The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-07-09
T AIMING in
THE old DAYS
Profitable Then, 1t Ought to he
Mitch More SO These
Days.
CORN SOLD AT TEN E. CENTS :; y $
When Farming Was Much Hard
er Work Than Now ard
Paid Less. Nj
;oRN SOLD AT TEN CENTS,

X TO get a. clear idea OF what prosresB
agriculture has made, j Is necessary 70 4
look at the conditions under which farni-3s
Ing was done In the first hall of the cell a
fury. First. a. very heavy amount OF la X
Dor came upon the farmer in the clearing
I Of the farms, particularly In those states \
where there was little prairie and where
IA the timber was large and heavy. Then 4
log houses had TO be built for the family
and bles to shelter tho stock, and also
churches and chool-houses. for the men
who settled Ohio and, In fact most OF
our states. were men Of Ideas. who were
determined o5give their children educa-
ton and to minister to their HI CHER wants
as we'll asl{to the wants OF the body.
Then roads were to be built and Bird ges
constructed. as the mark t N those day.
was accessible only by wagon. and this
often at a long distance from the ia rms
Another hndrance to agricultural pro -SsS
gress was the character of the irnpleme arts a
with which the farming must be done.
They were crude and clumsy. mostly
made by the nearest blacksmith; and
even the hoes, instead of being the light:
steel hoes so ca sy OF operation. were a
cumslly forged by the hlacksmit til, and Y.
the handles were made and put In BY q
the farmer. and often these handles were
simply bean poles. H s3 iS
Another difficulty the farmers had to a
meet was In the markets, which not only y
were often at Ia great distance from
home but were also easily glutted, as the A
cities had not made growth enough to II
furnish a market for the surplus OF The
farm even when that surplus was small.
Fortunate was the man who was located \
within so miles of a good market for his
products and even then he som etimes Y
would find the market so glutted hat
after having drawn his load a long dis
lance to 1t, he could not dispose of the s
products. AS an Illustration Of his
a nelghbor Of mne--a man OF about my
own age-tells me that when he was is
years old he needed a title money and !
applied to his father fol. 1t. His father
said to him: ~ here IS the orncrib ]: she'll
all the corn you wish tai Ike the load to
Cincinnati and sell #, and YOU may have
al the pringS
mill. and had 1t ground and went to-;
Cincinnati 40 miles distant, with the
meal as found the rke e slu1sd
to dispose of more than hall his load
at that have forgotte,ll q,
with a commission man. s,,g MI
This vas not p on fcor. 1nt
all parlg ,e 4Os wien
Band can recai pr ces8 6liec iyed sset
pork sold once Eas% low s 81. Hal hundred
pounds, and the highest y. II ememperrS
pounds. This wa s cons erecl 5a Srema rk-
ably good price for those who Were VII hin y
so or 75 mi les; of a market. AM, ne
same season II which nork, opened
Z
in February TO si.I5. Eggs sold as low
as three cents "a dozen, and potatoes at
MARKET fiiaiis selling at Is cents 4 bushel.
When there was a local "a allure Of crop,
however, prices We're hig II; and ! { have
kneM Poafboes sp e se esess
Sc before the following spring. There
might be an abundant crop and a Ell IL
lin the market within 100 miles but farm
Tic wagoning oil SD potatoes that distance
would largely reduce8ths protlt,Ng 4Bs. 4. aiig3
The want OF trans portation to ma rketS5
scrty 81 the farmers, for L not only low.
cred the price or Increased the cost Of
marketing what they had to sell but ~
also made u ,!tst asrv Ms
at this time from New York, Philadel--
pha Baltimore and Waship1 ,.ss (Which
smarkets) was to wagon them cross TN I'll
Allcshany mountains. and as conss-s8
tluencc tho farmer pa Id more han dou bless$S
thefprices at which lie can now buy the sitSG
necessities OF life for the family. An
examination OF, old account books Kept
by my father In the los shows hat nal so
coffee, calico and muslin at nearly double y
the price at which they can now "a be 4
bought, Tho first clean clover seed . X:
ihulers had been invented at that time 4
and the only way to get, clean seed was
to tramp a flooring with four horses x,
half the seed was clean, and the char 4
was Invariably saved to SOW on the
home farm Waldo II. Brown In New 3s8
York Tribune. 5tSsf iSl9i5 x ys M