The sun., 1891-05-25
Mushrooms and Toadstools.

As It becomes plain that the Western
farmers are going to make trouble for the
Republicans In 1892, those persons who be.
lieve that JEREMIAH RUsK is the one man
who can drive hay wagon through the
Alliance and rake In the agricultural vote.
must feel encouraged and strengthened.
Mr.. RUsK has great possibilities, and hope
sizzlcs in his rugged bosom. When he
came into tho Cabinet there was hardly q
chair for him at the council table. He sat
on littlo milking stool. so to speak, the
newest and humblest OF the departments.
He hos made space for himself since thon.
He has advertised his business thoroughly
and scientifically. He has scattered seeds
among tho just and tho unjust, asked for a
big appropriation, inspected meat exports.
collared pleuro-pneumonia sent his bug
hunters to wage war with chinch bugs
and Hessian flies. and encouraged beet
sugar From his modest place on the rc-
nomination train hc has pattod himself on
the back with affection and enthusiasm. and
told the open-mouthed ruralists what tho
Administration has been trying to do for
them. The Government Printing Office has
been dizzy with turning out his reports, and
tho Post ONCE Department has strained
itself in trying to carry them. His gor-
geous and surprising treatise on the diseases
OF the horse has filled the farriers with envy
and doubled tho demand for dictionaries.
Finally, the Fitty-flrst Congress provided
for tho transfer Of the weather to his de-
partment, 80 that he will shortly have a
chance to win tho confidence OF the farmers.
II he can only havo decent luck with his
weather forecasts, his area OF boom will
nightly increase.
The soothsayings OF GREELEY and Dun
WOODY havo too frequently failed to name
a winnor. II Mr.. RUsK can foretell tho
weather with such comparative accuracy or
good fortune as attends the predictions Of
tho Blue Hill Observatory in Massachusetts,.
for example, his star may riso high In the
granger heaven. but tho task is difficult.
The eye Of an old farmer or sailor man can
detect subtle Indications that often are be-
yond the skill os tho trained meteorologist.
From the first the farmers have becn
inclined to sniff ut tho Signal Service pre-
but IL they will believe in Govern
ment seeds they may be induced to believe
In Government weather. At any rate. the
bucolic Badger has his chance. The coun-
try regarded tho late Gen. MYER with q
certain affection when he had come to be
known as "Old Probabilities" II Mr.. RUsK
can get his name associated with the mys-
terry and wonder Of tho weather, and too
many billiards do not escape the ken Of his
prophets. he may be great man among the
tillers. provided. OF course that his horse
doctors knew what they were writing about,
md that his seed packers don't mix up
thin9s too much.
Uncle JERRY can lean over a Virginia
'ence and tell yarns by the hour. and this
will recommend him to the hayseed vote
good deal moro than his prowess in moving
while wearing a silk hat and frock coat.
He is an accomplished theoretical farmer.
out his notions Of local color need reforming.
We must warn him, too, that when it
comes to the scratch, the Alliance Republi-
,ans are likely enough to prefer lawyer to
! farmer. especially II the former have a
beard long enough to indicate that his in
sap has been drained off in the
work Of feeding it. Mr.. RusK has q fellcitous
,hin forest, but what Is It compared to
PEFFER's? Still. we would bid the Secretary
hope. II tho Republicans want a candi-
late calculated for plough-tail latitndes.
who is better fitted than he? But before he
oursues any further the work Of teaching
The farmers farming, he ought to explain
he grave charge brought against him in
he Washington dispatches Of our esteemed
the Indianapolis Sentinel:
"Unes Jrasr Rusx. the Secretary OF Agriculture has
rot his foot into It Over sixty thousand copies hts
eport have been sent out. ana Il is discovered
In nPkiC he ha,r
rror. The article Is illustrated by two handsome
atea showing tho edible and the other the poison.
us variety Of mushrooms. In some manner tho title
tho plates changed and places Uncle JERRY in An
fort to ring in tho poisonous variety tho American
eople as the proper kind for food. II 10 not known
hsther the entire edition Of 600 gwen out to
Democratic ConRressmen for distribution or not"
On the face Of it. the assertion here made |
eems likely to be the invention OF some |
,olitical enemy more anxious for the de-
truction OF the RusK boom than to be the |
ruth. There arc many varieties Of mush-
ooms, and. properly speaking, the poisonous
ungi resembling mushrooms are not "the |
'oisonous variety of mushrooms" It is
ifllcult. In fact, for anybody but an expert |
o distinguish between tho more uncommon
ariet!es Of wholesome and of poisonous
ungi, and 1.-TWO handsome plates" would
lot furnish tho inquirer with much infor-
nation on the subject.
II. however, UIcle JERRY has mixed up
is common mushrooms and his common
oadstools his boom must be regarded as
losed for repairs. No Toadstool candidate
an cyer twino himsel! around the heart OF
llc Alliance. The next Alliance picnic or
nrbecue may bear total witness to the con-
lslon Of those two handsome plates, II tho
ale is true. Yet, even II it Is true. nobody
Torth saving srom poisoning will depend
pom the Department OF Agriculture for tho
,cans o! telling mushroom from toad
tool. In his own interest, the Secretary
hou!d deny tho story II he can.
The experiments uf his department with
ceds and cereals. beets aud the tea plant,
,ny 10 successful or not. and nobody bo
luch tho worse. 1t was thought that tho
armcrs wanted representative in the
oh;nat nnd So thav I'm va opo md tl,. ,o,n |