New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-04-07
SEcRET1RY MORTON AS 4 HUShER.

Amid Oh. yrccl, of famishcd Democrats anu
,bo crusb of inccniously named statesmen from
cooroia tbcrc comes like bugle note the an
norncement that Secretary Norton can husk TWO
hupdred bushels of corn in u day. More than
,bis-"I think nothing of husking two hundred
hrsh.Is in a day.r he says. The Secretary thus
snc,ks Of his husking proves to prove that ne 10
3, genuine farmer" All would he vel II nc
s,onnod here but he doesn't. lie adds hch
thc weather is propltous' The familiar use OF
this word propitious-ay, the throwing oi IL
about az If it were no more than an ear oil corh-
makes us doubt If the Secretary Is genuine
farmer after ALL The genuine farmer uses simpler
language when speaking Of the weather D.
sides the genuine farmer can hisk just a' muc"
corn when the weather ism I pfOpitlouS Dis VIC"
it is in fact husking corn Is one oil the 'hins'
,.,ic the Genuine and unmistakablc farmer loves
TO save till the weather Is not pfopitious IL W.
LIGHTS him 10 wait till along in November some
time. when the frCst is on the pun KIN ana o'hef
fruit and till there is what Is known IN the corn
rc,ion As "a right smart chance for snow
storm. and then to 90 ont in the field ana shueN
q few hundred bushels of corn while lie wonders
why boys don't stay on the farm. ia" weather.
propliious, indeed Secretary Morton VIII never
oct tLc Presidential nomination OF the POpullsts
at this rate
And beyond all of thi. We wish to call the
Sccrctary's attention to III" fact that there are
other things 10 do on a farm besides huskns
corn From the undue Importance when nc
seems 10 attach to corn husking in attempting 10
prove that he j. genuine farmer, We almost
fear that he thinks II farmer husks corn the year
around Common corn il not a monthly boomer
always ripe like the chattel mortgage Neither
does the genuine farmer store up his corn IN the
stalk so that he can 90 out and hQsk every time
a propitious day comes along. Can the secretary
mitch hay all day and then throw the dirt out OF
a new cellar after supper while he Is resting :
Does he know how q break colt 10 ride and to
teach "A calf 10 drink ont of a pail tan he
drive a moving machine and keep his fingers ont
If a sickle? Can he build bdrbcdwlrc fences =?
Does he know how 10 avoid crdb-applc tree agents
and bunco men with the patent-rlght trek
Does he know the Bohemian oat dodge when he
sees it? Can he set hen? Can me- break up
the scdentary desire in a hen that Is making
heroic attempt 10 hatch white door-knob ana
china ncst-cgg? And if lie were called upon TO
manpulate hen in either way would the Secrc-
tary have 10 wait about till the weather was
propitious?
We should not feel disposed to say 50 much
about this had not Secretary Norton himself be-
Sun IL by putting forward the claim that he is a
genuine farmer We do not even shy that II IL
absolutely necessary that the Secretary OF Agr-
culture be n genuine farmer. or course We be-
licve that the man who has this portfolio should
have some knowledge Of farming; he must under
stand that pumpkins are not planted whol" ana
have some other such broad general information
on the subject, but We cannot see that ii Is abb
solutcly essential that he b. able to husk two
hundred bushels of corn in proptiouS day. But
when he says he can, and further that this makes
him a genuine farmer, we conceive il our duty 10
look into the matter Il little. secretary Mort N
must either withdraw his claim 70 hcng Il genuin"
farmer or let the public hear from him some
Of these ether vital questions which wa have
raised And while hc il about il hc might tell
H. his plan for acc"lciating the reluctant motion
| Of an casc-oving hired Ran his il one Of the
most serious problems which always confront
the genuine farmer, and man who says, as the
Secretary does, that he can " husk more corn III
| a given time than any man west of the
| Missouri River and who boasts Of how he onc'
beat that sturdy farmer and lightning hu,ker. cN-
| senator Van Wyck, of Nebraska, In siN-hour
| shucking match ought to have some sovereign
! remedy for the lingering hired man who loves
| to seek the shade of some giant tree in tn, days
| Of midsummer and 10 sit pcnsivcly upon the
| plougll-bram in the mellow days of October and
| allow the floating gossomcr To icstOon itself upon
| bis person while he muses. of his happy childhood
genuine farmers wife