EXHAUSTION OF THE SOIL.

Southland Times, Issue 1263, 10 June 1870, Page 2

EXHAUSTION OF THE SOIL.

• :w" Boston Advertiser.) , ; The wheat crop of 1869, estimated ! at * ,300,000;000 bushelsr, substracted from tjhe soil of ; the country 3,60,000,006 .pounds of mineral matter. The corn crop, estimated at 900#00;000 biishels,,made a substraction of 810,O0O;OOO Ci Ppancis ; total, 17170,000^K50 1^p6un43. 7 T7ntiljfcHis~W[ ireturned to the soil.i it represents; J3ie ' destruction of bo much; capital,^ of so much. st.pek-V-tirade. Of the food material pto--jd^j&f, th)it alone ; "is ' J: frQm r i|he . o po"(|3Jbiiity;i l pf 1 | retttmiig-/its,fertflisih^ 1 Vlemettts;i'fa> : the : borne' isoil- whicli jis exjioTted. . Agrictilinire; accordinglyi-when associated with: ihe Export of food''material, ; becpaies. eminently- and- inevitably a destructive process. The United : States, fromlß24tolß6biexportedsi,oo^ooo,^ worth, of provisions and breadstnffs in "diffieFwords, eirpofted "pyer'a billiorrdclla.. worth of- the" strength* of their, land^' ,a f billion dollars "of the principal, from tjh&; : interest aad^gain of which theyjmustldok. largely for. support. r \ , , .-. ; . I i.. ... , „Th^ resultris^read in, a .deterioratipn ! of jfcpe, soil so^^ raptid^pver an exfent of coxintry sd L vast, that tite ! history bif the world affords iibt the? parallel; In New York

where thirty bushels of wheat per acre were formerly commanded, n 9J^:$ Q ly fourteen are reaHsed^ oMd^"'BSW^(p>ra||i less than twelve^ bushels bjf -wKeat-^F^ acre. The great grain-growing r StaTo^of^ the remoter interior, as, stati4tijßS.- ; aSßiS^; ' us, and as their agribulturj^ .fdiirntf|i£ , deploringly attest, are* rapidly] in. productiveness p^r^acrau X^TSSSsw quei^e the cgltivatpr,^fiadiag ir|j^^^^w failings -pusEes^a.^ to' occupy n©Tf"^nd. Much territory "comparatively recently opened has already .^cS^^hjßjgape of migration, and partial ■Meantime the resources' ot 'the .'country are swallowed up in building- more-rail-roads through which the products of the interior can be more swiftly and jn greater quantities brought to the seaboard to be sent across the ocean. Montreal, Portland, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Norfolk , &c, are straining every, nerve to_ extend 'wider their roads to make ready for the impending torrent of exports. <? " The continuation of -thisj process will inevitably destroy the 'yaliue', of land, of labor, of wages, and • last^ of all the laborer himself, or, if it.dpea : not exterminate him, will atlea3t:expel him. " The nation that begins with exporting raw produce ends, with exporting men." Of course, r as^ Wie jimport,!: we i,aiust export ; but' we ought, jip npiiib p,iiP|elves in a position, to export -something «tse than rawjmaterials. - W«' -iikve this matter in , t)\ir 6wn^ handv a 'fWp .ig^'not obliged, because , we have ';mti'cfergQod o Und, to .cultivate the it;,Monce. We have coal, water-power, .iron* cotton, as well as fertile landr IJpjQLn the basis of these wo should; by a p'e^^enj^dlitipnal policy directed to this, end^'leU^lwhyrast industries; favoring them W may 'b^ required, as England favored hers for generations,' :until wi&^grekt^esftblishments, erected, great capitals accumulated, and ample : forces of skilful workmen created; we can; cdmlie^w'ithiß^n^rld. ' Diversification b]P : 'ulldast^'' |k^ Iff the urgent necessity ,6C the nanonT and the time. ) This will- bringj^he^labj(>rer here to his subsistejicelinsteacl 61 sending sab;sistence across the ocean to the laborer. This will bring into use our vast resources of water-p6wer,ahd c6aK •^U^idd to the 'Value : of ! land ! 4>y: furnishiij|^tocal markets close at hani' TBiS'ralV increase the yalue of all l labo* • bjr dinltmlying its opportamMte,^feM;^ will increase i?age§' by^c^mgeli^ion " amctng ena:p_lpyer^;ijfor helpera. It will relieve us from an important part of that tremendous tax of trinaporfcafion^hich devours lie subs^ace 'W natiolt^tinrpbrt. ing w;hat fhey ; should ;i p'rodu6^ v ftna ex'portirig what they should consume. It "will 'add "an instant an4"enormdus nralue to thbjSe. 'vast \ stored of and metals^, hitherto copparativfely worftless, and -worthless' ,becau»e put to^i^^Jher use, than , to sustain r the surfacejraPithe continent,' and hold- the worlds together. Finally, by a diveKton *bf ' l ca«iM fr? and energy r r it"will put i-af flS^Tto^tae insane fury, that so ldng ; as a fertile acre of land remains unharveßte'd^'n6w i drives' t fls' to it, however remote^ and then raises the cry of railroads ah(3 ! WhipP t5a T nab v tb export its lifeto the ends of the eartK* 1 ""^ ' ""^ However great^may'bS^tTSsnaturdpro"ductivene3s"bf a country,~with"out~Yariety of employment its impoverishment is certain. In the first three years after the passage of the ;Act J of_tTniqn, the export of gVain'frSm-lrela'nd^wW 3(K>,000 quarters, increaseaufo two and a half million at the_end of thirty years, or 22,500,000. bu5he15. -Thus the ftrength of hefiand hasr been^old for cottomand wool, manufaqt^res, w,hic ; h,..she £ ehould have produced "herself, for 'copper, lead, arid irdnj. Which) are-fouddf SboiidSntly within h.er domain.: So $ve fi^d estates of IQjOQQ acres .seitipg. forjfive cen.t,8 v an»cre # the wages 'of 'laborers 'fallen : with " nothing to do'?' afc>lihat, the population on the. edge of ;starta]fao,Br > decreasing one and a .half, -million in ten years, and; even- with- that -decrease 3 i^rdly ceasing- to be, in the : language of the London Times;* -"-nuisance 1 and a curae.'* ' 'Stteh^or sitnilaFwill -be 0 "fiw inevitable fortune^of^ariy country that* -neglects to diversify its industries ; that.attejnpts to get. -its living, from^the- ground. Jalone, leaves unused its coal and water-power, and draws its' supplies of manufactured goods from foreign countries. Turkey tried it^-a country of immense Resources, yielding wool, silk, com/ 1 oil, tobacco, andrall grain'SLin:profusiDn, with coal and iron in abundance, and whole hills of rich carbonate 'df-cdpper, — she tried itp and soon land so fell off in price that an, estate in what had been the ..garden of the..empire^twelve_mileAJauare, sold/or 5000dols; estates near Smvrna seldforsix cents an J acre ; ''wages'^went down to four cents a. da^y.fpr^w.omen^and five" cents 'for f men; "latiiiS J" prdpfietors were ruined, villageso^disaMeared, Mid whole districts .Were depopulated. Just in proportion as a country taking a similar course is civilised, in proportion as its i standard of"liviffg"lsiiTgher < ahd its demand^for elaborated .products more urgent and various, in the same j^jbjportion jvjlli its .eaihaqs.tioni ;< o| -sajture be rapid, and its decline in wealth and power be swift and hopeless. oj i { 1^-