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The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom by P. L. Simmonds

P >> P. L. Simmonds >> The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom




As appears by the last report of the Commissioner of Patents, the
crop of Illinois, in reference to population and production, is
below that of Kentucky, and both Indiana and Illinois are below that
of Tennessee. The crop of Indiana is set down at 8,300,000, her
population at 1,000,000, or equal to 81/2 bushels a-head. The
production of Illinois is stated at 5,400,000, her population at
800,000, or less than seven bushels to each inhabitant--and both
these "fair and fertile plains" are still farther behind the old
"battered moors" of Maryland and Virginia.

Much of their wheat, too, is spring wheat, sown often on land where
the fall crop had winter-killed, increasing the number of bushels
much more than the value of the crop. I have heard it estimated
that full one-third of all the wheat shipped from Chicago was of
this description. Chicago is their great wheat depot. Several
millions of bushels are shipped from this point, _the contributions
from parts of three States_, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Illinois; and
which concentration of their joint product at this new western city,
or something else, seems to have imparted to each and all these
states the reputation of great wheat-growing states, though they
are, in fact, with the advantage of a virgin soil, behind several of
the western states, and two at least of the eastern or Atlantic
States. The geological explorations of the Hon. Robert Dale Owen,
undertaken under the authority of Congress, throws much light on the
character of the soil of Wisconsin and Iowa, and the description
given undoubtedly characterizes much of that region of country. The
specific gravity of the soil, Mr. Owen states to be remarkably
_light_; but what he represents to be a "striking feature in the
character of the Iowa and Wisconsin soils, is the _entire absence,
in the most of the specimens of clay, and in a large proportion of
silex_." Again, he speaks of their being particularly adapted to the
growth of the sugar-beet, which he truly says, "flourishes best in a
_loose fertile mould_." Again, he detected no phosphates; but they
might be there, as the _virgin_ soil produced good wheat. So does
the virgin soil of most of the prairie land.--"The soil was rich in
geine," &c. But I submit that this does not describe a wheat soil,
hardly in any one particular. Liebig tells us, that "however great
the proportion of _humus_ in a soil, it does not necessarily follow
it will produce wheat"--and cites the country of Brazil.

Again, he adds, "how does it happen that wheat does not flourish on
a sandy soil (which much of the soil of these states is described to
be), and that a calcareous soil is also unsuitable to its growth,
unless it be mixed with a considerable quantity of clay?"

The late Mr. Colman, in his _European Agriculture_, states, that
"the soil preferred for wheat (in England) is a strong soil with a
large proportion of clay. But the question after all is, not whether
these States cannot grow wheat, and in comparatively large
quantities, for we know that while their lands are fresh, they can
and do--but whether, considering the hazard of the crop from
winter-killing, the rust, the fly--the risk from the two former
being equal to a large per cent. premium of insurance, they are not
likely to find their interest in grazing, in raising and feeding
stock, instead of attempting to extend their wheat husbandry. Lord
Brougham has said, that grazing countries are always the most
prosperous, and their population the most contented and happy. The
meat markets of Great Britain are likely to prove better and more
stable for us, than their grain markets.

The Hon. Henry L. Ellsworth, a distinguished citizen, and large
farmer of Indiana--distinguished throughout the Union for his zeal
in the cause of agriculture--thus expresses himself on this subject:
"After a full consideration of the subject, I am satisfied that
stock-raising at the West is much more profitable than raising
grain. Indeed, an examination of the north-western States shows a
vast difference in the wealth of the grazier over those who crop
with grain. The profits of wheat appear well in expectation on
paper, but the prospect is blasted by a severe winter, appearance of
insects, bad weather in harvesting, in threshing, for there are but
few barns at the West, or transporting to market, or last, a
fluctuation in the market itself."

Such is the opinion of Mr. Ellsworth, the result of observation and
experience, himself largely interested in ascertaining the safest
and surest course to be pursued. The destiny he has indicated for
this beautiful fertile region of country, will undoubtedly be
fulfilled; it will become a great pastoral, stock-raising, and
stock-feeding country.

Ohio stands now, as she did at the census of 1840, at the head of
all the wheat States, in the aggregate of production; her crop of
1848 being estimated at 20,000,000, which is about equal to 101/2
bushels per head of her population. The geological survey of this
State, and the character of the soil, as described in the Reports of
the Board of Agriculture, in a large range of her counties, as a
"clayey soil," "clayey loam," "clay subsoil," &c., shows Ohio to
possess a fine natural wheat soil, if indeed, alter thirty years of
a generally successful wheat husbandry, such additional testimony or
confirmation was necessary.

