PROOCRESS OF AGRICULTURE. 49

By examining the preceding tables, it will be seen that, notwith- standing the abundance and cheapness of virgin soil, the advantages of climate, the facility of transportation to available markets, and the untrammelled, lightly-taxed, and independent condition of our farmers and planters, the ratio of increase of the agricultural pro- ducts of the United States in the several decennial periods is, in general, far below that of the increment of population, accession of territory, extension of commerce, manufactures, internal improve- ments, and the modern appliances for economizing labor. This ap- parent decadence may be attributed chiefly to the deterioration of the soil in many parts of the older-settled portions of our territory, caused by injudicious culture, a want of a proper regard to the allot- ment and rotation of crops, the increased devotion of labor and capi- tal to manufactures, commerce, and mines, an advance in the rates of wages, as well as in the expense of living, and the augmentation of taxes for the support of paupers and the punishment of crime.

Of all causes most likely to be instrumental in the future develop- ment or retardation of agriculture in this country, probably the in- crease of population is the one to which we should direct our atten- tion with the most watchful interest. As inhabitants multiply, their demands for the produce of the earth for support will annually in- crease, and to meet this demand, a corresponding tillage and applica- tion of labor to the soil, guided by science, intelligence, and modern improvements, must necessarily follow. An experimental farm should be established and conducted under the direction of a well-organized society in every populous county in the United States, the results of which should be widely disseminated, with other agronomic knowl- edge, through public journals and authentic reports; agricultural education should be advanced by the institution of special and ele- mentary schools in the various States; and an effectual plan should be devised for a friendly co-operation of the agricultural societies to prevent jealousies and inspire confidence throughout the land. Our soil should be renovated and maintained in its fertility by an increase of dairy and stock-farms, by means of the manure produced thereon; by the judicious application of lime, gypsum, guano, bone-dust, marl, swamp-muck,&c., as well as by converting the sewage of cities and towns into fertilizing compounds, thereby promoting the health of the inhabitants, and serving the purpose of two ends; stiff and clayey soils should be ameliorated by under-drainage, with the object of rendering them permeable so as to admit moisture and air, which, together, contain the principal elements of vegetable nutrition; light soils should be made more adhesive by the compacting tread of animals in“ folding,“ or the out-door consumption of green forage or root-crops in the field. The best means should be devised for converting grass-lands into tillage, without exhausting the soil, and of returning the same to grass after a certain period in an amended state, or at least without injury. New plants should be adopted into the rotation of crops, either by introducing them from abroad, or by improving those already existing in the country by change of locality, hybridization, or the selection of seed. Vineyards and

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