NA TURE 



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THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 1877 



AGRICULTURE IN THE UNITED STATES 



Report of the Commissioners of Agriculture of the United 

 States of America J or the Year 1875. (Washington, 

 Government Printing Office.) 

 '"TT'HE first impression that strikes us upon taking up 

 ■A- this substantial volume is closely allied to envy. 

 Mere is a fund of valuable and condensed information 

 relating to every point connected with the development 

 of the soil's resources, a record of original work and of 

 experience at home, and abounding in suggestions from 

 the practices of other countries. It is true we have to 

 some extent, in the excellent transactions of our great 

 agricultural societies, a means of presenting a digest of 

 agricultural progress. But these are, and must to some 

 extent be, wiitlen in popular style, whereas the Report 

 before us, while deeply interesting, is essentially business- 

 like and proportionally more useful to those whom it 

 concerns. 



It may be thought by many that a new country, of 

 boundless extent like America, can scarcely have ad- 

 vanced to a stage in agricultural progress demanding the 

 assistance of science ; that the breaking up of virgin 

 tracts by adventurous settlers is scarcely an occupation 

 to elicit sympathy on the part of the workers in micro- 

 scopic examinations and chemical analyses. Such is, 

 however, not the case. " Farmers and planters," we are 

 told, " now realise that there is something else in this im- 

 portant work beyond the mere drudgery of sowing, reap- 

 ing, and curing ; " and again, " the general awakening of" 

 interest in agricultural subjects has induced a consider- 

 able correspondence with the botanical division," as well 

 as with the chemical and other departments. 



The Report of the Commissioners includes those of the 

 statistician, the entomologist, and the chemist ; and 

 besides these departments, details are given of the 

 labours of the Horticultural, Botanical, Seed, and Mi- 

 croscopic Sections. The report of the statistician reveals 

 the immense extent of cultivated land in the United 

 States. Close upon 45,000,000 acres of maize, producing 

 1,321,000,000 bushels of corn account for the cheap rate 

 at which this commodity has recently been offered in this 

 country. The vast area of 26,381,512 acres of wheat pro- 

 ducing, in 1875, 292,000,000 bushels, also throws light 

 upon some of the difficulties of competition which now 

 perplex the English wheat-grower. Here is a supply of 

 wheat capable of feeding 53,000,000 human beings for 

 one year, and, to put it in another light, grown upon eight 

 times the area devoted to this purpose in Great Britain. 

 The total population of the States is 38,115,641, so that 

 they not only are able to feed themselves, but to export a 

 sufficient amount to maintain the population of Great 

 Britain nearly half a year. 



The report of the Entomologist upon Heteroptera or 

 " plant-bugs," contains a large number of illustrations and 

 short descriptions of many species, some of which are 

 injurious, while others, owing to their carnivorous ten- 

 dencies, are beneficial. This information is followed with 

 practical directions for coping with insect pests, which, if 

 not novel, are at least useful In the chemical section 

 Vol. xv,-p-No. 390 



the effect produced by various mineral substances upon 

 trowing vegetables when added to the soil have been 

 demonstrated by Mr. Abram McMurtrie. The deleterious 

 effect of arsenical compounds has been tested upon plants 

 grown in pots, and the results are vividly brought before 

 the reader by illustrations showing the comparative sizes 

 attained by the plants experimented on. The agricul- 

 turist is not as interested in substances detrimental to 

 plant life as in those which produce an opposite effect. 

 The lesson taught by such experiments is, however, 

 exceedingly useful, for there is, no doubt, great room 

 for experiments upon growing plants so placed that the 

 surrounding conditions of soil, air, and water may be 

 regulated with a special purpose in view. 



A considerable section in the middle of the volume 

 is occupied with an account of the sheep exhibited in the 

 Vienna Exhibition of 1873. The information is no doubt 

 highly useful, as it gives the American reader a graphic 

 idea of the various breeds of English and Continental 

 races of sheep. The ample details regarding the Merino 

 sheep are chiefly taken without acknowledgment from a 

 report contributed by Prof. Wrightson to the Journal of 

 the English Agricultural Society, and are therefore 

 familiar to English readers. 



After 150 pages upon "Statistics of Forestry" and 

 varieties of fruit, there is an interesting account of the 

 method of curing forage by ensilage. This process con- 

 sists in burying green fodder in pits {silos) or trenches, and 

 covering it with earth. The process is applied to green 

 maize, rye, rye-grass, rape, red clover, and autumna.l 

 vetches. It is impossible in a short notice like the 

 present, to give a description of the method pursued, but 

 there is no doubt that it is practicable. M. Crevat, after 

 several years' trial, has settled upon pits of the following 

 dimensions. Depth 7*55 feet, length 28'25 feet at the 

 surface of the ground, sloping down to 24*28 feet on the 

 bottom J breadth 8"53 feet at the top, and 6*56 feet at the 

 bottom. Each pit has a capacity of about 1,41 2f cubic 

 feet, and appears capable of holding about loj^ tons of 

 green fodder. There appear to be many modifications 

 of the process, some farmers partially drying the fodder 

 before pitting it, while others prefer pitting it fresh. 

 Contrary as this may appear to our usual system of 

 carefully drying hay before carting it, the general 

 adoption of this method of storing fodder in many conti- 

 nental countries proves that green fodder may be preserved 

 if firmly trodden down so as to exclude the air. The 

 same plan succeeds admirably with sugar-beet pulp 

 which may be kept in pits for any length of time. English 

 farmers preserve brewers' grains by trampling them firmly 

 into large vats, and, at the same time, sprinkling salt 

 among them. Salt is also frequently employed in the pro- 

 cess of ensilage, or making sour hay, but as often the pro- 

 cess is completed without its assistance. The report of 

 the Commissioner certainly throws light upon the subject, 

 which we think deserves the attention of English agricul- 

 turists, and especially of colonists. 



The general interest in scientific agriculture is remark- 

 ably evinced in America by the large number of agricul- 

 tural colleges. There are no fewer than thirty-nine agri- 

 cultural and mechanical colleges attended by 3,703 stu- 

 dents and taught by 463 professors. When it is remembered 

 that the total population of the States is only fractionally 



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