Michigan has also been successful in the cultivation of wheat. Her
burr-oak openings are unsurpassed in producing wheat. They are
intervening ridges between low grounds, or marshes and bodies of
water, and their location not generally considered very healthy. A
doubt has also been suggested as to whether this soil, being a
clayey loam, resting on a sandy and gravelly subsoil, is likely to
wear as well as some other portions of the fertile soil of the
State. The Commissioner of Patents puts her crop for 1848 at
10,000,000 of bushels, which is equal to 231/2 bushels to each
inhabitant! By the census of 1840, the population of Michigan was
212,267; number of bushels of wheat, 2,157,108. Her population in
1848 is estimated at 412,000. While she has barely doubled her
population, she has, according to the above estimate, more than
_quadrupled_ her production of wheat--increased it at the rate of
about one million bushels a year for eight consecutive years, making
the quantity she grows to each head of her population _more than
double_ that of any State in the Union.

We can at least say, and appeal to the past history of the country
to show it, that for a period of more than one hundred years, the
supply of the Atlantic wheat States has generally been constant, and
for the most part abundant. They have furnished the "staff of life"
to several generations of men, and cotemporary with it, an annual
amount for export, that materially assisted in regulating the
exchanges of the country.

England requires for her own consumption, upon the average of years,
somewhere about 32,000,000 bushels of wheat more than she produces.
The average annual entries of foreign wheat for consumption in the
United Kingdom, for the sixteen years ending with 1845, were about
nine and a half million bushels. Inasmuch as the average number of
acres in wheat crop were in 1846 about 4,600,000, the average produce
142,200,000 bushels, or over 30 bushels to the acre--an improvement in
the harvest to the extent of two bushels per acre, will destroy the
demand, and a deficiency to that extent will double it. Now as there
is an available surplus at the neighbouring ports in Europe, in the
Baltic and the Black Sea, of about 18,000,000 of bushels only,
whenever there is a demand for home consumption, for, say 20,000,000
bushels, as was the case in each of the five years from 1838 to 1843,
larger shipments from America will take place; but whenever there are
good harvests, as in the six years from 1831 to 1837, in which the
deficiency only ranged from 230,000 to 1,000,000 bushels, the trade is
not worth notice. It must be remarked, however, that in a country like
Britain, where capital is abundant, consumption great, speculation
rife, the harvest so uncertain, and the stake so great that a cloudy
day transfers thousands from one broker to another, the importation
cannot be closely assimilated to the actual wants of the country. The
ordinary yield of grain in the United Kingdom after deductions for
seed, is about 400,000,000 bushels, and as nearly 100,000,000 bushels
of grain and meal were imported in 1847, there must have been a
general deficiency of nearly twenty-five per cent.

In the "Statistics of the British Empire," the average extent of land
under grain culture, &c., in 1840, was estimated as follows:--

ENGLAND AND WALES.
Produce per Acre. Total Produce.
Wheat 3,800,000 31/4 quarters. 12,350,000
Barley and rye. 900,000 4 " 3,600,000
Oats and beans. 3,000,000 41/2 " 13,500,000

SCOTLAND.
Wheat 220,000 3 660,000
Barley 280,000 31/2 980,000
Oats 1,275,000 41/2 5,737,500

In Scotland, ten years ago, 150,000 acres were reckoned to be under
cultivation with wheat, 300,000 with barley, and 1,300,000 with oats,
which is the great crop and chief food of the people.

Mr. Braithwaite Poole, in his "Statistics of British Commerce," 1852,
states--"The annual average production of all sorts of corn in the
United Kingdom has been estimated by competent parties at rather more
than 60,000,000 quarters, and L80,000,000 in value; but in the absence
of general official returns, we cannot vouch for its accuracy,
although, from various comparisons, there are reasonable grounds for
assuming this calculation to be as nearly correct as possible. Some
persons in the corn trade imagine the aggregate production to approach
almost 80,000,000 quarters; but I cannot find any data extant to
warrant such an extended assumption."

The estimated produce of wheat, in quarters, and acreage, he states as
follows:--

Quarters. Acreage.
England 15,200,000 3,800,000
Ireland 1,800,000 600,000
Scotland 1,225,000 350,000
---------- ---------
Total 15,225,000 4,750,000

The average price of wheat per quarter in the last thirteen years, in
England and Wales, has been as follows:--

s. d.
1840 66 4
1841 64 4
1842 57 3
1843 50 1
1844 51 3
1845 50 10
1846 54 8
1847 69 9
1848 50 6
1849 44 3
1850 40 4
1851 38 7
1852 41 0

The best wheat, as well as the greatest quantity, is raised in the
midland counties. From two and a half to three Winchester bushels per
acre are required for seed, and the average produce varies from
twenty-two to thirty-two bushels per acre.


