USA > Iowa > Lucas County > History of Lucas County, Iowa containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc > Part 54
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Among other influences that have aided in the development of the agri- cultural interests of this country are, first, the inducements which the lib- eral legislation of the general government have afforded from time to time, in its enactments, to encourage the occupation of the great west. However, before the general government lent its aid by its legislative inducements to draw an agricultural emigration westward, the new
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western states, and the railroad companies organized therein, made ear- nest efforts to draw a farming population hither from the over-crowded east and from Europe, through their co-operation in emigrant agencies, and low rates of transportation. Whatever may be said of the railroads of the west, as to their over exactions in the transportation of her products, there is one important benefit which they, more than any other means, have contributed as developers of the vast agricultural interests of the couniry, which gives it its great prominence among the nations of the world, in this relation. What would have been the condition of the great states northwest of the Ohio to the Pacific to-day, had no railroads even trav- ersed their length and breadth? Instead of these great states being able to help feed the people of other nations, as they now do, they would be able to do scarcely more than feed themselves, because the population would be scattered over the vast wild domain in settlements, and with no railroad facilities, it would matter but little how much they produced from the soil, it would avail them nothing beyond their own consumption, they having no means of transportation to market their surplus. But the rail- roads have filled up the great west, with producers of agricultural products, and thus augmented a surplus production, which to-day feeds the hungry people of Ireland at less cost, including the long inland and ocean transportation, than she can produce her own food, under her pres- ent tenantcy system. The high rents demanded by the landlords from the tenantry, together with the great cost of fertilizing the soil every year, to make it productive-from two to three dollars per acre-makes a bushel of grain grown in that country cost the consumer there consider- able more than a bushel does exported from the great West of this country.
While these efforts on the part of the new western states and the rail- road companies, with the liberal scope of the public domain awarded them as subsidies in aid of their important public enterprises, did much to develope the agricultural interests of the west; yet, the great impetus given to western emigration was the enactment of the homestead law of 1862, by which a vast expanse of the finest territory the sun ever shone upon, was thrown open fo the occupation for actual settlers free from the cost of purchase. Prior to this enactment-1841-the general govern- ment had fixed the price of the public domain at the low sum of one dol- lar and a quarter per acre, allowing a pre-emption of a hundred and sixty acre tract to persons who would occupy and cultivate them; thus placing the public lands within the reach of all, as an inducement for their occupa- tion for agricultural purposes. While this liberal enactment produced a wonderful stimulous to emigration, it was slight in comparison to that pro- duced by the enactment of the homestead law.
Subsequent to the Louisiana purchase of 1803; the acquisition of the
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territory from Mexico, as the result of the war with that country in 1847; and the settlement of the boundary dispute between this country and Great Britian, the public domain, outside of the original thirteen states, embraced 1,446,716,072 acres, exclusive of Alaska. From this vast area, all the states and territories since the " original thirteen " have been created. Of this public domain, large grants have been given to railroad companies in aid of their enterprises across it; to soldiers, as bounty for military services; to agricultural colleges, and state universities; for Indian reservations, and other purposes. Adding to these enormous grants, the large mountainous and sterile portions and these states and territories, and yet, their arable scope of land exceeds that of any other nation on the globe. It can but thus be seen, that the pre-emption, and homestead laws created by the general government, were wise and fruitful measures in the development of the great agricultural interests which this country so pre-emmently enjoys to- day.
Another effectual cause which has produced the agricultural thrift of this country, beyond that of any other nation, is found in the fact that those who engage in this industry, own the soil they till. Under the old feudal system, and under the present tenantry system of the old countries, the tillers of the soil are either hired by, or the lessees of its owners, who never enjoy, nor hardly dream of such a thing as proprietorship therein. The fact, that in this country, the labor of the agriculturists is performed by themselves upon their own broad acres, stimulates them with self- interest, and a true consciousness of its dignity. There is no country under the sun, in which the effect of these incentives has been so great, and contributed so largely to the development, and aggrandizement of its agricultural industry, as in the United States.
