Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-02-28
FARMING ABROAD.
ITEMS CLEANED FROM THE consul
LAR REPORTS ON AGRICULTURE.
The Mexican FaTmeT-In BraLil-A blOu
for India-IsboT In JaDan-MethOds
Pursued Ia China-Dutch-
men In Africa

Washington Cor "hicag" News.
In Il small room Oh the third floor of
the state department building three men
are {, ntluually engaged in arranging the
MONTH, reports of tine | nited states con
suls located in various parts OF the world
A number of reports Ou agriculture and
the best methods of introducing aLricul
tuTal machinery Of American make in
foreign lands have recently been printed
invariably the COnsuls say the best
method of introducing such articles IS
through agents acquainted with land and
pcup.C, Oy ADVERTISING. and distributing
price currents and Catu Oguts among estate
Owners AMI large agrICulturists. and by
intelligent lTaNcnug agents. who should
study the requirements and TASTES Of each
district The nglish are considered The
Amcri, an rivals in this branch of busI-
ness throughout Europe English manu-.
faCturcrs have established permanent cN-
hibitiOnS OF their agricultural machines
and have introduced the system OF renting
them for the season i'll Oruer 10 make
| them known.
In northern Mexico all implements are
reported to he OF the most primitive de
scriptiOn. 4 crooked stick. drawn by
oxen or mule. scratches the ground a
| ing or sowing Hoes are heavy, awk
ward tools neaping is done with sicIIcs
and thrashing by treading out The Cul
livation of the sol in ManLaniIlo is sim
liar Not single farmer mauures his
| fields. With a simple iron pointed stick
| they bore the holes in the ground. ana
| the sced corn is cast in. In few DAYS
the young seed shoots up and with it in
Vulnerable weeds, which are removed by
hand. Farmers CON- lain that American
plOws are too heavy to lift. They prefer
oxen, because horses make them walk too
| fast
he most of the cultivation on farms in
| Brazil and especially where there is slave
labor. is with the hoe. an implement a
third larger and much heavier than the
common American field hoe These weigh
| from two to five pounds each. aud are
mostly imported from England in barrels
| ten dozen to a barrel one firm in RIU de
| Janeiro imports | 800 barrels year from
| England and the same { rm estimate that
600, 900 hoes are imported and disposed Of
annually in Brazil The upper half of
the hoe is generally painted in green or
some other fancy color. Sometimes they
are gilded treat britain. Germany and
| France have an immense advantage over
| the | nited States in exporting their manu-
| iactures 10 Brazil through their numerO 5
| and regular steamship lines.
Consul General Mattson, at Calcutta,
says: The small. American garden plOw
| which turns "a furrOw of eight or nine
inches and is so light that a IO-year old
| boy can carry it on his shoulder and a
| good sized pony can work il in the neld,
| is. in my judgment the very pillow 10 in
trOduCe into India, where an immense
market awaits the successful manufac
| tuTcr
The almost exclusive use of hand labor
| in farming operations in Japan and the
comparatively nominal cost of the rude
| native implements that fully meet the
| farmers requirements. seem to preclude
| t introduction Of American machinery.
! The latter is used only on the government
experiment farms. An American mer-
chant in Japan says he has tried 10 sell
nearly every description Of American i'm
| plementS. but without success. Now he
| has stock in his warehouse which has
| been on hand for fifteen Years Farm
| labor is so ch, ap that it Is practically i'm
| possible 10 underbid it with labor saving
! machinery.
The methods of agriculture pursued in
| China and the tools used are of the most
primitive form. Even an apology tor Il
| shovel Is seldom to be met with, while the
! hoe is long narrow. and heavy blade
| used for almost all purposes. The piUw
is a rough and clumsy affair. with only
one silt and only the point shod with
| iron The harrow resembles that used in
this country. and the rake. when used at
all. is formed of curved and split bambOO
but is frail end of little value farm
| carts or wagons are iutregucnt, very
| clumsy. OF solid wooden wheels. and
rudely fashioned Threshing is performed
as in the time of Moses. by spreading
| the sheaves on an earthen thrrShing
| noor and driving unmuZLled cattle Ol er
| the grain to tread it out Winnowing is
| done ON the same floor by pouring the
| grain from uplifted baskets for the wind
to drive away the Chaii, with sometimes
| huge fan welded by all assistant Coolie
| Sometimes the grain is ground between
mill stOnes-the under one stationary and
the upper turned by a bullock that travels
| N circle. Sometimes two women grind
| at a mill, as in the time of HerUd Of
Galiee. Nearly all burdens in China arc
! borne on mems shoulders. and thus crops
are transported. Labor is so cheap and
| cultivation SO subdivided that often every
| pant mas a sptCIdl culture, anu ualIS lTTl-
| CATION with liquid manure is applied
| especially with all food vegetables
! The African farmers are DutChmen or
| descendants of Dutchmen. They are con
| servative in all their views and. rs u rule
are prejudictd against too many innUva
| tions on old established customs They
| do not keep lace with the latest inven-
tions They still adhere TO the
| old-sryle farm wagon of twenty five years
ago the motive power of which is fur
! nished by teams of fourteen oxen or Of
| ten mules. These vehicles are capable of
carrying dead weight of not less than
| eight tons Efforts have been continually
made for The past quarter Of Il century |"
introduce improved agricultural imple
ments and machinery. but the taste Of the
tribes for war is stronger than their love
| for bucOic pursuits.
Throughout nearly all of Europe the
| Consuls say, modern machines are being
used.
The Largest Locomotive.
lLr CIr lie CIVIL