The Russellville Democrat., 1875-07-22
LETTER FROM sEARCY.
SEARoY, July 10th, 1875.

thought for some time that woult
 contribute a few lines to your OK
 cellent paper, but have neglectet
 doing so from the fact that noth
 ing has presented itself to my
 mind that would be likely to in
 terest your readers. No thrilling
 incidents have transpired in oul quiet locality to offer employment
 to the reportorial pen. Peace
 reigns supreme. The truth ol
 this assertion might seem little
 doubtful should you visit our
 town on the 18th prox., at which
 time general muster of all the
 Militia in the county will take l place. Such display need not
 frighten any one, however, as the
 object of the Militia is to preserve,
 and not disturb, the peace. A
 thorough organization is being
 affected throughout the county. The old familiar cry of "hard
 times," which has echoed and re- echoed throughout the land, is still to be heard here, though
 with less frequency as the pros poets for the future brighten. The agricultural interests of this vicinity have been materially ad- vanced by the excellent rains which we have had this week. Crops are now growing we'll, with very few exceptions. Corn, though backward. promises well; in fact I may safely say that there will be more corn raised in this county than ever before, provided it continues seasonable. Cotton is generally small but we'll formed and in good condition. Upon the whole the prospect is flattering for heavy crop. Thls result has not been obtained without effort. The late, wet spring retarded farming operations very much. The incessant rains prevented the crops from being cleaned at the time when it was most important that the foulness should be erad- icated, in order to give the crops start to grow. Added to this embarrassing situation was the fact that farmers had nothing to feed their stock on. Corn could rot be procured in the country, and the people did not have the money to send abroad for it. Thus q very large majority were compelled to make crop "on the grass" But these difficulties are now past. The oat crop furnish es ample feed for horses until corn natures. Wheat and oats were never better here. The acreage was much larger than ever before, while the yield is un- commonly good. l have heard of one crop of wheat which made thirty one and half bushels per acre. Our county is full of thresh- CTS of all kinds, from the smallest one horse power to the most ap- proved steam power machines, all busily engaged in getting out the immense crop of wheat, oats, rye &c., that has just been harvested. Two new flouring mills have just been put in operation at this place.
 Considerable advancement is being made in this county in the direction of adopting more thor ough and systematic method of farming. It is getting to be un- derstood that sturdy blows are not all that is required to make l the farm pay, but that brain-work is essential to success i'd agricul- tural pursuits as well as in almost every other occupation. The old clumsy awkward tools which have been in use on our farms tor so long are being laid aside for the more convenient implements of modern invention. Cultivators have been very successfully intro duced here this season, and will be more generally used next year, l hear of several who think of trying the patent reapers in their next years wheat crop, and l doubt not that these great labor savers will be used here to a great extent in a few years. l see no reason why they should not be.
 l am glad to see that the DEM ocRAT has attained such popu- larity, and hope that it may con tinue to grow in public favor. It is to the best interests of the peo-