Co-operation has been another important means for the advancement of our agricultural interests, through the means of societies, fairs, publica- tions, colleges, and finally the bureau of agriculture, under the control of the general government at Washington City. The first organization for the promotion of the agricultural interests of this country was perfected in Philadelphia, in 1784-the " Philadelphia Society for the promotion of Agriculture." The next society was formed in New York in 1791; the next one in Massachusetts in 1792, and a short period later, one was formed in South Carolina. The conception of the work and scope of these socie- ties was quite new at this time, as the formation of similar ones had but recently taken place in the mother land. Their membership was slim, and their practical and efficient working was but slightly comprehended by those who conceived their utility, though much interest was manifested in the subject which they were organized to promote. Washington was among those interested, and while he was president he became a member of the Philadelphia Society. In his correspondence with prominent agri-
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culturists of England, who had been foremost in the organization of societies in that country, he had caught the inspiration, which augmented his efforts in every direction which would promote the agricultural inter- ests of his country. Adams and Jefferson, like Washington, were large and practical farmers, and they suggested to him, at that early day, the idea of the formation of a national organization, established and fostered by the general government. But Washington conceived the organization of smaller and local societies as a prerequisite to larger ones, which idea prevailed. The first incorporated local society was formed in Augusta, Maine, in 1800, which was then in the State of Massachusetts. However, an unincorporated-a voluntary society of the husbandmen of Middlesex county, Massachusetts, was organized as early as 1794, and was incorpo- rated in 1803. These organizations-county, district and state-continued to be formed, though slowly, and with no very prolific results, during most of the first half of the present century. However, from about 1840 to 1850, the organization of county and state societies was rapid, and much interest was manifested in their work; and since the latter date, their for- mations have been so general, that there is now scarcely a county in all the agricultural portions of the United States in which they do not exist.
The first "fair" held in this country by an agricultural society, was in Washington City, the national capital, in 1804, through the suggestion of the commissioner of patents, and under the control of the municipal authori- ties of that place. This had its effect-created a stimulous among the farmers of that day and section of the country; so much so, that the next year premiums were offered to the amount of one hundred dollars, for the best products of the soil, and best live stock. Massachusetts followed next with a fair held at Brighton, in 1816, at which premiums were awarded, and a plowing match, with oxen, enlivened the occasion. Annual fairs soon became quite a general feature of the agricultural societies of the country, and since 1850 they have been, and are, the leading feature of them, at which the farmers and citizens come together with their produc- tions, where comparisons are made, an interchange of ideas are had, and experiences are given as to this or that result, all of which are valuable in inciting emulation and suggesting new ideas through which improve- ments may be made, and their industry thereby became more profitable.
During the past fifty years there have been formed societies throughout the country in the interest, and for the special advancement of various branches of our great agricultural industry. Among these are horticul- tural societies, the first of which was organized in 1829; pomological societies; dairymen's societies; wool grower's, cattle and horse breeding societies; poultry and bee-keeper's associations, and others of similar char- acter have grown into existence, very generally within the past thirty years, and have accomplished much in the development of those special
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interests for which they were formed, by enlightening those devoted to them, as to the best methods to be observed in their operations. All these have added largely to the intelligence and dignity of the general agricul- tural industry of the country. The statistical records of the agricultural department at Washington show, that in 1868 there were nearly fourteen hundred of these organizations in existence.throughout the country; and since which time the number has largely increased, as the newer portions of the country have developed and given room for them.
Another organization in the interest of the husbandman, formed in 1867, was that of the "Patrons of Husbandry," otherwise known as the " Grangers." This organization was the conception of an educated Scotchman, William Saunders, who had charge of the gardens and con- servatories of the agricultural department at Washington, and from whom the writer learned the facts which gave existance to this movement. After the war a large majority of the farmers of the west found them- selves embarrassed in one way and another, which had involved their farms, and caused the outlook of prosperity to be overclouded with gloom. The remunerating profits derived from the products of their farms, as the wages of their toil, were meager and discouraging, the main cause of which, they attributed to the unjust and burdensome exactions of the rail- road companies in their charges for the transportation of their produce to market. Mr. Saunders, understanding the power of organization already illustrated in various forms, conceived the idea that the agriculturists of the country, especially of the great west, might alleviate their embar- rassment in a great degree, and protect themselves from increasing hard- ships in this respect, by an organization somewhat similar to those of the Masons and Odd Fellows. The result was an association, which the pro- jectors called the "Patrons of Husbandry," each organization being termed a " grange." A national grange was organized at Washington City, in December, 1867, with William Saunders as its Master, and through that, others were formed, though slowly at first, until in 1874, the number of granges reached eleven thousand, including several state granges; ånd at the close of 1875, the total number throughout the country reached some thirty thousand, with a membership of about 2,500,- 000! This was its climax. The announced objects of this secret order were for the development of a higher social and intellectual culture among the agricultural and producing classes of the country; through music and the dissemination of a class of literature, instructive in the line of their pursuits, and cultivating in the higher and broader sphere of gen- eral culture. These advantages were introduced into the granges, of which the wives of the members were admitted members, and doubtless did much to develop the higher tastes and dignify their pursuit. Another object of the grange was to do away with the services of middle-men in
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both buying and selling the products of their industry. This was, to quite a large extent, accomplished through agencies of their own to deal directly with shippers and other legitimate purchasers, thereby real- izing better prices for their products. Similar co-operation, in other directions, was resorted to, through which the farmers purchased their household effects, farming implements and machinery, and merchandise, at a large saving to them, which soon increased their profits, paid their debts, and placed them in a more prosperous condition than before.
