The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1888-05-25
DOWN TO HARD PAN.


Inter-Ocean.
In the last Of those interesting star
if talks, of which Tom Torrev is chief
| spokesman, Edward Everett bale,
reporter and the Inter- Ocean publish
er, Tom gets "down to hard pam" az
he might have said himself, and dis.
courses of those small farming indus
tries which in the aggregate return
millions of dollars yearly to the people
engaged in them. What IL the mum.
Der of thousands, or, were it not better
to say hundreds of thousands. Of dol
lars spent every year in the purchase
of straw berries? And where il the
chief market for them If not in the
cities and towns? And what has in
creased the number of towns and cities
tenfold in thirty years II not the
growth of manufactures and the COM
merce attendant on them? Why are
there go few fruit farms in the South.
ern tier and so many in the Northern
tier, albeit the Southern climate and
soil is most suitable for fruit growing :?
Because perishable commodities re-
quire local market, and the South
until recently has been neglectful of
manufactures, and therefore devoid of
fiourishing towns and cities.
How many millions of dollars are
spent yearly in the purchase of milk,
butter, eggs, cheese And where do
these millions that flow toward the
farms start from if not from the centers
of trade an manufactures? What
would be the loss to the farmers of this
country if the manufacturing area Of
this country were abridged? What
would be the severity of the check
given to projected farming enterprises
If the area Of manufactures were limit
ed to its present condition by policy
which would friahten capital out of
further Investments in manufactures
These are questions worthy of consid.
Grafton. Leaving on one side the great
er farming industries of grain and
cattle raising, though even these find
the home market the most profitable.
what damage would ensue If the hay
crop, which was worth $44, 731 $50 last
year, had to find a market for its sur.
plus In foreign countries? Why has
the value of this crop more than doub.
led itself in twenty-three years, If not
by reason of the increased demand for
it by men who keep horses for pleasure
or business purposes. but do not raise
food for them The hay market is in
the towns and cities. Between 1862
and 1855 the value of the oats crop
was increased fourfold and almost
solely because of the increased demand
for this grain in the manufacturing and
trading centers of the United States.
The increased value of farm products
are in direct relation to the increased
values of manufactured goods. The
farmer prospers as the manufacturer
and trader prospers, retrogrades when
he Ietrogrades.
There are, as Tom Torrey says,
houses that have been built with straw
berries. furnished with eggs; farms that
have been bought with milk and but
ter, and there are lots of them. Why
lie the old ten-rall fence round the field
giving way to the barb wire. and the
picket fence round the farmers garden
giving way to the elegant iron paliside
around his lawn? Because it is easier
and cheaper to raise hay and oats and
sell them to feed the horses used by
the wire makers than to fell trees, saw
logs and split rails, because it is more
pleasant and profitable to raise eggs
eggs and strawberries and sell them to
the hands in the iron palisade factory
than to ''rive" pickets out of "twisty
bolts" The thousand wants created
where thousands of men are gathered
in great cities enlarge the farmers
area of industry, make the nature of
his toll less onerous, the reward of it
more ample.
The potato crop of 1855 was worth
three times as much as that of 1868
beholding which Mr.. Mills, of Texas,
says: "The farmers UNITED Statesl
are too prosperous; let US take the Is
cents duty off potatoes and let the New
Brunswickers and Nova Scotia farm
ers supply our market" But Mr..
Mills forgets that while the total value
of this crop has increased threefold I'M
der a protective tariff the price per
bushel has fallen. Producer and con-
sumner have alike been benefited. Mr..
Tom Torrey philosophers soundly,
when, after showing his friend the
fruit, egg. butter, -four and dairy farms
Of his neighorhood, he says: "Now,
do you suppose that all these Industries
would have been created If it had not
been for the machine shops and the
mills? No indeed! Don't you REM
ember::what it looked like in James K.
Folks time ?" AS q matter of fact
few country people made money by
selling roses and strawberries, gilt
edged butter, and fresh eggs to the
city people in those DAYS. The protec-
tive svatono had uot nrovidod tho