Agricultural Depression And Its Causes

The agricultural department report contalns the following valuable ideas: Tlure is ahnost universal complaint nmotig fürtners of all uations of tlie prevalence ol low prices. The auricultural depresslon of Great Brtan lias probalily been more severe titan that of any otlier nation. A potent cause in tbis c:i-c [a the competltlOD froni all parta of the world unrelieved by any taxation of Import. Fnnceand Gennany are somewhat disturbed by similar complaints of iinreimiiicrative rural indii9try. Italy lias iilso bad occasion to make official investigHtton of the causes of agricultural depn-ssloD. Other countries are vocal witli similar cries of dissatisfaction witii the próoecds of BLrlcalturol hibor. So the tiouble appears to be general in monaichiea and república, wbether the monetary circuiation is gold or3i)ver or paper, and under the Inlluence of various and diverse ecoDomlc Systems. Not all countries are in the same depths of distress. In ours farmers and farm laborera are doubtless better fed and clotïied, able to maintain a higher style of livinr, and en.Ioy more of the biincfits of civillzation and culture than tbose of any other country. It may be -nul uil h absolute trutb that in thirty years the seale of living bas atlvanced Immensely in this country, not equally in all x'c-iioiii!, but manifesth' everylicic. 'lliere is a tendeney to extravagai.ee in town life that bas been Imlteted in rural tíreles, and the natural ambition t'.ir progretf and precedenee, wben generally aroused, will express itself in dissatiafaclion with prevalling conditions and a determination to overpower all obstacles to ailvuncemeut. This is a bopeful sifrn. It is an Indlcation of conscious dipnity. It is a propbeey of progresa. VTliili. lliertforp. our own rountrv foela the elVect of agricultura] depression less than al most my other in the world, tbe reüuctlon In prfces of most staplep, and in dom es tic animáis and tlieir producís, torces i dieafireeable comparison wiih agrlcultural values at their higliest, compela reduced expendlture to keep outj;o subordínate to income, increases the nmnher of iinforttinul.es who cannot malie "both enüs meet," and reduces tbe profits of tbe enterprlsing and skillful Wbo are still able to strike a balance in their favor, Iiutrenclimeut is not an ngreeable alternatlve, and is therefore ilcl:iyi;l until it-s compulsión isimperative and perhaps destructive. "The times" are universally regarded as "hard ' in comparison witli more prosperous eras of tbe past. JU matters not that the prices of Implemente, utensils, nnd fabrics, of goods desired by the farmer, have been reduced proportionately ; bis Interest account, if he luis ono, is unreduced, and liis mortguge is a greater burden to lift. He sigbs tor the ood old days of high prlees, thougli they my have been war or fatnine prices, necessarlly temporary, and tliough thcy inny have been the source of extravagant view?, unnecessary expenditnre, and the loundation of hls present indebtedne.-8. Heanaturally resents and deplores low valuation of farm product. Wbat are the causes of low prices? They raay be yarious, but the prime cause is the operatiou of the inexorable law Of BUpply and demand. Abundance leuds inevit'ably to low prices ; scarcity to higli prices. Wilh eitber there is lluctuation, a see-saw of jirlces wliich iucreases cost and reduce3 proflts. Medium and uniform values are therefore best for tbe farmer. There bas been an increase of production in this country even more rupld than tbe increment of populution. America has long been tbc synonym of plethora. Her oeoile nrob.ibly consume more than those of any otlier nation, and have a larger surplus for foreign needs. Immigrtitlon bas been heavy and unrestrlctcd; rallroad building has been stimulated until an empire of new and productive lands lias been opened ; and these lands have been given ad libitum to settlers of natlve or foreign birth. Speculütioii flrst, and proper utillsation afterwards, liave been the motive for settlement and development which have nstonished the world and caused overproductlon and low prices. The followlog statement shows the increase in thiity years in certain products of the farm, as reported by the census: Products, 1819. 1859. Corn bushels. .592,071,101 838,792,742 Wheat lo 100.4W.U 173101,924 Oats do 146,64,179 172,648,181 Pottitoes do 05,797,899 111,148.887 Cotton bales.. 2,469,093 6,887,0112 Hay tons . . 13,838,042 19,083,89 Products. 1809. 1879. Corn bushels 760,94l,rl9 1,7)1,51)1,076 Wheut ilo 287,745,696 459,488181 Oats do 382,107,157 4O7.8S8.999 Potatoes do 1 18,337.478 169.45889 Cotlon bales.. 