Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1890-01-10
THE FARMER AND THE GROCER.
Farmer No. 8 Insists that Fertilizers and
High Living Keep the Farmers Down.

Farmer No. b Insists that Fertilizers and
High Living Keep the Farmers Down.
To the Editor of the Free Press;
To come right to the point, few years
ago one farmer said to me, he chad rather
buy fertilizer than hire man by the month
to draw out his barn yard manure He
claimed it paid better. Some two months
ago this same farmer told me he was about
through buying fertilizers because it don't
seem to pay in the long run" Farmers
have fooled themselves terribly in buying
so many things that were "gong to pay for
themselves the first season." Glib agents
and manufacturers have fattened on our eN
pense.
The inflated currency of % years ago en-
gendered habits that must be dropped. We
have been too extravagant in everyday i'll
building, in general living. We are trying 20
make our hard time incomes keep pace with
war time outgoes. 1t cannot be done,
Land is the basis of our prosperity just as
gold is the basis of currency. Land low
and hard to sell means retrenchment for
land owners. Tell me how farms are selling
in a certain section and | will tell you how
the business thermometer stands.
Your wholesale DEALER says: ''The
average farmer is paying out as much now
as he did after the war when prices for al
kinds of produce were high. lie pays fully
as much for extra running expenses, and as
much more to keep up with some of the
fashions as he did then. No merchant or
dealer of any kind can make his business
pay in that way 1t is often valuable to
know how others look at us and what they
think. When we meet so much truth, said
in SO kindly a way it is well to profit by it.
FARMER.
Farmer No. 6 IndulGes in Some Pcrs onal
Remarks.
| To the Editor Of the Free Press:
notice in a recent issue u report of an
interview with a Burlington dealer giving
the reasons, or few Of them, why farm
| ing does not pay in Vermont.
Now the first one, Mr.. Roberts, ought to
know all about the business for he has re
Gently sold his farm for about one-third
what it originally cost him. Can it be that
he was one of the shiftless ones, notwith-
standing the fact that when he was in the
business the price of farm products was
much higher than now?
Regarding the item about squashes why
doesn't Mr. K. state what quantity he pur-
chased in the fall at a price of threolourths
of a cent to one cent per pound and that he
Why doesn't he tell that on what he did
purchase he lost by decay from 40 to 80
per cent. Would it benefit the farmer to
have kept his crop and met with the same
| loss Mr. K. has been in the grocery bust
ness long enough to know that it is the eX-
ception rather than the rule that he is
obliged to send to the large cities for that
class of vegetables early in the season as
this. be does not stotc that in order to
keep squashes successfully ii is necessary to
construct a building especially for the pur-
pose at cost of $500 or 800; that as n
rule the prices paid and quantity consumed
would hardly warrant the farmers going
into the business with much hopes of profit.
Mr.. Roberts does say one thing that is
new to me, and ! presume it will be TO men
of some experience like j. j. II. Gregory,
Peter Henderson and Others that squashes
will grow anywhere, where a sheep can
climb, etc. The fact is il order to produce
paying crop at ordinary prices they re
quire rich land clean cultivation, and
great deal Of care for the first six or eight
weeks. or the bugs will have the crop and
the farmer the experience, aud it means
work for seven instead of six days in the
week during the insect season.
he speaks of grapes us a crop which can
you can have the seasons made to order; the
past one was a little out of gear however,
tor the vines refused to bear in this vicinity
except to limited extent, but a crop of
grapes does not represent great amount of
money considering the cost. They were
sold III Boston all through the fall for 30
cents Der large basket, the same size the
Burlington grocer was charging - cents
for.
The wholesale dealer says of course the
farmer cannot make it pay, he buys his
flour from the West instead of growing his
own wheat. Now it seems to me that the
farmer is, or ought to he, entitled TO eat as
white bread rs the city merchant and this can
not be done with home wheat Toured in the
common mill; in fact if he wants -four equal
to the Western it is necessary to take his
wheat to Jericho and then pay for having
it done by giving one bushel in four or five,
which, taking into account the expense of
transportation, brings the wheat so
low that great many have
thought there was more profit in grow
ing other crops and buying their flour.
The farmers Of Vermont have eaten dark col
ored bread and can do it again if necessary,
but they do not want to set such before the
city merchant If he should by any chance
be obliged TO eat at his table.
The dealer says he could not buy a carload
of Vermont oats. What is the reason
Simply because the oats grown in this vi
cinity are not such as he can use, they Were
a very poor crop, weighing from % TO 2t
pounds per bushe. | suppose the lazy
farmer is to blame for this in some way,
The farmer is extravagant in paying out as
much now as he did after the war when
prices for all kinds of farm pro
ducts were high he pays Us much
for wagons, harness etc, etc, the
fact is they are not doing it. We are
obliged TO use the articles named and are
buying what are needed at from thirty t.
forty per cent less than at the time hi
speaks Of. In fact. Mr.. Editor, the remarks
of those persons remind me of the farming
experience Of u gentleman who returned tC
it after years of absence in which he haC
accumulated fortune in the city. II,
proposed to show the farmers how to make
the business pay they were lazy and poor
managers. He has been farming for tire,
years and now says he has great respect fol
one who can make living from the farm
We are growing pork for five cents pei