OP TENNESSEE. 7 



A further comparison would show that the acknowledged 

 superiority of English cattle, sheep and other domestic 

 animals, over those of France, or any other country for 

 that matter, is due more to the superiority in quality and 

 quantity of the meadows and pastures of that wonderful 

 island than to anything else. If we turn our attention to 

 other countries we shall find that the amount and character 

 of grasses grown may always be taken as a measure of the 

 degree of advancement to which their agriculture has 

 reached. It must be borne in mind that this statement holds 

 good only of the cultivated grasses, but of these it is perhaps 

 universally true. 



Under this test the agricultural system of Tennessee falls 

 very low. It is a notable fact, often observed and com- 

 mented upon, that the great leading, dominating error in 

 the farming of Tennessee has been, and is, the putting 

 too much land in corn and oats, and too little in grass. 

 Under this system a very large breadth of the land has been 

 well-nigh ruined. Indeed the damage is so serious that 

 some change has come to be absolutely necessary. Judging 

 from the experience of other countries, the one and only 

 thing capable of redeeming this almost ruined land and 

 saving the farmers from absolute bankruptcy, is grass. 



Fortunately, the climate, soil and geographical locality 

 of Tennessee all combine to render it by nature a grass 

 region. In all the essentials to success in this great branch of 

 agriculture, but few sections of the United States surpass 

 East and Middle Tennessee, while the northern part of 

 West Tennessee is well suited to many grasses. It is not 

 unreasonable to anticipate at no distant day, under an im- 

 proved system of farming, these natural capabilities will be 

 thoroughly and judiciously developed, and where now 

 are only vast wastes and forest wilds, trackless and unculti- 

 vated, rich pastures will bloom and countless cattle roam. l 

 But no such result can come without a radical change in 



