246 



STATISTICS or WHEAT CULTTJEE. 



to the supply of wheat ; the rich staples of the former, and the varied husban- 

 dry and grazing of the latter, suited to supply the immediate -vrants of a manu- 

 facturing population, will be likely to receive their attention in preference, 



Kentucky and Tennessee, though their agricultural history dates back beyond 

 the settlement of the north -western states, have already been out- stripped by at 

 least two of them. In neither of these states has the culture of wheat ever been 

 put forward, and regarded as one of their best staples, or as very favorably 

 adapted to their soil and climate. Still, notwithstanding the formidable danger 

 from rust, the production of Tennessee is estimated to be equal to nine bushels 

 to each person, and Kentucky about seven and a half bushels. Missouri may 

 be classed with Kentucky and Tennessee, which she much resembles in soil, 

 climate, and productions, except that she raises much less wheat than either, 

 her crop being placed by the Commissioner of Patents at only two millions, or 

 less than four bushels to each resident of the state. But, besides that the ex- 

 perience of the past discourages the idea that these fine states are likely to 

 become great wheat producing states, the fact that the staple of cotton may be 

 cultivated over a considerable portion of one of them, and that hemp and tobacco 

 are among the valuable products of the other two ; that Tennessee is the very 

 largest corn-producing state in the Union, showing her soil and climate are par- 

 ticularly adapted to this description of grain, and that Kentucky and Missouri 

 are unsurpassed as gTazing countries, and there is little gi-ound to suppose that 

 any change in their husbandry will very greatly or suddenly augment the pro- 

 duction of v/heat. Let us come now to the States of Indiana, Illinois, "Wiscon- 

 sin, and Iowa, and that fahulous wheat district or territory to the west of these 

 again, from which, according to the vaticinations of some, may be drawn sup- 

 plies of wheat to feed the population of both Europe and America, or fill ware- 

 houses that would sustain our people through a longer famine than that which 

 afiiicted the people of Egypt! 1 cannot help thiiiking that, to some extent, 

 this generally fertile district of country has, so far as the production of wheat is 

 concerned, been " shouted forth in acclamations hyperbolical." My own im- 

 pression in regard to it is, including the states last named, derived in part from 

 observation, from intercourse and correspondence with intelligent agriculturists 

 of these states, and from a careful examination of a geological suryey of two of 

 them, that the soil and climate of this whole district of country are not particu- 

 larly favorable to the production of wheat. The popular idea I know to be 

 otherwise. I am not going to dwell upon it, or to examine the subject at any 

 length. There is a single remark that may help to explain the reputation that 

 has gone abroad in reference lo the wheat-producing qualities of these lands. 

 The prairie sod, when first broken up, generally produces wheat well, often most 

 abundantly, provided it escapes the rust, insect, &c. But, when this ground 

 has been much furrowed, becomes complctel^^ pulverized by exposure to the at- 

 mosphere, the light and friable mould, of which m^st of it is composed, 

 di-enched, as a good deal of it is, at times, with surface water, fails to hold or 

 sustain the roots of the plant, it is thrown out, or winter-killed ; and " winter- 

 killed," " winter-killed," " winter-killed," we all know, is among the catalogue 

 of disasters that almost annually reach us. Sometimes, when escaping the 

 winter, the high winds of spring blow this light soil fi'om the roots, exposing 

 them to such an extent, that, in a dry time in particular, the wheat often pe- 

 rishes. When breaking up fresh prairies, there was much encouragement and 

 promise of hope, but which, I believe, has not been, nor is likely to be, realized 

 by their husbandmen, in the degree that early experiments induced them to 

 look for. 



As appears by the last report of the Commissioner of Patents, the crop of Il- 

 linois, in reference to population and production, is below that of Kentucky, and 

 both Indiana and Illinois are beloAv that of Tennessee. The crop of Indiana is 

 set down at 8,500,000, her population atl,000,000, or equal to 85 bushels a-head. 

 The production of Illinois is stated at 5,400,000, her population at 800,000, or 

 less than seven bushels to each inhabitant --and both these "fair and fertile 

 plains" are still farther behind the old " battered moors" of Maryland and Vir- 

 ginia. 



Much of their wheat, too, is spring wheat, sown often on land where the fall 

 crop had winter-killed, increasing the number of bushels much more than the 



