The Northern Pacific farmer. [volume] (Wadena, Minn.) 1878-1885, 1881-06-16
THE FARM.
Flax and Hemp.

III seasons past nave consumed aOCh amazing
quantities during the few weeks Of harvest as
to almost stagger belief. One Of the general
agents for leading machine Informs us that
over 800, 900 worth Of cord will be used in
this State alone this year on the machines he
represents. Thns the wire binders are gratln-
ally giving place to the safer cord, and
it would seem as if it were about time that We
were waking up to the fact that markets. open
at our doors for fibre for making it. Onr soil
and climate are perfectly adapted t" its growth,
and it appears strange that hardly any one yet
has made move towards raising it here. Yet
i'll 1879, in the last statistical report at hand,
find that in addition to what was grown in
this country there was imported about &c.
600, 900 from abroad, either in lts raw 0:
manufactured state TO get it we had to
draw on almost all tho foreign countries OF the
world, aud to pay in some instances a. high
at 20 80 per ton for the dressed article. In
our own land the State Of Kentucky seems to
be the only section where any particular at
tention is paid to its cultivation aud even she
has failed to hold her own within the past few
years AS against the inroads OF fast horses and
blooded cattle The great hin.lrance in this
country to this industry, and the principal rea-
sons why it is not more extensively grown, are
thus summed up by manufacturer: Glow
luties on the imported article, the extensive
and wastefui manner Of cultivation and hand
ling here. and tho difficulty of competing wit!
foreigners in cheapness of labor, as we'll as il
the quality and value of the article For coars.
Uses: such "a making string and bagging, it l.
claimed that American tow is superior TO an.
that is imported. 1t is said to possess greater
hexibility than that from Russia. and it is only
question which the producer shall settle him
self as to whether he shall raise the fibre for
his twiue binder, or leave it to the swarthy
r. fnr An fron
kentucky paper will show the status of the
market there: 1.-THE produce Of 300 acres
was bought at $50 per IL pounds (nnlressed:
we supposed, with premium OF 500 addi-
"" poster: ss the and sr0p Ss"e msso wds
Of the demand for cord for binding, says OF
this region: 81 believe there is great future
for the hemp industry in Kentucky and the
demand will increase until it is as great OF
greater go osea than IN in past years. 1t will
binding grain, for crash towelings and fabrics
were 80 manufacturing establishments, turn
ing out $2,31l,OO0 worth of baggins aud
to twenty" This will! show how the industry
has gone down, from the causes stated.
The cultivation of hemp is somewhat similar
to that Of flax. Any good, rich, loamy land is
adapted to its growth. The land is better to
be P!owed in the fall and again
left for a few days that the soil may be acted
on by the SUMS influence, after which it Is
ready for the seed 4 busheI Of seed is gen.
orally sown to the acre: There will be bnt
little trouble with the weeds, as the hemp usual
~ occupies all the ground, and for this reason
is regarded by some agriculturists as an excel
lent clearing crop when introduced in rotation
to precede flax 1t is now usually harvested by
cutting the plants of near the ground, with
heavy knife or implement made especially for
"a fI,o H<otC- 1>s.1
even at the butts and are allowed to lie for
few days to dry They are then bound in
bundles and shocked to become thoroughly
dry, before stacking In Kentucky
the best time to spread it for retting is Novem-
Der or December and when sufficiently retfd
is again put in shocks The slat hand brake is
the kind generally used there, the machine
being carried around to avoid the removal Of
the hemp straw. The PIONEER Press has
been promised series Of articles on its
but he fails to respond as agreed upon.
II this catches his eye we trust he will recall
his promise and post our many readers more
fully on the subject.
What the English Farmer Contends With.
The cultivators of American soil have but
little idea Of the restraints which are laid upon
the English farmer One Of them makes COM
plaint recently of his treatment in the matter OF
s.:ys, with proportion of woods, roads, ponds
etc, my annual payment Of tithes amounted to
*4O $4,000, viz 928 to the ecclesiastical
commissioners and zig to the vicar Of the
parish. I paid the former claim but the latter
was unable to meet. In January I received a
second request for payment with notification
as to the law on the subject, then wrote ask.
ing for leniercy, in consequence Of severe losses
had met with on my land To this no reply
was made. but fortnight since I received a
registered letter containing formal notice Of
distraint. l wonld prefer making no comments
leave it to the judgment Of my
brother Englshmen, who. eating the
*ntithel corn and food from abroad,
producers of England have to contend
with" The writer might have inclnded the
rest Of Great Britain in his complaint: for
what with the tithing and rack renting and
foreign competition, the tiller Of the soil there
ments of church and state have to be snp-
ported, and largely at the expense of the
farmer. In one way or another, the lands Of
the United Kingdom have almost wholly passed
into the hands Of 3 comparatively few, and in
stead of being cut up into farms, as here they
are divided into vast estates, with the owner
ship Of each, established by system Of entail,
| in the hands Of high family. Tins they
pass down from one generation to an
| other, bringing their owners a rich return
in the way Of rents, and the poor farmer, who
does the work, is lucky at the end of the season,
after all his obligations arc met, if he Genes
| ont even and does not have process 81 evic-
| ton served on him, through failure to paw his
| dues. Of late years the importation Of Amer-
| can grain flour and meat, coupled with poor
couraging. and failure after failure has been
| reported. In recent Issue Of the London
| Miller the situation at Glasgow is described
! This port wilt be recognized as one to which
| great quantities of flour. For the past six
months the exports of -four to Glasgow have
| been Is per cent in excess Of those to Liver
| pool, and 50 per cent. in excess of London,
| and in consequence the demand for the home
manufactured article is so far overshadowed
as to almost lead to disaster: A writer.
! IN speaking of the q III, says: II maintain
| that the America. milling trade is simply IN
its infancy, although beyond doubt very vigor-
ons 40 much so try it is bound to crush, I
opine, clean ont O tho market, home milling
as paying investment, just as the old and
feeble inevitably gives way to the strong. How
can milling in this country hope to outlive
milling in America? The latter has Its wheat
at hand and the best men in the old world to
manipulate man it, and every improvement that
skill and ingenuity can suggest. Fine Ameri-
can hours are surely shadiug the home stuff
| ont Of sight, and their patents make the alb
sence of *Hungarians' not felt; so there can
be little doubt that in process Of time home
milling must become very much curtallcd, and
! carried on only for local consumption Of re-
| mote districts'
| OF course the great demand for American
! Hour cnrtais the demand for their home grown
wheat for manufacture, and here the farmers
are confronted with another serious difficulty
They cannot sell at profit so long as tho con-
! snmers can get foreign article cheaper.
Hundreds of the best English farmers have
e;ven, up in despair, snd many of them have
| already come to this country, while more arc
on the way. The great colony Of the Close
| Brothers, in Iowa, is made up largely OF
| this, the better class Of agricnfturists from
England. An upheaval las begun in
ireland over this question Of lands, and
| grows in magnitude every day. It may not
come in our time but the day will surely bo
when right and justice will prevail, and the
| great hunting parks and immense estates of
unhappy Ireland percelled out into homes for
its half-starved people.
Wheat Exports.
The exports Of wheat and -four from the last
crop, beginning September l, 1850, to May l.