62 



PPTiy the East cannot compete with the West. Vol. XI. 



Why the East cannot Compete Avith 

 the West. 



By Col. T. J. Carmichael, Sing Sing. 



Having spent my early life in the State 

 of Ohio, where the farmer suffered so much 

 for want of a market, before the days of 

 steamboats, canals, and railroads, and wit- 

 nessed the immense change which these in- 

 ventions and improvements have made in 

 the wealth and prosperity of the West, by 

 affording a ready market for the lighter and 

 most valuable products of the soil, I confess 

 I was surprised on taking up my residence 

 on the North river, to find the farmers here 

 trying to compete with the great West in 

 the same products, instead of turning their 

 attention to the more bulky and perishable 

 articles, for which they have a good market, 

 and against which they may defy all West- 

 ern competition. 



Now let us try my position mathemati- 

 cally. And for that purpose, give a farmer 

 on the Hudson river one hundred acres of 

 the best arable land, at a cost of one hundred 

 dollars per acre, and a Western farmer, say 

 in Wisconsin, the same quantity at five dol- 

 lars per acre — which is a full price for ara- 

 ble lands in that country under improve- 

 ment. Now let each farm be located within 

 the same distance from navigation, and al- 

 low the expenses of seeding and gathering 

 of crops to be the same, and let the whole 

 premises east and west be put into wheat. 



First, the eastern farmer must manure at 

 an expense of at least $5 per acre, and if he 

 is very fortunate he may raise 25 bushels 

 per acre, or 2,.500 bushels in all. This is 

 good for 500 barrels of flour. Take flour at 

 Is per barrel, and he has $2,500. Now de- 

 duct ten cents per barrel for transportation, 

 $50. Now deduct the interest of cost of 

 one hundred acres $700, and manuring 

 $500, and you have $1,250. 



Now let us look at the operations of the 

 western farmer, who with the same labour, 

 minus manuring, is .sure of an average of 

 thirty bushels per acre — say 3,000 — which 

 is equal to 600 barrels of flour ; deduct $1 

 per barrel for freight, and at the same price 

 in market he has $2,400; deduct interest on 

 the cost of land $35, and he has $2,365 ; 

 now deduct the proceeds of the eastern 

 farm, $1,250, from that of the west, $2,365, 

 and you have $1,115 balance in favour of 

 the western farmer, nearly the entire pro- 

 ceeds of the eastern farm. Our eastern 

 farmer asks then what shall we do? Our 

 fathers used to make fortunes in raising 

 grain! It is answered that your fathers 

 lived in another age of the world, and were 

 governed by circumstances; you see the 



progress of the means of transportation — 

 you see the enormous growth of the west — 

 you feel the competition of that quarter in 

 the lighter articles — you also see the high 

 prices of bulky and perishable products in 

 your market, without taking the advantage j 

 of such a state of things. By perishable ( 

 products, I mean potatoes, turnips, beets, I 

 carrots, cabbage, fruit, and all other vegeta- 

 bles — together with fresh beef, mutton, 

 pork, &c. 



Now let us cultivate a farm on the North I 

 river, with some of these articles, all of 

 which are about equally profitable. Sup- 

 pose the same farmer should plant 50 acres 

 in potatoes, and the same number in turnips, 

 after manuring as for wheat. The potatoe 

 should produce 200 bushels per acre, 10,000* 

 bushels. These at three bushels to the bar- 

 rel, are equal to 3,333 barrels, worth at leastti 

 as many dollars in market, clear of freight.,; 

 Now your fifty acres of turnips should yield! 

 400 bushels per acre, 20,000 bushels, orfi 

 6,666 barrels, worth half a dollar per barreU 

 clear of freight, $3,333; to which add theij 

 crop of potatoes $3,333, and you havei« 

 $6,666. From this sum deduct manuring} 

 and interest $1,200, and the balance iai 

 $5,466 from one hundred acres. 



Now instead of marketing the turnips— ( 

 which are a bulky article — let us adopt the! 

 European practice of purchasing stock in I 

 the interior of the country from the breed- > 

 ers, and fatten it for the market. It haai 

 been demonstrated that sixty bushels of tur-i 

 nips, and six hundred weight of hay properly 

 fed, will fatten ten sheep, or one cow, in the 

 best manner for the shambles, in the space 

 of two months. Sheep and cattle can be 

 purchased in the interior of the country, in, 

 low condition, for half their market value* 

 when fattened. This process here, as welli 

 as abroad, will yield the farmer a liberal in-^ 

 crease. • 



On my late visit to Europe, I found that^ 

 they adapted their business and products toj 

 their locations. In districts at a distancOj 

 from market, they raise grain and breed, 

 stock, while those more convenient turiv; 

 their attention to growing vegetables and, 

 fatting stock; and it is to this practice of, 

 making two professions, viz: fatting andi 

 breeding, that I attribute most of their suc-,j 

 cess. In farming, like every other business,; 

 a man should never have "too many irons i 

 in the fire at once," some of them are liable^ 

 to get burned. He who turns his attention : 

 either to one branch or the other, is the; 

 most likely to come out successful in the; 

 end. Who employs a physician to perform; 

 the duties of a surgeon, or a carpenter to; 

 build a brick or stone wall 1 And with def- ' 



