n. 



THE NATIONAL IGNORANCE OF THE AGRICULTURAL 



INTEREST. 



September, 1851. 



TO general observers, the prosperity of the United States in the - 

 ' great interests of trade, commerce, manufactures, and agricul- 

 ttire, is a matter of every-day remark and .: general assent. Jhe 

 country extends itself from one zone to another, and from one 

 ocean' to another. New States are settled, our own population in- 

 creasesj emigration pours its vast tide upon our shores, new soibJ 

 give abundant harvests, new settlements create a demand for the 

 necessaries and luxuries of life provided by the older cities, and thfl 

 nation exhibits at every census, so unparalleled a growth, and such 

 magnificent resources, that common sense is startled, and only the 

 imagination can keep pace with the probable destinies of the one 

 hundred millions of -Americans that will speak one language, and, 

 we trust, be governed by one constitution, half a century hence. 



As a wise man, who finds his family increasing after the manner 

 %)f the ancient patriarchs, looks about him somewhat anxiously; to 

 find out if there is likely to be bread enough for their subsistence, 

 so a wise statesman, looking at this extraordinary growth of popula- 

 tion, and this jtrospectlve wealth of the country, wUl inquire, nar- 

 rowly, into its productive ppWers. He will desire to know whether 

 the national domain is so managed that it wiU be likely to support 

 the great people that will be ready to live upton it in the next century. 

 He will ' seek to look into the present and the future suflSciently' to 

 ascertain whether our rapid growth and material abundance do not 