But there seemed another drawback to the prosperity of the western farmers, of which they complain bitterly, and which, in 1873, brought the grangers of Iowa, as in some other western states, to the front, demand- ing protection, through legislative enactment, against the excessive burdens which was claimed the railroad companies were imposing upon them, not only in the exorbitant rates which they exacted for the trans- portation of their products to market; but, also, because of the dis- crimination of the railroads against them, as local shippers, in favor of middle-men as through shippers. While they did not enter the political arena openly, they concentrated their influence and strength upon candidates for the legislature who would subserve their interests in the enactment of legislation which would regulate these grievous exactions of the railroads-restrict them to rates of transportion more favorable to the direct farming interest. In this they succeeded in Iowa, as they did also in Wisconsin and Illinois. This legislation was resisted by the railroads upon the grounds of its unconstitutionality; that it inter- fered with their vested charter rights, and thus took from them the con- trol of their private property. These questions were taken into the state courts, and from thence into the United States courts, and they were finally decided by the supreme court of the United States, in 1876, in a test case taken from, and based upon the Wisconsin " granger law," which affirmed the constitutionality of these laws, and the right of the states to control the railroads constructed and operating within their limits, as public beneficiaries. This settled the status of railroads, as common carriers, in this country, and fully defined their relations and obligations to the public. The effect of this decision was, doubtless, healthful, because it settled an agitation; it restored the state to the confi- dence of capital, in whatever direction it might seek investment. It gave a fresh impetus in the comstruction of railroads, which are more powerful agencies in the regulating and reducing the rates of charges for trans- portation, by way of competition, than all legislative enactments. Besides, the moral effect of this decision upon the railroad interests was conducive of good; it brought into subjection a somewhat arrogant spirit of inde- pendence, begotten of corporate power and capital, through which the agricultural interests of the west can demand concessions, when this
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power of independence becomes oppressive, knowing that they are sup- ported by the edict of the highest judicial tribunal in the land. .
Among other influences which have done much to develop and dignify the agricultural interests of this country, are its schools, its literature, and the agricultural bureau of the general government.
It has been thoroughly demonstrated that agriculture is a science, to a greater or less extent, as much as any other industry. This proposition being true, education in the science of agriculture, is as important as any other branch of human effort. As noted farther back in this chapter, the farmer, until shortly prior to the present century, regarded agriculture as scarcely more than the gathering, for human necessity, whatever the soil would yield him through its natural forces. The questions which enter vegetable production - soil, vegetation, weather, chemistry, etc .- had never been studied by him, questions of vital importance to his pur- suit. Neither observation nor experience had given him much insight into it; and much less had the light of science illumined the course of his toil. However, the latter glimmered faintly in this country for nearly a century before the American agriculturists were led to see the import- tance of its application to their great industry-the basis of all others- and to provide methods through which it might award them grand results. And, too, the old world was but slightly in advance of the new, in this respect. But, finally, these methods came, through a system of special educational advantages offered by agricultural schools; and, out- . side of Germany, this country is unequalled to-day in the superior advan- tages, and grand results which these educational means have produced.
The first agricultural schools established in Europe were in 1799. Two were in Germany - one at Celle, in Hanover, the other at Kruman, Bohemia; and one in Switzerland, near Berne. In 1811, the foundation of such a school was formed in Saxony, which in 1830, became an agricul- tural college. The greatest of these schools in Europe was formed in 1818, at Hohenhiem, near Stuttgart; and another of similar character was established in Pomerania, in 1835. There are now about one hundred and fifty schools and colleges devoted to the interests of agriculture, in Germany alone; while there are but two of any importance in Great Britain - one at Circucester, founded in 1840, and at Dublin, of later existence. France has one agricultural college at Versailles, besides a number of smaller schools in various portions of the republic.
