Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1895-10-10
THE STEAM THREsHER AT WORK

moon comes up, and the katydids begin
their mutual determinations.
1t takes week to restore the house to
its ordinary aspect. In the meantime the
men are away helping neighbors. The
first Sunday after. the farmer counts his
grain bags and slows sundry samples
away in little bags and he reads the agri-
cultural paper and city weekly, porting
for hours over the market columns, and
nobody disturbs father, who is figuring
on mysterious elements that enter into
prices.
You bet i am going to stand out for
the three-fourths of cent" he announces
at the supper table, and he informs his
wife that prices have been skylarking
around the 80 mark all week, settling at
76A.
"Who cares for quarter Of a cent ~
says Miss Jennie. with toss of the head.
"The spectators do. They make mil
lions by juggling prices up and down while
the fools make dollars working like mig
gers" The farmer is pessimistic again,
and growls the whole evening. But no
one is much downcast by it.
In week or so he puts non his best
suit of clothes, puts little bag of wheat
in his pocket and drives to town in bug
gy. There he finds neighbors and the vii
lage buyers, who ostentatiously display
kilograms from the Board of Trade, tell
ing the ruling price. The buyers rush
about sampling this bag and that and max
ing offers. These are generally rejected un-
less q farmer is hard pressed for money
to pay mortgage. 1t Is miniature
Board of Trade with but one or two buy
ers. The farmer has his advices, too.
He talks learnedly of the crops in France,
Austria Hungary and the Columbia Riv-
er. and their effects on the market.
The report of the Hessian fly smut,
rust, or chinch bug makes him go up )
cents in price to the irritation of the local
buyers, who remind him of the surplus
in Italy.
"All goes into macaroni So does the
Swiss wheat, and you needn't talk to me
about Columbia River and California
products now standing in bags in the
field 1t all goes to London around the
Horn and sells at 3 to cents higher
there because it Is so dry the voyage
doesn't hurt it. It's Canada and India
and Russia that's going to hurt us, il any
thing is
Eyes. and Argentina retorts the buy
er. Reports from there"
| ooh, get out, that's on the other side
of the world, don't harvest for -four
months, and it doesn't enter into the visi
BILE supply yet"
"These farmers knows too much fol
their own good" growl the buyers. Mean
while the farmers stand together and per
haps go home without selling. The buy
er, In the end, makes his money on small
margins and handles large quantities
He is really allowed only a small com
mission. Only now and then does h
make a shrewder bargain or find farm
er who must have money.
"well, guess I'll go home and put II
winter wheat until the price comes roun,
my way" be announces as he drives
away, and he keeps up this assumed in
difference by not appearing for week
saying, when be comes back again: g
see there Will be nearly three billion
bushels this year. Guess the specula
tors won't starve IL my wheat lays wher
IL is. Got ii insured to-day" So he ha
the buyer ut his mercy, and in the en-
he gets the highest price IL he Is shrew,
enough to know what that is.
He rebels 365 days in the year agains
competing with the heather of Chin
and East India. where wheat 10 still