488 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



leading state in the production of wool. At the present time it still 

 leads among the states outside of the ranching regions. Its rank is 

 ninth in neat cattle, seventh in swine, and sixth in horses. Associated 

 with its standing in live stock is the corollary fact that in Ohio slaught- 

 ering and meat packing is still the fourth industry, while in the whole 

 country it ranks ninth in dairy products, and in the gross value of 

 agricultural products it is third in the union. 



The trend of scientific agriculture arising from the work of our 

 colleges and from the federal department of agriculture indicates that 

 there will be greater diversity in products as well as more stability in 

 yield. The present marvelous output of the Mississippi basin is bound 

 to be greatly increased. With the prospect of new markets through 

 shorter hauls made possible by the Panama Canal route, and the im- 

 provement of waterways, supplementing the inadequate railroad facili- 

 ties to New Orleans and other gulf ports, the Ohio Elver states will be 

 stimulated as never before. The probable diversion of trade from the 

 present great shipping ports on the Atlantic does not necessarily imply 

 shrinkage in their business; it means a compliance with physiographic 

 conditions that naturally divides the output of this great agricultural 

 region, between the gulf and the ocean. A large part of the great in- 

 terior looks to the gulf; geographically, it is a mediterranean country; 

 such was its geologic origin. Its natural affiliations were aborted when 

 the French were supplanted by the British. The history of commerce, 

 the world over, shows how adjustments are inevitable so long as scien- 

 tific progress is made in farming and manufacturing, and in transpor- 

 tation itself. 



From the standpoint of agriculture, however, still another factor 

 will be conspicuously influential before many years. Immigrants to 

 this country in recent times have largely increased our urban population 

 where employment without capital is found, chiefly in the manufac- 

 turing centers. A large percentage of these immigrants are farmers in 

 training, and, as they accumulate money, they gravitate to the country. 

 In the east especially these provident foreigners find no trouble in ac- 

 quiring land because the natives are glad to get out of the country and 

 into villages or cities, preferring to take their chances on earning as 

 good a living there as they were accustomed to on the farm. The de- 

 serted farms in the east do not attest a serious impairment of the soil ; 

 they indicate an incapacity on the part of the original farmer to adjust 

 himself to changing conditions in agriculture. 



In nearly all parts of Ohio one may find holdings which afforded the 

 original farmers a very doubtful living now yielding a constant profit 

 under the tillage of immigrants. European methods of agriculture 

 combined with ability to reef expenses to the vacillations of income 

 make them successful. During the decade 1890-1900 the average 