In the United States, the first agricultural school was established in 1844, in connection with the Oberlin College, Ohio; and in 1855, an independent agricultural college was established at Cleveland, Ohio, to which the agri- cultural endowment was transferred from Oberlin. A chair of agriculture was established in the University of Georgia, which was supported by a per-
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sonal bequest of $20,000. An agricultural department was attached to Amherst College by the state of Massachusetts, in 1855. However, in 1852, a charter was obtained for the establishment of an independent agri- cultural college which was to be endowed with funds donated by towns, counties and individuals. The organization was made in 1855, and in 1860, the institution was placed in operation, but the war caused it to close after a brief period of operation. Michigan was the first to establish, and continue in actual operation, an independent state agricultural college through legislative enactment, and under state control; connected with it is a farm of 676 acres. The total cost of this institution to the state was $109,000, which went into operation in 1857. In 1859, a "farmers' high school of Pennsylvania" was established in Center county of that state, and in 1862, its name was changed to the Agricultural College of Penn- sylvania. In 1858, Iowa took the first step in establishing her state agri- cultural college, and got it in operation in 1859, on a moderate scale with the moderate legislative appropriation of $10,000. Subsequent state appropriations for buildings and other purposes, together with a congres- sional grant of 180,000 acres of land were made, which has enabled the insti- tution to become one of the first in the country. In 1862, congress granted to each state, 30,000 acres of public land for each representative in con- gress, for the maintenance of agricultural and mechanical colleges. Up to 1876, all the states except Nevada, had accepted this grant; and where a state agricultural college or other industrial school already existed, it was the recipient of it. In other states, agricultural departments were estab- lisehd in connection with their state universities, as in Kentucky, and New York, at Cornell; though in the former case, the grant was subsequently separated from the university, and the state purchased "Ashland," the historic home and farm of Henry Clay, near Lexington, on which a sepa- rate school was opened in 1866. In other states where no institution already existed to which such school could be connected, colleges were directly established which availed themselves of this grant which was so generously made for the benefit of agriculture in its highest interests. In the centennial year, 1876, there were forty-one of these industrial colleges in the United States, with 463 professors, and 3,703 students. Since then the attendance at these schools has largely increased, and the benefits which the agricultural interests of this country have derived from them, in disseminating broader ideas, and a higher culture in the science of this industry; and adding dignity to the labor which engage the millions toiling in its pursuit.
While the agricultural literature of the country has done much to advance the interests of this great industry, it has not been the exclusive cause of the wonderful development of agricultural science. This litera- ture was rather an outgrowth of that development. In fact this country
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had but very little of this class of literature until about 1830. However, about the middle of the last century, Jared Eliot, of Connecticut, published several papers relating to the condition of husbandry in this country, which were valuable to his generation; but they had a limited circulation. Also the first agricultural societies of the country, those of Philadelphia, Massachusetts, and New York, published their transactions, which were valuable for their time. Those of Massachusetts were published in 1796. The first purely agricultural periodical, published in the United States, was the American Farmer, started in Baltimore in 1819, and which became widely circulated, and led the way to the very beneficial achieve- ments which this class of literature has since accomplished among the agriculturists of this country. It has well-nigh, if not quite dispelled the early day and crude idea that " book-farming" was a fiction, that science had nothing to do with it. The Agricultural Intelligencer soon followed from Boston, but its existence was brief. However, in 1822, a new vent- ure took place-the New England Farmer-which has been successfully continued to the present day; though in 1846, it was revived from a tem- porary death, and appeared in weekly and monthly editions. Soon after this New England publication was under way, the New York Farmer made its appearance, in 1831, Luther Tucker, an old and widely known producer of agricultural literature, started the Genesee Farmer, at Roches- ter, New York, which became a widely circulated and valuable period- ical to the farmers of the country. In 1833 the Cultivator was founded at Albany, New York, by Judge Buel, which lived until 1839, when it was consolidated with the old Genesee Farmer. The present widely circulated and influential American Agriculturist was founded in 1842, and to-day is the leading periodical of the country, devoted to its gen- eral agricultural interests. Among the other agricultural publications of the United States, are the Maine Farmer; the Rural New Yorker, founded, and for a number of its first years, published at Rochester, New York, and now exists in New York city; the Country Gentleman; the Ohio Farmer; the Michigan Farmer; the Wisconsin Farmer; the Northwestern Farmer; the Prairie Farmer; the Western Rural; besides in this state are the Iowa Homestead, the Western Farmer and Stock fournal, and others of similar character.
Thus it will be seen that the agricultural interests of this country could not otherwise than have been greatly promoted through the intellegence and advanced ideas which its periodical literature has disseminated among those engaged and interested in this industry. Besides, during the past fifty years a large number of books have been written upon various agri- cultural topics, both general and special. Among the earliest of this class of writers in this country, was Andrew Jackson Downing-who was widely known in this relation as "Jack Downing,"-who contributed
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