No. 144.] 237 



old Dutchess — the banner county of New- York. She once pro- 

 duced an average of thirty or forty bushels of wheat per acre ; 

 she now produces less than sixteen. Look at the Mohawk and 

 Genesee valleys, and the same deterioration will be discovered. 

 The same may be seen in many parts of Ohio, and in the oldest set 

 tied portions of the once called " inexhaustible" far West. Mas- 

 sachusetts, though adding 300,000 acres to her improved lands, 

 decreased in ten years 12 per cent in her hay crop, 600,000 bush- 

 els in her wheat, 160,000 sheep and 17,000 swine, and increased 

 but slightly in her neat cattle. New-York in five years added to 

 her cleared land 671,692 acres, and shows a decrease of 



Horses,.... 58,141 



Milch cows, 68,066 



Other cattle, 127,525 



Sheep, 2,090,624 



Swine,...., 566,092 



Potatoes, bushels, 7,255,066 



Peas and beans, bushels, 1,182,054 



Flax, lbs., 1,956,485 



Wool, « 3,793,527 



Wheat, bushels, 270,724 



Buckwheat," 450,724 



While the increase of other products was only in proportion to 

 the increase of population. Kentucky and Tennessee have de- 

 creased in their production of cattle and horses. It is estimated 

 that the river bottoms of Indiana have decreased 33 per cent, in 

 productive capacity, and in many parts of Wisconsin the average 

 yield of wheat is but half what it was twelve years ago. These 

 instances might be multiplied, but it is unnecessary. The fact 

 that we are becoming less and less able to raise maximum crops 

 is too evident to be disregarded, and true political economy ren- 

 ders it necessary for us to arrest our downw^ard progress. This 

 requires us to improve our system of manuring. We must re- 

 turn to the soil everything that we remove from it, or else the 

 balance of trade will be against us. Until we do this it is worse 

 than useless to urge deep plowing, subsoiling, under-draining or 