8,011,998 5,756.859 Hay tons.. 27,31(i,0l8 33,150,711 If wo extend the comparison to the present date, we flnd that the corn erop exceeds 2.000,000,000 bushels, wheat approximates 500,000,000, oat-s exceed 700,000,000, and hay and potatoes have increased in similar proportion. While the product may be thrce or four times as large, the population Í8 k-ss than three times as much, thougli tlie proportion of wotkers engaged In Rgrlculture was laijrer thau now. During the forty years from 1S50 to the present time the cotton product increased from a little over 2,000,000 bales to more llian 7,000,000 bales. Cattle have irjereased very rapldly: cows from between 6,000,000 and 7,000,000 to about 10,000,000, other cattlo from scarcely 12,000,000 to more than 3G,000,000. VVhile sheep havo doubled in n timbera (he wool production has quadrupled. Wliile the milch cows are almost tliree times ns mauy tlieir average rate of yield of milk lias probably doubled. The improvetnent of other cattle through breeding and feeding, has reduced the time required for maturity and increased the vreight of carcasa to such an extent that the ainount of beef produced annually in proiortion to numbers of animáis kept is immensely increised. ltelative numbero, ín comparlson with the past, In all kinds of domcstic animáis, have far less significance than Improvement in weight and qualitj', in thriftiness and early maturity. It ís difficult to forcé a market abroacl for a surplus of any product. Kvery nation Is seeUIng to produce its own food, and as far as possiblo its raw inaterials for extensión in all fonns of industrial production. The instinct of self-preservation compels the adoption of such a policy. Th Is furnishes the motive for the corn laws of France and Germany and othor continental countries, and the laws of European naiiona prohibiting the introduction of our pork producís. We cannot sell our crops abroad, as a rule, except to 1111 the gaps in supply that are made by bad seasons or o'.her results of the inevitable or inexorable. When Senator Stimner once proposed to levy an export tax of 20 cents per pound on tobáceo and compel a tribute from fereigner, he was soon convinced by practical tobáceo men, that its only effect would be to destroy our exportation, and he at once abandoned the idea. The amount rown In Europe and the quantity Imported are both reguluted by governmental control there, and never by government or growers here, and under tbe Infliience of this regulatlon the proportion of our erop exported is di'clininir, being reduced slightly bi;low onehalf, and nothing that our fgovetninent orgfroweTfl can do will change thls fact. SUoulil President Hurrison follow the rule of seniority. lie wou UI appoint Hiijjadier Nelson lï. Miles n major geil' eral to succeed the late General Gteorge Crook, the conqueror of tiie Apaches. General Nelson A. Miles was born at Wachusittsvllle, Mass., August 8th, i8;!i). He entered the volunteer service :s :i lieutenant of the Twcnty-Second Massachusetts Volunteers in October, 1801. He distinguished himself at. Fair Ortka and at Malvern Junction; became adjutant general of a brigade, nnd was nppointtd colonel of the Öixty-First New York Volunteers. September 20th, 18(52, and commanded the regiment at Fredericksburjr. He was si-verely wouiuled at Chanceliorsville. He was made brigadier-general Muy 12th, 1804, and distinguished him-eif In the Itichmoud campnlga of thHt year. He was made a colonel in the recular nriny, commandins the 40th Inf.intry, U. S. A., July 38th, 18(G; was transferred to the 5th infantry ilurch ötli, 18(!9, and was comnii8sloned brevet brigadier and brevet major-jreneral, U. S. A., Marcli Sd, 1867. In December, 18S0, he was made a full brigadier general. It is thought tliat it wil! p;i_y fiin.crs to save thelr rye straw this year. A moderate me of insect powder and paris green wlll def-tmy all tliu Iniects that niest the fruit trees and orchards. Farmers and giirdners will resort to tlieir use more than ever this spring. Xow ig a good time to look after the sparrows aroiind your prctnlreS. Tliey are buüdiDji tlieir "netits. It will be miicli easler to got rld of the multipliciiy of this season's erop by destroying" the nests before the e'gs are hatched. One of our exchanges is rcsponsible for tiie statement that a Livinrston couiity gehool ma'am ata receñí teachers' examination said: The days are longer in June than in December becanse it l wanner in gummer than in winter and heat expands and cold contracts.