Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1852-06-05
COMMUNICATIONS.
HISTORY OF A FARM.
Double Standardized changed.

Many years ago. Messrs, Editors, rented out my farm
in the State Of P, and removed to town to enjoy
the pleasures of society The lease was made in 1880
and it for thirty years the contract has yet eight
years TO My tenant bound himself to pay me annu
ally thousand bushels of wheat his rent for the
land He has delivered every year the amount required
by the contract excepting two years Of unfavor
able harvess when he failed to furnish my regular
supplies until he could raise in subsequent years from
the land he had rented. AS depended for my support
the rent my family suffered or less inconvenience
frsm this failures but my honest and made
every proper exertion to borrow the amount DUE
not now fifteen years after the occurrence, attach much
blame to him. complained not little at the time. The
demand of my children for bread one had meet
every Sacrifices and the price of grain high
of general failure Of the crop, felt the loss of
my usual income most severely All this has now how
ever, passed by many years. have been receiving my
rent punctualy since The back has been faith
fully and honestly paid up. My snan has secured again
my good opinion, and have almost forgotten the
plants had against him.
Recently however have suffered another loss, and
my friends tell that this will only be repaid
but will go increasing every year hereafter This
loss from fault of my tenant but of the and
it for this reason Messrs Editors, that write you
account Of my troubles.
When made the contract receive thousand bushels
OF wheat my rent the usual weight Of bushel
sixty pounds in fact there law in force that sixty
pounds should be reekoned bushel and this good
and proper law, for there inferior wheat that
did not weigh than fftyeight pounds, while
went up to sixty-two pounds, and My land
good and produced the best quality but salts
fed to receive the sixty pounds for bushe because this
the law, and knew it at the time of making the
contract.
c. r IL 4 4
introduce superior kind of wheat that ourshed finely
1t weighed at least sixyfve pounds to the bushe After
little while this sowed almost every where.
ceived still my thousand bushels of sixty pounds each
perfectly satisfied, because obtained much -four as
much real nutment out of the sixty pounds Of wheat
as had before out Of the sixty pounds of old When this
change ofseed had become general the Legislature
ed to alter the standard bushel The real bushel
tanning $50 cubic inches seldom used for
ing wheat Sometimes the ignorant of great
change that had taken place. gave the full for
bushe and thus lost onetwefth of their grain giving
sxtfve pounds instead of sixty and receiving only the
ordinary price for sixty pounds of wheat 1t desira
BILE for many other that the bushels should
be made agree and the bushel seldom
used, objection made to the change In 1887 the
Legislature reduced the number of cubic inches bushe
to $780, and thus gave every the choice of offering
bushe This reduction rather large The change
in the kind of wheat had made $50 inches weigh sixty
five pounds, and sixty pounds legal bushel the
usual amount sold bushe sixty sixty-ffths of
inches This required the proper size to be 1886
inches. The Legislature were however anxious to bring
into the measured bushel, and the measure
obliged to have the Government stamp it, and
it would take long time to introduce it into the
parts of the State unless it made the interest of the
farmer have one they reduced the size much
to effect the object they desired.
In consequence Of this law the measured bushel
began again be used Slowly and gradually it made
its way first into the cities and large towns and then at
last into every part of the country The usual weight of
the bushe 5sl pounds, and it the interest
of every to give 1000 inches 5s pounds rather
than 60 pounds Still the bushel of 60 pounds was not
by any driven out of The farmers could not
~ la - -, ,n ..--~~- s..e,r nauts. Many knew
nothing of the advantage it would be to them In fact
to who had good land and raised heavy wheat the
bushel Of 1900 inches still weighed 60 pounds Ny
ant still paid me thousand times 60 pounds. The two
bushels both retained in use and dssa-
tsfacton felt expressed against the of the Le
gislature.
But recently great change has taken place new
kind of wheat has again been introduced which lighter
than the old seed Instead of weighing sixtyfve
pounds it seldom goes beyond ffysix pounds But it
yields much to the Is safer from the attacks
of the fly and has other advantages recommend
it. The farmers have planted it already almost univer
sally because they raise many bushels with
the amount Of labor Only three four years have
elapsed since the seed first known and the change
every where made.
Here, now is my trouble. The farmers have stopped
selling by weight almost entirely but measure all their
wheat in the standard, My thousand bushels for
rent which used to so cubic inches each now
only 900 inches. lose more than hundred
bushels every year And to perpetuate this wrong pp
cation has been made to the Legislature make fifty six
pounds bushels. 1t is true, the legal bushel mea.
does not weigh than fifty six pounds and
law shall remain little while unchanged every one will
obtain bushel and sell by it alone To alter
the law viii only legaze what win be done without legis
ave interference But nevertheless the two acts
together do me great injustice.
The Legislature first made standards the Winches-
ter bushel and the sixty pounds weight When the two
standards thus adopted became unequal they reduced
larger to the size Of the smaller In the Of time
the two have again become unequal and they propose
reduce the that unchanged before the magni
tude Of the other
this is taken sure to lose always my hun
dred bushels And lam alone in such loss It well
known that contracts to the Of than twenty
millions Of Blu shells made before the change Of the
law, and these contracts are yet running.
The insist right and proper is to bring
back the standard to its former size Reace steps