The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1892-01-15
THE OLD AND THE NEW. !.
The Great Changes Which Have Taker
Place In the Business Of Farming.

THE OLD AND THE NEW.
The Great Changes Which Have Taken
Place In the Business of Farming.
Events during the last half century
have worked a marvellous and an inter
esting change in the condition of the
farmer both in Canada and the States.
The childhood of many now living was
passed amid rural circumstances widely
different from those which exist today,
amid surroundings which bear little re-
semblance to those of the present time.
In the early days of Canada the work
and life of the farmer was more severe,
but it was undoubtedly more independ-
emit, and in some respects happier.
Farmers then had no serious difficulties
about prices, no trouble as to land val
ues and the ups and downs of the great
world market Their work was what
might be styled domestic husbandry and
the raising Of wheat, rye, barley, buck
wheat, potatoes and all kinds of garden
vegetables largely for local consump-
ton. Much of what was produced went
to supply their own needs; the small sur
plus was taken to neighboring, or
more often very distant, town for ex-
change, the farmer receiving instead of
money for his eggs, butter, cheese or
hams, groceries, dry goods and sundry
articles.
The products of the farm, garden and
orchard frequently paid the salary of the
minister, the fees of the doctor or the
subscription price of the paper; while
shoemakers, tailors, wheelwrights and
pumpmakers travelled through the coun-
try and piled their respective trades, and
were often paid in products grown on
the farm or articles made by the thrifty
members of the family. Carpets, shawls,
bedspreads, table covers, cloth for gar
ments and many other articles of utility
were made at home, while innumerable
other things which are now purchased
from the nearest store were then made
in the farmers house. Agricultural i'm
plements were few and very simple,
easily made and easily repaired. Money
consequently did not circulate in the
country as now, and was. in fact, only
required to very limited degree. School
books, postage and taxes were perhaps
the main matters for which the farmer
required cash.
Now everything is altered. The farm
er is not an isolated individual, attend
ing to the welfare of himself and family
without caring very much about the
outside world, and without, perhaps, re-
ceiving great deal attention from it.
He is now part of the huge continental
and world wide agricultural machine,
grinding out of his land certain products
for the supply of nations far away, as
well as for the provision Of great centers
of population in his own land. Depend
ent upon the supply Of wheat in Russia;
anxious about production in far away
Hindostan; bordering over the POSSIBLE
ties of cheese export from New Zealand
or the results Of a seasons storms in
Great Britain. he watches with intense
interest the course of the worlds mark
cts and the fluctuating prices of prod
ucts, as recorded upon the boards of
the London. Chicago or Toronto stock
exchange.
The modern farmer buys as mach as
he sells. He handles as large amounts
Of money and requires it as much as
does the local shopkeeper or the city
merchant. Many farmers no longer
trouble about raising small products for
the supply of their tables, and as a con-
sequence their grocery bills are large
In the northwest of Canada. as of the
United States, farmers are compelled to
purchase their fuel and to buy materials
for the construction of fences and build
ings. In the old days they found the
material at their very doors. Little
bartering is now done. Everything the
modern farmer has commands price Of
some kind. whether large Or small, and
ready money is usually the medium of
sale. Yet this sum is often anticipated
and goes in payment of debts owing to
the grocer, dry goods merchant, agri-
cultural implement maker, furniture
dealer. or perhaps piano or organ manu-
facturer. An American writer, Pro-
fessor Rodney WEIGH, thus speaks of
the United States farmer: ''His place is
usually mortgaged and the interest due
on his borrowed money must be paid
annually. He often has to make sacri-
fees on live stock to obtain money to
pay his taxes
This sort of experience our Canadian
farmer. as a rule, has been fortunate
enough to escape.-Toronto Empire.