 bushels of pota- 

 toes to the acre, i.e., from eight and a quarter to thirty- 

 one tons to the acre, while the average potato crop in 

 Great Britain is only six tons. 



At the same time market-gardening is immensely 

 extending in America. In the market-gardens of Florida 



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