The destructive power of torpedoes is so well known as to give them a great moral weight as a means of defense. The fact that the German harbors on the Baltic were known to be protected by torpedoes saved them from an attack by the French navy in 1870–71, and Cervera’s fleet in the harbor of Santiago, in 1898, was safe from our squadron so long as the mouth of the channel was closed with Spanish torpedoes.
Though necessarily brief, the foregoing sketch will show that in the course of the nineteenth century armies have increased enormously in size, and in the power of rapid movement and certainty of supply. Infantry has increased in relative numbers and in importance. Extended order fighting, in which the individuality of the soldier comes into play, has taken the place of the old rigid shoulder-to-shoulder line of battle. The private soldier’s vocation has risen, in many branches of the military service, from a trade to a profession, and now, more than ever before, is extensive training and a high order of intellect necessary for the command of armies. Wars have become shorter, sharper, more decisive and more terrible; and increased emphasis has been placed upon the warning, “In time of peace prepare for war.”
THE CENTURY’S PROGRESS IN AGRICULTURE
By WALDO F. BROWN,
Agricultural Editor “Cincinnati Gazette.”
I. VICISSITUDES OF EARLY FARMING.
If the thought enters the mind of the reader that a youth (?) of sixty-seven is not competent to write upon agricultural improvement for the entire century, the answer is that such improvement can scarcely be said to have begun until near the middle of the century; that the early forties saw the writer at work on a farm; that he has ever since lived on a farm; and that he, therefore, writes from personal experience of the improvements which have transformed agriculture from a simple art to a profound science.
To realize the progress agriculture has made, we must understand its condition in the first half of the century, and the causes which prevented improvement at that time. The soil was rich with the accumulations of centuries, and the farmer was at no expense to either maintain or restore fertility, for with but indifferent cultivation large crops could be raised. When a field became impoverished, with axe and torch a new field was soon cleared from the forest. The implements in use were of the crudest and mostly manufactured by the nearest blacksmith, and it cost but a few dollars to equip a farm; still they were sufficient for the wants of the farmer of that date. So it will be seen that the difficulty was not in the farm nor with the farmer; for he could grow not only all that was necessary for family use, but more than enough to supply the demand for such market as he had. Perhaps the greatest difficulty in the way of agricultural progress was the want of transportation facilities; for a market was of little use to a farmer if he was separated from it by a hundred miles or more of roads which, through almost the entire winter, were so deep with mud that modern farmers would think them utterly impassable, with streams unbridged and hills ungraded. The first step toward relieving the farmer of this trouble was John Quincy Adams’ message to Congress in 1827, when he recommended the construction of the National Road, the eastern terminus of which was to be in Maryland and the western at St. Louis, Mo. This road was constructed within a few years. It was the first outlet for the crops of the great West, and over it, across the Alleghany Mountains, a procession of covered wagons passed during the entire year, carrying the products of the farms to the Eastern markets and bringing back manufactured goods. One other avenue was opened for the interchange of products between these two sections, the Erie Canal being completed in 1825, and enlarged and improved many years later.
During the thirties, just preceding the era of railroads, there was almost a craze on the subject of canal building, and scores of miles of canals were begun which were never completed, as with the beginning of the fourth decade of the century the railroad idea had taken possession of the minds of the people. In some cases the tow-path of the canal formed the roadbed for the railroad which superseded it, and probably more lines of canal were abandoned than were completed. The era of railroads—that wonderful factor which was to revolutionize farming—dates from about 1830. The first locomotive in the United States was imported from England and placed upon the rails in 1829, and in 1830 the first American locomotive was built. It was, however, very near the middle of the century before the system of railroads had been completed so as to materially improve the condition of agriculture; and although the fact may sound strange to some, the first railroad train ran into Chicago in 1852. During these years of depressed agriculture, however, the population of the country was rapidly increasing.
While the railroad system of the country was developing, turnpikes were being built radiating from the principal markets and railroad stations. With the beginning of the second half of the century the farmers awoke to the fact that the United States was a large and populous nation, requiring an immense amount of supplies, and that improvements for transportation had been furnished so that the markets were easily accessible. Before passing, however, from the discouragements and difficulties of agriculture in the early days, some practical illustrations of the difficulties met with seem necessary to give a clear understanding of the condition. What would the farmer of to-day think were he obliged to start with a load of wheat in midwinter over roads which crossed unbridged streams and wound over clay hills, not a rod of which was macadamized and all of which were poorly graded, spending ten days with a four-horse team to make a round trip of one hundred miles with thirty-five bushels of wheat, and sell it in the market for 35 cents a bushel? Yet such was the fact which the writer had from the lips of a farmer who had been through this experience. Two thoughts may occur to the reader—first, that thirty-five bushels was a light load for a four-horse team, and, second, that hotel bills would more than absorb the money received from such a load of wheat. But both of these are explained by saying that one cause of the lightness of the load was that the farmer must carry feed for his team for the entire trip, and another, the uncertainty of the condition of the roads; for though he might start with the roads frozen solid and possibly worn smooth by the teams which had preceded him, he was liable on the trip to meet with a sudden thaw which reduced the roadbed to mortar, so that the wheels would sink almost to the axle, and in many cases the load would be found too heavy for his team. It was no uncommon sight to see a score of places to the mile where the fences had been torn down and rails carried into the middle of the road to be used in prying the wagons out of the mud when hopelessly mired. The reason the hotel bills did not consume the proceeds of the load was that there were none; for the farmer carried his camp kettle, bedding, and provisions with him, and slept in the wagon during his entire trip. The same farmer referred to, in telling his story, said that all the money spent on the ten days’ trip was three “fips” (18¾ cents), and that, presumably, was for three “nips” of whiskey.