The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1884-10-17

q u1E IN FRLiCg.
9ksnSees 1sswesa 1exas md 9snsvA-
ub-ersspuudsnss of one Nav York Sun.
- toingf from PEria ~ Geneva, viA Dion, We
pAss through the best portion Of Franco For
hundreds Of miles every inch Of ground IL cul-
aayAtod The brupts idehills are ingrape vinea
~ Nhs tat land In grain. Here We zee the
p~Alsnonenon Of double crops-a crop Of grain
and vegetables growing under : Drop OF trees.
The Normandy poplar trees arc from an inchto
ihree fest In dismcter IhcyAre planted thick
\. but Give oshads. They Aretrimmsd within
II fcet Of Tie top The boug,is, which are cut
u every yeal, make faggots enough to warm
Rtsnca We often $50 men and women Grad
Hing wheas OF hocing bees in the midst Of >
NOD giving no shade When you look
aniiSsss the country The tall, S~boughless trunks
iook Aks blAsk streaks painted against the
slxs Thay maks tho view very picturesque.
ss0uf fAtmpss on tho prairies could plant black
valiant trees whore they want fences, trim
them to the tops, preventing shade, and then.
II string barbed wire on the trunks for fences.
A. the end OF iifty years the black walnut
han bis farmi Woodin France is sold for .
third OF q cent o pound It is worth as much
q corn In Kansas by the pound. So when the
KANSAS man burns corn, he is no moro profit
eAt8 than the Frenchman who burns faggots.
b French farmer would nevsr think OF burn
ing wood to heat his house. He sits in the
cold all the winter long, only using wood to
cook with The average farmer does notknow
enough TO buy coal Or kerosene yet He does
not live IS well as the POOREST negro in the
south. He has ~ home comforts, poverty
and ignorance are his companions.
FRANCE ia literally one large garden, Every
Incl. Of soil lscnltivatcd. In riding from Paris
% Dion, $50 miles. We counted only thirty cat
have usually from one to ten acres. Some
Il farms have half an acre, and some have as
many as twcnty acres.5 They are usually from
~ to 900 feet wide and from 500 to go feet
long There are no fences between them.
When 4 asked q French farmer how his farm
happened, like all the rest, to be 80 long and
narrow, hesaid:
has boon divided up 80 often. When q
French father dies he divides his farm, and
each one 81, his children has an equal share.
He always divides it lengthwise, 30 as to give
each one q. long strip. The long strips are
easily cultivated because We plough length
ways. Those strips always run north and
south, 80 that the sun can shine into the rows. y
Show large il your farnsn / asked.
ssMy fathers farm was 500 feet wide and g.
900 feet long. When he died my brother had
hall. Now my farm lie $50 feet wide and 2. 600
feet long. is quite q large farm. There are
many q farms raslch smaller than mine"
wv do you plant in it?n I asked.
ss5ee over there, ? he said, pointing TO what
ssened 70 be & gigantic piece Of striped carpet,
sis . strip Of wheat 90 feet vide. Then comes
Z strip Of potatoes Is feet wide. Then comes
40 feet Of 9ats, then 10 feet of carrots, 10 feet
s fectot onions, 5feet OF cabbages, and the rest
Y ~ flowers, peas, currants. gooseberries, and
little vegetables. y
Can you support your family on 4 farm $50
fe0t wide and 1000 feet long2" / asked; for tho
narrow strip seemed like . mans dooryard in
Americas
g~asssupport my fsmilyas he exclaimed. aWhy
ne farm is too large for US rent part of Il
now
.s.Bndt. your house, " I said. where Il tlats"
live in one house there. My wife and / come
out every morning to work and go IN at
night
ssHes. " wife" he continued, pointing to .
fset around do waist, .'ahe can do more work
Than ! can She pitches the hay to me on the
stack, All French women work in the field.
Why not? They have nothing TO do at home.''
This y true. The wife Of . French, English,
bone. They do not .'skeop house, like tho
wives OF American farmers They have no
houses to keep. The huta they live in are
Ike stables, The. live in the same building
Nth thor 3 hotA Nh hens and pigs. They never
live Like brntas. The handsome farm house
Oh BY itsslf, surrounded by trees and gardens,
does not exist IN France. They live no better,
md arc really no better OF than were the slaves
ot the south defora tho war. French farmers
lAgcs sitnsfods Abont two miles apart These
villages may have been built three hundred
4 years ago. The roofs are moas-covered, tho
houses are dirt, and remind one of q country
po0r-house in New England.
There are millions of farms In France con-
mining from . quarter of . acre to four acres.
4 lind that an acre and . half is about all the
most ambitions man wants. The rent for land
FL Always One-haH the CROP. The land IL
Mogth abopt 800 IN acre; Or, il in grape
This y why France is like . garden. mEng-
land there are as27, 900 landowners; in Franco
there are 7,000.0W landowners. The French
Inan on his " acres, with his barefooted wife
scuting grsin with = sickle by his side, is hap
spy and c0ntentod, because he knows no better.
iBuoh 4 degrading lifo would drive m Aneri-
farmer msd. The Frenchman thrives be-
$cause he spends nothing. He has no wants be-
yond tho coarsest food and the washings OF the
grape skins after the wine is made. Yes he is
gated wealth Of A,000,0O0 poor, degraded,
harof0Oted peasants makes France rich. The
ignorance Of the French farmer is appalling.
!! never saw newspaper ina French farm vii
sslage. Their Mants are no more than the wants
of 4 horse The Franohman eats the c~oarsest
food; about the same - he feeds his horse.
He will eat coarse bread and wine for break
1Ast; soup, bread. and wine for dinner, and
perhaps bread and milk for supper; he does
not know what coffee OF tea ia The negroes of
the south 1.-Two like kings compared to a French
farmer. Still, the Frenchman is satisfied be-
CAUSE he knows no better.
When I asked q French farmer who was Gull
2yating, his farm 15oby 1,5Oo) il he saved any
money, no said:
ssOha not much Igo to all the fetes. Ilaid
~ 500 francs $500 last year. I put 1t in the
AUkisse d,Epargne. =
= i thatss I asked Of the landlord
HhAt 10 the government savings bank. The
8 ], 600 francs, and gives them 81 per cent.
Tor its use. The peasant farmers OF France
have nearly $50, O0,O00 on deposit in these
savings banks. These poor, degraded, half
Tod farmers keep the French treasury full Of
This French farmer loves the republic, but
he people Of Paris hats it The empire made
pAxiK, Without the empire, trade is bad in
psrfs; 20 Pa1is sighs for some Louis XIV. or
MapoleonM 70 come and establish an expen-
aiye court again.
+ asked farmer near Dion il he preferred
the republic to the empira.
Eyes, he said, but we most Of all want
Peaca. We are sick OF war. II the empire
ccnaes they will want us to fight WI want to
stkysat home on our farms. Frenchmen do
not like to fight The Parisians want an en-
perot who viii collect millions Of dollars from
me country and spend it on opera houses and
public buildings in Paris"
I found Paris very dull. Trade there is
atsgnsrt. The people there are dissatisfied. I
would not hs surprised to hear any day that
the republic was dead and another empire de-
clAred. All that is wanting Is the right man
with old Bourbon blood in him and q few gen
nrnla IN tina nrmv Diion Macon Am;ape