The record-union., 1891-04-27


the Prairie Farmer: ''Many of our farm
ers who are complaining of hard times
| are themselves alone responsible for their
condition. You know that it is not the
tariff that is to blame, nor railroad ex-
tortion,' nor 'unfriendly legislation,' nor
any Of the causes that are so glibly put
forward by demagogues and that are
echoed by secret and other political or
CARNATIONS. You know and l know and
every farmer who keeps his eyes open
knows that it is the farmers own ac-
tons, or sometimes want of action, that
has placed the majority where it is. / do
rot refer to those suffering from sickness
or drought or grasshoppers or cyclones or
similar accidental causes. as they are of
but rare occurrence ana cover but limited
territories as rule. | refer to the gem
eral conditions now existing amongst the
farmers of the West and Northwest or
those covered by the resolutions of the
political demagogues and their imitatorS
that have named.
These farmers are suffering from their
own WaStcfuIncSS, want of the use OF the
foresight which they all have, and that so
few show or practice.
This is strong Indictment, but it is d
true one, as | Snail shortly show. Go on
! to a hundred farms in any of the Western
! States at any season of the year and on
nlnety-nlne you can see evidences of
! waste enough to account for the hard
times the occupant is crying about. Fine
! agricultural implements are bought, used
once perhaps and then left exposed in
! the field or yard until needed the next
! year-then it is found that rust and decay
! have done their perfect work and that the
machine, perhaps a fine harvester or Il
thresher or the like, is useless, or if not
entirely SO is III such condition that it
Will take half its original cost 10 put it in
working order.
Look again, and you will see the
| wagon, the plow, the harrow, the shovel
| hoe, rake and harness in equally bad
order, and simply from sheer neglect.
| The waste of the money involved in these
| items alone would be handsome income
to the poor farmers wife! But she
| also is to blame for waste. Not a day
! passes but she throws away of food, or
! gives 1t to the hogs, more than enough
| to feed two families as large as her own;
that is, she wastes two or three times as
much as her family consumes! The
horses, unless it may be an especial
! 'speeder,' are neglected; the cows,
calves, sheep and hogs likewise. A shoe
! Is loose on the horse and is neglected.; the
next day it is gone and at least fifty cents
gone with it. The cows shiver in the
blast and shrink in their milk, or abort,
and Providence, instead OF the owner, is
blamed. The calves are hooked or
trampled on by the larger animals, and
bad luck is given as the cause of the
loss. The hogs die of hog cholera when
a dollar spent for proper preventive
would have saved the lives of the entire
drove. The hens likewise die of 'choI-
era, when they, too, could be saved by
little foresight. Eggs are lost by
weasels, minks, skunks, stray cats, and
the like, and many dollar thus kept
! from the farmers purse. After the crop
| is grown, One-quarter or more, as q rule,
! is allowed to go back into the ground. It
is first threshed out by the harvester,
! then in taking it to the stack, then in the
stack by birds, and rats, and other ver-
min, if not by animals allowed to raid the
stack. Then there is loss in the thresh-
! ing, sacking, hauling to market-in other
words, there is a leak from the moment
| the grain is ripe until it has left the farm
er's hands for good. If the grain is corn.
we have the same loss, only, however,
! occurring in different way. And so it
goes-waste everywhere-and still the
farmer wonders that he is poor, or not
| getting along AS a rule, in the first
| place he undertakes to do too much-at-
| tempts to farm 160 acres when he should
not have had more than forty. / claim
that with forty acres properly farmed,
taken care OF, he can make more net than
is generally done off the 160 acres.
Il can show you farmers in Indiana,
Illinois and Iowa, who year in and year
out make eighty to one hundred bush
! els of corn 10 the acre, while their inn
mediate neighbor will not average thirty
! five. The man that grows the eighty or
one hundred bushels to the acre saves it,
/ too, and has no cause to COM
! plain against the laws, or unequal
| taxation, or want of free COIN
! age Of silver, or against railroad rates, or
! the hundred other ScarecroWs the politi-
! cal demagogues are talking about Look
at our German farmers. They nearly all
get rich, and get it simply by carefulness
and saving and thrift and reasonable fore
| sight. 1t is Il burning shame that we
American farmers will not follow their
careful habits. Go on to the average
/ American farm and outside of the simple
acts of preparing the soil and sowing the
| seed, [ will defy you to find n single evil
! dence of economy, or care, or saving. It
/ is waste and destruction everywhere |
! have looked the field over from Eastern
| Ohio TO the eastern slope of the Rocky
Mountains, and / see the state of facts
existing, and find waste and want of
thrift nearly everywhere. and grieye to
see so few who will see the real cause
of the trouble. No matter what laws you
make-not even Stanford's fiat bond law
will help you in the least. IN your
selves, and there alone, is your salvation
OF course, all your readers Will not agree
with me in the presentation Of the case
Those that are most guilty will cry out
the loudest against my facts and induc-
tions, but for all that in their heart of
hearts they will know | have told the
truth. | firmly believe that the savings
that the farmers can make in the lines |
have indicated would, i'll five years, pay
off every farm mortgage in the North
west, and another five years would
make the same notwithstanding no debts,
no mortgages, their farms well stocke ed
and themselves and their families we'll
housed, well clad and well educated"
ARBoR DAY AND ITS ADVANTAGES
Arbor day is now one of the most inn
portant events Of the year, and the Gov
ernors of the several States give procla-
nations of the times selected for the
| observances. Though enjoyed as a holi-
! day, Arbor day is intended to teach and
| impress the younger persons the necessity
! of not only ornamenting the homes and
| public grounds with trees, eyergreens
! and flowers, but also to preserve and
perpetrate many varieties that are gradu-
ally becoming extinct. TO observe
Arbor day without contributing in some
manner to the accomplishment of the
objects intended and sought by its cele-
| bration is to waste valuable time and
| lose the advantages of united action, The
| Sunday-schools, the children of the day
schools and their parents should engage
in the work. The school yards, ceme-
teries, the roadsides, parks, lawns and
along the sidewalks ofvillages and towns.
give employment and amusement to ali
engaged, and but few years will elapse
| before the effects of Arbor day will be
| apparent in every direction.
| It is most important that the children
| be taught to take an interest in Arbor
! Nov TO anticirafa IL and no ,,rarara1 for