viii T N T RODUCTION. 



AGRICULTURE IN THE UNITED STATES. 



BY the foregoing table it will be perceived that, in 1860, the agricultural area of the country 

 embraced 163,110,720 acres of IMPROVED LAND, and 244,101,818 acres of Land Unimproved. In 

 other words, for every two acres of improved land there are three acres of land connected therewith 

 not yet under cultivation; while the gross aggregate of uncultivated territory, fertile and waste, 

 swells to 1,466,969,862 acres. 



This fact gives color to the agriculture of the country. Land is abundant and cheap, while 

 labor is scarce and dear. Even in the older-settled States there is much land that can be purchased 

 at extremely low rates; and, by a recent act of Congress known as the Free Homestead law, every 

 citizen of the United States, or any foreigner who shall declare his intention of becoming a citizen, 

 can have a farm of 160 acres without charge. As good land as any in the world is offered to actual 

 settlers on these easy terms. 



Under such circumstances it is evident that the intensive system of agriculture which is practiced 

 in some older and more densely populated countries, where labor is abundant and the land mostly 

 under cultivation, cannot, as a general rule, be profitably adopted at present in this country. It has 

 been said that American agriculture is half a century behind that of Great Britain. In one sense this 

 is, perhaps, true. Our land is not as thoroughly under-drained, manured, and cultivated as that of 

 England, Scotland, or Belgium; but we can, and do now, produce a bushel of wheat at much less cost 

 than the most scientific farmer of England can by the best approved method of cultivation, even if he 

 paid nothing for the use of his land. 



We do not contend for a superficial system of agricu turc. All that we ask is, that those who 

 censure our farmers for not cultivating and enriching their land more thoroughly, should take into 

 consideration the circumstances which have surrounded us. High farming involves high prices. The 

 system of cultivation and manuring which is profitable in Great Britain would not be remunerative in 

 the State of New York, because labor is higher and produce lower ; and the system which is profit 

 able in New York might not be advantageous in Iowa. Au artificial manure that could be profitably 

 used on wheat which brings 82 per bushel, might prove a very unprofitable application where wheat 

 is worth only $1 50 or $1 per busheL In the State of New York, where land is comparatively high 

 and prices good, there are&quot; many instances where 820 to 830 per acre have been expended in under- 

 draining, with great profit. But it docs not fallow that the same expenditure would be advisable in a 

 section where the best of land can be purchased in fee simple for 810 per acre. The same is true of 

 all other improved processes of agriculture. Their adoption is simply a question of profit and loss. 

 Where land is cheap and rich, it wilt not pay to expend much labor and money in making or in 

 purchasing manure. 



But, it may be asked, &quot;Will not the practice of raising crops without manure impoverish the 

 land ?&quot; Certainly it will ; but our hardy pioneers, having enjoyed the cream of the soil as a reward 

 of their enterprise, go into a yet newer country, cut down the original forests, clear up the land, and 

 raise all the grain they can. The money thus obtained is expended in the construction of roads, 

 houses, barns, schoolhouses, churches, and colleges. Smiling villages and populous cities spring up, 

 and in a few years the comforts, convenience, and even luxury of civilization are enjoyed all the 

 result of wealth which has been dug from the soil. Admitting that after all this is effected, the land 

 is not so rich as when first cleared, and that more labor has to be expended in its cultivation, never 

 theless much good has been accomplished. The fact is, this question of impoverishing the soil is not 

 clearly understood. Much has been written on this subject, both in Europe and America; and a 

 leading English agricultural journal, the Mark Lane Express, says: &quot;It has long been our opinion that 

 the grain-exporting power of the United States was likely rather to diminish than to increase under the 



