Agriculture of the United States in 1860

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Excerpt from Agriculture of the United States in 1860: Compiled From the Original Returns of the Eighth Census, Under the Direction of the Secretary of the InteriorBr the foregoing table it will be perceived that, in 1860, the agricultural area Of the country embraced acres of improved land, and acres of Land Unimproved. In other words, for every two acres of improved land there are three acres of land connected therewith not yet under cultivation, while the gross aggregate of uncultivated territory, fertile and waste, swells to acres.This fact gives color to the agriculture of the country. Land is abundant and cheap, while labor is scarce and dear. Even in the older-settled States there is much land that can be purchased at extremely low rates, and, by a recent act of Congress known as the Free Homestead law, every citizen of the United States, or any foreigner who shall declare his intention of becoming a citizen, can have a farm of 160 acres without charge. As good land as any in the world is offered to actual settlers on these easy terms.Under such circumstances it is evident that the intensive system of agriculture which is practiced in some older and more densely populated countries, where labor is abundant and the land mostly under cultivation, cannot, as a general rule, be profitably adopted at present in this country. It has been said that American agriculture is half a century behind that of Great Britain. In one sense this is, perhaps, true. Our land is not as thoroughly under-drained, manured, and cultivated as that of England, Scotland, or Belgium, but we can, and do now, produce a bushel of wheat at much less cost than the most scientific farmer of England can by the best approved method Of cultivation, eren if he paid nothing for the use of his land.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.