THE CONTINENT.

The quantity of wheat raised in France in 1835 was 71,697,484
hectolitres, of which eleven millions was required for seed. The
average produce per hectare was stated at thirteen and a half
hectolitres.

The total grain and pulse raised in that year was set down at
204,165,194 hectolitres.

Hectolitres.
Maslin 12,281,020
Barley 18,184,316
Rye 32,999,950
Buckwheat 5,175,933
Maize and Millet 6,951,179
Oats 49,460,057
Peas and Beans 3,318,691

Oats, next to wheat is the largest crop grown in France, for the
support of two million horses and three and a half million mules and
asses.

According to the "Annuaire de l'Economie Politique de la Statistique,"
there were 13,900,000 hectares (each about 21/2 acres) under cultivation
with the cereals in France.

The primary article of consumption is wheat. At the rate of three
hectolitres (1 qr. 1/4 bush.) to each individual, every family would
require thirteen to fourteen hectolitres, costing 210 to 280 francs
(L8 15s. to L11 10s.) according as the price varies, between its
present value fifteen francs, and its occasional cost twenty francs.
In the reign of Louis XVI, Arthur Young referred with horror to the
black bread eaten by the French. Since that time half a century has
passed, and whilst the agricultural produce in France has tripled in
value, the labourers who produce it continue, from custom and
necessity, to eat a detestable bread made from rye, barley, or peas
and potatoes; and, to make the matter still worse, it is badly baked,
without yeast, and being sometimes kept for weeks, it becomes covered
with mould, and altogether presents an appearance enough to turn the
stomach of a savage.

According to Mr. McGregor's estimate some ten or twelve years ago, the
land under wheat culture was 13,808,171 acres, producing 191,000,000
bushels; and 11,715 acres with spelt, or red wheat, the yield of which
was 374,000 bushels.

The other crops were--

Acres Crops, bushels
Maslin 2,251,438 32,000,000
Rye 6,369,879 76,000,000
Barley 2,936,453 45,000,000
Oats 7,416,297 134,000,000
Maize 1,561,372 20,000,000

Wheat and oats are grown all over Russia, which is the greatest corn
land in the world.

In Austrian Italy the yield of grain has been reckoned at three
million quarters, but this seems rather low. About one-half of this is
maize and rye, and a quarter wheat.

It is reckoned that eight million quarters of grain are raised yearly
in Denmark, but this seems doubtful. In 1839, a million quarters of
grain, however, were shipped from that kingdom.

BRITISH AMERICAN PROVINCES.

According to the census return of 1852, the number of acres under
grain crops, and the produce in Canada, were as follows:--

Lower Canada--Produce. Upper Canada--Produce.

Acres. Bushels. Acres. Bushels.
Lower Canada--Produce Upper Canada--Produce
Acres Bushels Acres Bushels
Wheat 427,111 3,075,868 782,115 12,692,852
Barley 42,927 668,626 29,916 625,875
Rye 46,007 341,443 38,968 479,651
Oats 540,422 8,967,594 421,684 11,193,844
Buckwheat 51,781 530,417 44,265 639,381
Maize 22,669 400,287 70,571 1,666,513

Flour may be valued at 21s. the barrel.

The grain crops in Lower Canada are taken in the minot, and not in the
bushel, except in the townships. In like manner, the acres are taken
in arpents. An arpent is about one-seventh less than an acre; and a
minot about one-eighth (some say one-twelfth) more than a bushel.

During the years 1850-1, Western Canada exported upwards of two
million barrels of flour, and three million bushels of wheat, being
equivalent to 13,600,000 bushels of wheat. The value of the wheat and
flour exported in 1851 was L404,033. Canadian flour, like that of
Genessee, is of very superior quality.

WHEAT.--UPPER CANADA.
Bushels. To each inhabitant.
Wheat crop of 1841 was 3,221,991 or 6.60
Do. 1847 7,558,773 " 10.45
Do. 1849 9,706,082 " 12.08
Do. 1851 12,692,852 " 13.33

The quantity of land under wheat in "Upper Canada was 782,115 acres,
showing a yield of about sixteen and three quarter bushels to the
acre. The wheat produced in 1852 was valued at nearly two million
pounds sterling.

LOWER CANADA.
Minots.
Wheat crop in 1843 was 942,835 or 1.36
Do. 1851 3,075,868 " 3.46

UNITED STATES.
Bushels.
Wheat crop in 1839 was 84,832,272 or 4.96
Estimated by patent office 1847 114,245,500 " 5.50
Crop of wheat 1849 100,684,627 " 4.33

In order, however, to institute a fairer comparison, I will divide the
States into three classes, viz.:--1st. States growing over six million
bushels.

