(8) 



until it attains an almost fabulous fertility ; nor is this all. The 

 amount of hay produced from a single acre can be increased almost 

 to any extent by the application of stimulating manures. If then, 

 land in Europe can produce five tons of hay per acre, and sell for 

 $1,000 per acre, why cannot Tennessee lands, far better naturally, 

 and in a more genial climate, be made to rival these results ? One 

 thing only prevents, and that is the fatal apathy and want of enter- 

 prise on the part of the land owners. It is the thirst for immediate 

 returns. To create this state of tillage, it will be necessary to pro- 

 ceed slowly, and look f r no returns of consequence for one or two 

 years. Pressing necessities weigh upon the farmer, and he thought- 

 lessly drives on in the same interminable furrow, regardless of the 

 loss of time and fertility. The Northern husbandman bales his 

 hay, and is able to ship it to all parts of the South in search of a 

 market, and after paying heavy railroad charges, is still able .to 

 sell his produce at a remunerative price. The Southern man has 

 no freight charges to tax his hay, and yet he is content to let his 

 Northern rival enjoy, without competition, this great market. 

 When will our eyes be opened to our interests, is a question often 

 asked, but difficult to answer. 



A capitalist invests his money in United States bonds, and 

 without risk or labor contentedly cuts off his coupons and enjoys 

 his ease, while the merchant, with the same capital, is harrassed to 

 death meeting bills, collecting accounts, and watching with unceas- 

 ing vigilance the turn of the markets. So it is with farmers. A 

 prudent farmer will invest his farm- capital in grass, and he con- 

 tentedly watches the growth of the grass and the browsing of his 

 cattle, while his neighbor raising corn and cotton, is busy all the 

 year in cultivating his crops, watching his laborers, buying mules, 

 bacon and hay from his more prudent friend, and when he counts 

 his receipts at the end of the struggle, he will find his neighbor has 

 absorbed the greater part of them. Not only this, but a stranger 

 appears in the country desirous of investing in land, and while he 

 would turn from the cotton plantation at ten or twelve dollars per 

 acre, he would gladly invest in the grass farm at forty or fifty doll- 

 ars per acre. 



Land that will yield ten or fifteen dollars per acre clear of the 

 expense of cultivation, cannot be supposed, and is not entitled to 

 the same value with land that will produce thirty or forty dollars 



