Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1874-12-12

DOWN UPON TIE GRAZ
Wee Sdr.-tn voUr issue Of l. st week "South
t.ne .iDgton" had quits q long article on the
W eject d lands and water powers" about
'ashington city. He says for year we have
had hard times sll over the country, brought
about by the money panic of last tall, with
mechanics and lab0rers out of emplo ment.
Inc money panic OF last fsll was not the sole
csuEe of depression of busin sss. The granger
panic has done more to depress and uRsettle
busir esq than most people are aware. When q
midnight secret cOnclsve exists in nearly every
county, buying and selling the produce through
its agents, the merchants everywhere feel tmid
about making purchases, and rather than take
the risk of buying what viii not he wanted they
do lot buy at all, and IN this way large
amount of money Is kept Idle. plot breeds
counter plot" and while the grangers have
been plotting to put down the freight on pro-
duce eastward bound, the Saratoga convention
Of railroad kings have been plotting TO keep il
up, and Vanderbilt, Scott, and Garrett, never
were on better terms than now.
"South Washington" SAYS 1t is strange there
ne so much uncultivated land near the CITY.
Not strange at all; cheap railroad transpOrta-
ton Is the cause OF 1t, together With the extr sme
poverty of the soil. Bread is the staff OF life.
Now 20 seed an acre in wheat to the poor land
near Washington wOuld take
COO pounds guanO, at 3 cents. ............el ais 90
bushels wheat, At sl.25.................. , 30
Plo"ing and seeding. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 4 90
s2l 50
with the above outlay a man might expect p
bushels wheat, at g 20 per hushel. S3s so
Cost of harvesting and threshing, 10 cents
PEI busbei.' ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. %
s26 20
Thus leaving a clear rrOft of 81 90 on an acre
of wheat, and this for a good season: hut If III ?
season should not be favorable, he nj ght not
get but IL or Is bushels OF Indifferent wheat,
and this is just about fair average est mate vt
what our eastern farmers are making from the
cultivation Of wheat.
Potatoes are 10 better. To take this county
Montgomery the last season, perhaps 50 bush
els per acre of saleable potatoes would be an
- Tof rNriRa ~
bHfhei,i AL farmer could make clear on an
acre OF potatoes wOuld not buy him new win
ter hat And yet rs. W" thinks they could be
raised for a ''smalleT price" near the city!
Grapes. he thinks, would be profitable. Last
season your humble servant sent 80 pounds Of
Concord grapes to the Washington market, aud
got three cents per pound for them; and got
word also not to send any more, for there were
more grapes in the market than would ever he
sold. In your last weeks issue one OF your cal
estate brokers advertises thirty small farms
for sale, and amongst others, "One of the finest
vineyards in the country, for several years in
fuil bearing" near the city. Now, If rails
''thus?''
Again, "S. W" says the most important tie N
or eens1mtion is meat. Well, what capitalist
would think of paying $50 per acre for poor
land near Washington, and then spend fftv
more to make it rich enough to raise grass II
feed cattle on, while the great rich prsiries Of
very doors?
as. W." thinks it would be advisable to or
game great company, and buy up large tracts
Otland, and then divide it up in small farms
and sublet TO ''goOd industrious farmers aad
gardeners for term of years" The UnfOrtu-
rate, the shiftless, and the slipshOd would be
the only kind Of farmers that this great COM
pany would ever get to till their soil. For the
"gOOd industrious farmer" always has farm of
his own, and when he plants an apple tree, or a
grape vine, or pear tree, he feels that he
plants not for himself alone, but for his chill
dren, or his grand children, or his great grand
children, and that no great company can ever
send its agent TO drive him from the soil he AZ
ferhliZed with his own brains and other pe0-
PIES homes. SussCRTREz
Montgomery county, Md.