The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1884-03-21

tombstone of twelve years interest at
II per cent. Am now an attorney at
law, and am not prepared to tell how
to make farms pay; the purpose of my
remarks is to make farmers think more
upon this topic land to ascertain why they
do not prosper as they desire. I think
the farmers-of Southern Minnesota are
| as industrious and intelligent as those
of any part of the world, and as capable
of tracing cause and effect as any other
class of farmers. 1t is plain that when
ever misfortune exists, there must be
a cause, and consequently remedy,
but Blackstone says: "He who knows
| not the law, knows not the remedy"
Study the law that governs, and we
| will soon ascertain the remedy. 1t is
evident that we are doing the wrong
kind of farming, 50 we must seek the
right kind, for the road to Heaven does
not lead to He'll, and if our system of
farming leads to misfortune, it must be
wrong. We know not the resources of
oUf country until tested. Not long ago
America was considered unfit for hab-
ftatian hv other No. $500 'ha
has been trieua.
the whole world, and ST.
armament of nations. Thus
sections. A few years ago the older
States were passing through such an
n,Nn.I, nvnartnncsno opI
sunk in poverty. They changed their
system, and now laugh at their past fol-
ly and rejoice in prosperity. God
created nothing wrong, hence each To-
cality has been endowed with capabili-
ties for special production, and our fail
ures must be due to misapplication of
these endowments. The early settlers
of our section found crop of vegeta-
ton, which never fails, in our grasses,
and boundless supply of ;ch water,
but they unwisely tore up VS. crop of
natures, and endeavored to engraft
wheat scions into grass roots. Hence,
failure g been the history of wheat,
and the suit is mountains of 'busted"
hopes lrrels and barrels of tears; the
atmo -, re is full of wheat delusion
and disappointment. The early settlers
took out a patent wheat IS years
ago, and : p"ten' snever been in
We must mix brairs with our farm
ing and t:,ink more a1,a work less Be-
come as .amiliar with. e surround
ings as child does wi, re alphabet,
and then you will be better qualified
to determine the sort of farming to do.
Study your farms and counsel with your
neighbors> Hudson thought, and we
have the ST ..mboat, Morse thought end
we have thu telegraph, Edison thinks,
and we har many useful invent. ms.
The farm { New York and "thar
States tho .,,nnd westward hotN.e-
COW take! Y way!" 1 consider the
beef ques..,' settled, but the butter
question not. We must determine how
to use the milk and other products
from the COW. 1t is not an easy matter
to make good butter without proper
facilities; you might as well try to teach
legislator how to skate on roller skates.
I know something about what it is to
put jar of choice butter into a wagon
with the thermometer at 100 degrees
Fahrenheit, cover it up with green
grass and an old blanket for safe keep
ing, and when you get to the store
stand demurely by, and see the mer-
chant uncover a compact mass of yellow
grease and hear him remark: "Worth
eight cents pound" l consider the
creamery system the only safe way to
get butter to market safe, but creamer-
les to be successful must be well sup
ported. Mr.. Plymat closed with few
humorous remarks and was loudly ap-
plauded.
Mr.. VIM. Webb then addressed the
convention on "Our Failures in the
Past and Our Hopes for the Future"
The speaker said: 1 have little past
experience to judge from, beingan ear
ly settler of this country. l remember
reading an article few years ago,
which was prepared in st. Paul edi-
tors easy sanctum, in regard to the
early settlement of Southern Minneso-
ia; and importing that the people had
to endure few ofthe privations incident
to frontier life. This writer evidently
knew very little about the facts he
wrote. think that the Indian massa-
ere of 1860 set our part of the State back
ten years in its development, and other
privations were met which added to
this retard. Among these are, lack of
railroads, poor facilities to export grain,
the credit system, small means of far,S-
ers and high price of machinery.
Wheat was the best crop to raise then
because our soil and climate were
adapted to it, and it was the only pro-
duce that would bring quick returns.
Other things are possible now, and we
have brighter hopes for the future. We
owe much of our success to the Grange
organization, as it did good work il
resisting monopolies and producin
better shipping rates. Yet we did nor
do as good work in this organizatio1. :
as was possible, by way of securing
cheaper machinery and other neces-
saries by way of combined purchases.
We can secure better results at present
in thorough dairy business, but do
not believe in exclusive dairy farming,
because we are in the northern limit of
the corn belt and the southern limit of
the wheat belt, thus making mixed
farming both possible and profitable.
Wheat will always occupy appointment
place in our products, but dairy farm
ing must take the lead, because we have
a healthy climate and an abundance of
pure water. The creamery system has
done much for us in awakening an in
terest in dairy farming, and with the
central creamery we can do better than
each acting for himself, individually.
We have suffered much in the past,
but we have bright hopes for the future
if we work in harmony, and support
feeling of good will in the community.
Among the foreigners there is band
of brotherhood on account of nationali-
ty, and if we will criticise and correct
our own errors az well as those of our
brother farmers, we we will move in
harmony. There has been step taken
that win greatly assist us in our pro-
gre@. i refer to the Dairy and Pro-
duce Exchange. 1t is step in the