Bushels. Population. Bush, per head.
Pennsylvania 15,367,691 2,311,736 6.65
Ohio 14,487,351 1,980,408 7.32
New York 13,131,498 4,148,182 3.16
Virginia 11,232,616 1,421,661 7.90
Illinois 9,414,575 851,471 11.06
Indiana 6,214,458 988,416 6.28
---------- ---------- -----
Total 69,847,189 11,701,924 5.97

2nd. States growing over one million and less than six million
bushels.

Bushels. Population. Bush, per head.
Michigan 4,925,889 397,654 12.39
Wisconsin 4,286,131 305,191 14.04
Maryland 4,494,681 583,031 7.71
Missouri 2,981,652 682,043 4.38
Kentucky 2,140,822 982,405 2.15
North Carolina 2,130,102 868,903 2.45
Tennessee 1,619,381 1,002,525 1.61
New Jersey 1,601,190 481,555 3.27
Iowa 1,530,581 192,214 7.96
Georgia 1,088,534 905,999 1.21
South Carolina 1,066,277 668,507 1.60
---------- --------- ----
Total 27,865,240 7,078,131 3.93

3rd. The remaining States and territories.

2,791,470 4,466,246 0.63

Total wheat crop in the United States, 100,503,899 bushels.
Population, 23,246,301. Bushels per head, 4.33.

Increase:--U. States, 1839 84,823,272 bushels
" 1849 100,503,896 "
-----------
15,680,627

Or 18.49 per cent. in ten years.

Upper Canada, 1841 3,221,991 "
" 1851 12,692,825 "
----------
9,470,861

Or nearly quadrupling itself in ten years.

Bushels. Population. Bush. per head.
Pr. Ed. Island 1847 219,787 62,678 3.50
Newfoundland 1850 297,157 276,117 1.08
New Brunswick 1850 206,635 193,800 1.06

The Eastern States in 1849 raised 1,090,896 bushels. Population
2,668,106, or 0.41 each.

The population of Upper Canada is 952,904, and allowing five bushels
for each, 4,760,020 bushels; and for seed at one and a half bushels
per acre 1,173,173 bushels = 5,933,193; leaves for export 6,761,668
bushels. More than sufficient to supply the consumption of the whole
of the Eastern States.

"Were the population of Lower Canada to consume flour at the given
rate, it would require--

Bushels.
890,261 at five bushels each 4,451,305
Seed 640,000
---------
5,091,305
Grown 3,075,868
---------
2,015,437

Leaving a surplus of wheat in Canada 4,746,231 bushels, or at four and
a half bushels for each, equal to 1,054,718 barrels of flour.

Professor Johnston in his report on New Brunswick, furnishes some
valuable information as to the produce there.

The following table of average weights indicates a capacity in the
soil and climate to produce grain of a very superior quality:--

----------------+-------+--------+------+-----+-------+-------
| | | | | Buck- |
COUNTIES | Wheat | Barley | Oats | Rye | Wheat | Maize
----------------+-------+--------+------+-----+-------+-------
Saint John |61 | -- |41 | -- | 50 | --
Westmoreland |60 | 48 |351/2 | -- | 48 | 59
Albert |58 | 50 |343/4 | 50 | 45 | --
Charlotte |59 | 45 |39 | -- | 57 | 59
King's |591/2 | 48 |37 | -- | 48 | 60
Queen's |581/2 | 50 |361/2 | 53 | 43 | 61
Sunbury |57 | 55 |38 | 53 | 47 | 57
York |63 | 50 |38 | -- | 51 | 60
Carleton |64 | -- |38 | -- | 52 | 65
Kent |63 | -- |37 | -- | 50 | --
Northumberland |62 | 53 |37 | -- | 45 | 57
Gloucester |63 | 51 |39 | -- | -- | --
Restigouche |63 | 48 |42 | -- | -- | --
----------------+-------+--------+------+-----+-------+------

The general average weights for the whole Province are, for

Wheat 60 11-13 lbs.
Barley 50 "
Oats 38 "
Rye 521/2 "
Buckwheat 48 8-11 "
Indian Corn 591/2 "
Potatoes 63 "
Turnips 66 "
Carrots 63 "

The annexed statement shows not only the average yield per acre of
each description of crop, but affords an opportunity of contrasting it
with the like products in the State of New York:--

AVERAGE PRODUCE PER IMPERIAL ACRE.

