The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-06-19

Its trolley lines. They pierce the very
 heart of the country. They are bring
 ing the city and the country together.
 They afford the city man a means of es-
 cape. For the most part these lines are
 located with fine appreciation of scene
 ry. They have searched out the attrac-
 tive places. They have not despoiled the
 wayside, nor been unmindful of the To-
 cal sentiment and pride in trees and
 hills and streams. In this the promoters
 have been wise as we'll as humane, for
 the profit of a rural trolly line is largely
 in it's setting. Scenery has money value.
 It rests people. It is a good substitute
 for the theater and the doctor. It eX-
 bands ones sympathies, ventilates his
 mind, brings him into communion with
 something better than himself; it civil
 izes him.
 The agricultural condition is often
 judged by false or exotic standards.
 Too frequently it is judged by the city
 mans point of view. The farmer does not need sympathy. He is as happy and
 contented as other men. He only needs
 a fighting chance and he will get on in
 the world. He can take care of himself. New England lands are not worn out; they are only waiting for good farming. For one reason, the farmer suffers more than his fellows because he is so far re- moved from the selling point or the con- sumner. Too often the man who sells the produce gets more than the man who raises it. yet the man who raises it is made to assume all the risks and to bear the expense If any one must suffer in the route from the farm to the consumer it must be the farmer. The remedy is generally sought through cooperation in selling, but it will probably come through the opposite means-through greater ndividualization. The individu- al farmer must search out the individu- al consumer or the special market; and he must hold this market by supplying superior product. Nine tenths of the farmers cannot or will not do this they are the ones who must rely upon the middleman, and allow the general mar ket to dictate sales and prices Perfect cooperative selling is impossible among farmers. The very isolation and inde- pendence of country life tend to make men stand alone. Agricultural products are necessarily variable in quality and quantity They cannot be graded like shoe-pegs or buttons. Pooling of pro- ducts tends to reduce the products to and sameness. It allows lit- tie opportunity for individuality. The pool price is the price of the average product, not of the best product. The very best farmer cannot afford to pool his interests. Cooperative societies can do much in disseminating information on market problems; and they may con- tribute much to the cheapness of buy | ing. Their chief usefulness will be edu- cative Enlightened public sentiment is the real panacea for agricultural ills. rests ultimately With the in- dividual. As class farmers are mak- ing as rapid progress as other men; but | the modern educational impulse reached | them later than it reached the profes- sons and the trades, and they are not | yet living up to the full measure of their But, whatever ones phi ride along this New England road will | dispel the illusion that farmers are suf- f ferers
 Economic conditions have drawn peo- pie together in the last two generations. Cities have grown. Conditions are slowly changing. People are desiring to axtricate themselves from the city. There is a perceptible movement coun- tryward The country is improving and The readjustment must H. Brady in the Outlook.