New Brunswick State of New York
Bushels Bushels
Wheat 20 14
Barley 29 16
Oats 34 26
Rye 201/2 91/2
Buckwheat 333/4 14
Indian Corn 413/4 25
Potatoes 226 90
Turnips 460 88
Hay 13/4 --

A possibility of error in striking the averages is suggested in the
report; and to guard against it the following statement of the
averages derived from the minimum returns is given, viz.:--Wheat 173/4
bushels; Barley, 27; Oats, 33; Buckwheat, 28; Rye, 18; Indian Corn,
361/2; Potatoes, 204; Turnips, 389. The diminished averages scarcely
affect the question of productiveness, as in every particular they
exceed the averages for the favored Genesee Valley and the southern
shores of Lake Ontario.

While the productiveness of the soil is thus proven by the statements
of most experienced farmers, the average prices appear to be equally
favorable to the Provincial growers. The following tables of averages
set this in a clear point of view:--

AVERAGE PRICES OF GRAIN PER BUSHEL AND PER QUARTER.

Per Bushel Per Quarter
Wheat 7s. 6d. 60s. 0d.
Barley 4 21/2 33 8
Oats 2 0 16 0
Rye 4 10 38 8
Buckwheat 3 9 30 0
Indian Corn 4 8 37 4


ROOT CROPS AND HAY.

Potatoes 1s. 11d. per bushel.
Turnips 1 2 "
Eng. Hay 49 0 per ton.
Carrots 2 5 per bushel.
Man. Wurtzel 2 1 "
Marsh Hay 20 0 per ton.


AVERAGE MONEY VALUE OF AN ACRE OF EACH CROP.
New Brunswick Canada West State of Ohio
Wheat L 6 13 0 L2 4 7 L2 19 0
Barley 5 13 71/2 1 19 41/2 2 4 0
Oats 6 3 6 1 11 0 1 13 9
Rye 4 7 0 1 5 101/2 1 12 4
Buckwheat 5 5 0 3 5 0 1 16 3
Indian Corn 8 10 4 2 14 41/2 2 15 0
Potatoes 19 11 0 6 6 0 6 9 41/2

On a review of the foregoing and other tables, Professor Johnston has
drawn the following conclusions:--

"That grain and roots generally can be raised more cheaply in the
Province of New Brunswick than in New York, Ohio, or Upper Canada;
and that the Province ought to be able to compete with those
countries and drive them from its home markets."

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A Stephen King fan has published an 80-page version of the book which novelist Jack Torrance obsessively writes during King's The Shining, where his descent into madness is revealed when his wife discovers that his work consists of just one phrase, endlessly repeated.

Torrance, played by Jack Nicholson in terrifying form in Stanley Kubrick's 1980 film, is a frustrated writer who goes with his wife and son to spend the winter in the isolated Overlook Hotel in an attempt to get the novel he has always wanted to write started. But the hotel's grisly past and unquiet ghosts have their way with him, and his wife Wendy eventually finds that the manuscript he has been working on actually only contains the phrase "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy", typed over and over again.

Now New York artist Phil Buehler, who describes himself as "a big fan of Stanley Kubrick and Stephen King", has self-published a book credited to Torrance, repeating the phrase throughout but formatting each page differently, using the words to create different shapes from zigzags to spirals.

"The idea has probably been marinating for years, because I loved the movie and the Stephen King book," said Buehler. "I'd just finished my own obsessive art project [and] it was an idea I had over the Christmas holidays."

He said he decided to stick to type and formatting that could have been created on a typewriter, with the first ten pages duplicating shots of Torrance's work from the film. "I thought 'if he continues to get crazier, what would those pages look like?'" he said. "I hit writer's block about 60 pages in, and I had to get to 80 - that went on for about a week." His fiancée, who had neither read the book nor seen the film, became a little concerned about his actions. "I finally showed her the movie, and she realised I wasn't really losing it," said Buehler.

He's included a spoof review from the blog OverThinkingIt.com on the book's back jacket, which compares it to "the best of Beckett" in its "lack of forward momentum", and considers the struggles of the author, "heroically pitting himself against the Sisyphusean sentence". "It's that metatextual struggle of Man vs. Typewriter that gives this book its spellbinding power," the review says. "Some will dismiss it as simplistic; that's like dismissing a Pollack canvas as mere splatters of paint."

So far, Buehler says that around 1,000 people have viewed the book, for sale on Blurb.com for $8.95 in paperback, or $22.95 in hardback, and he's sold "a few" copies, with sales now starting to pick up steam. "A few people have asked me to sign it - they're looking it as a piece of art rather than a funny thing to give to a Kubrick fan," he said. "If you're not a Kubrick or King fan, you might not even get it."

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