The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-07-09
.EARkllN(1NIN
THE OLD.8D.,||.AYS.
Profitable Then, 1t Ought to be
Mitch More soaThese
Days.
CORN SOLD AT TEN CENTS.
When Farming Was Much Hard
er Work Than Now and
Paid Less.

To get a. clear idea of what nrogrsss
agriculture has made, 1t Is necessary to
look at tho conditions Under which faff.l
ing was done In the first half Of the ceil5 4
t,lry.$ First a very heavy amount OF sla-
Dor came upon the farmer In the clear q
Of the farms, partlcularlytin those states
where there was little prairie and where,
tho timber was large and heavy .ifeil 4
log houses had to be built for the family
and stables to shelter the stock, and also h
churches and school-houses, for ! he meil
who settled Ohio, and, In fact. most OF 4
our states, were men Of Ideas who were &
determined to give their children ed uca- /,
ton and to minister to thar higher wants
as we'll as to the waits of the bod W.
Then roads were to be built and bridges q
constructed, as the market IN hose DAY X
wa accessible only by wa gon. and TINS u
often at a long distance from tho farf
Another hindrance to aglic VI tura y PFC,
gross was tho character OF tho implements y
with which the farming must be done
They were crude and clumsy, mostly
made by tho nearest blacksmith; and i
even the hoes instead of being the llgnt.S
steel hoes 50 rasy Of operati Ion, we're
clumsily forged BY the blacksmith, and
tho handles were made and put In ny 4
the farmer, and often these handles were q
simply bean poles. u ", NH
Another difficulty the farmers had to q
meet was In the markets. which. not only 1
were often at a great distance from
home, but were also easily glutted, as the
cities had not made growth enough to a
furnish n 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 Z
products, and even hen lie sometimes Il
would find the market so glutted that E
after having drawn his load q long dis
lance to 1t, lie could not dispose OF the !.
products. AS all illustration off, this,
d neig hborSof mine--a man Of q bout my \
own ge--tels mo that when lie was u.s.
years old he needed d little money, and
applied to his fatller.tor Il is ath g u
said to INN: .' 4 here As ne ornclb; shell
all the corn YOU Wsh 81 Take the loaa
. all the money it brings. tie sllelled -
|two-horse load of corli, - 90 2 to he 4
had grouanaaf W tl le
meal, lie found tic Smarket So glutted
that 10 cents a bushe 5was the hes cher
he could get and was 10 AZ; ablss
at that Il have forgotten now whether
lie drew the grelnander nome or3g Ieft1glt3S 4
with a commission ma Y. ss5 ss
all prod ucts. During the 'A0s U, 5s " nell \
was Old enough To- swork on q he farm
and 8, arssx g
pounds. and the highest N lenle.nDeis3
during this period was sa.a5 q hundred
pounds. This was consi dered Y ne marx
50 or Is miles of a market. And. the 4
same season In which pork opened & q
1896 in November the price llad ,,slroppsd
I'm February e slts ICES 81 so nt a ns
times were scarcely Worm drawing g
market, selling at 15 cents q 3s bus he'll.
When there was a local iaiur ,e, ~ frop
known potatoes to- sell at Is cents u q
bushel III the spring and ADVANCE y, 70
81 before the following sprung. .s5J ~ ere
in the market within 100 miles, but FARM
ers would not know II; and If they die. 9
1.-the Wagoning Of potatoes " that distance
argeg reapes
was SO one OF the chief factors in the pow
erty Of the farmers, for u not only low w.
cred the price or b q me cost bt
also made what they had to buy, which
came from an eastern market very high
Prize a ThG from 9n Yofk FfP'h i soHas
phia, Baltimore and Washington (Which
Seem to have been the best eastern
marketsl was to- wa gon them g cross tne
Iiuuence the farmer paid more than double
the prices at which he can nov buy the
necessities OF life for the family AN
By my father lii the '4os shows that nails
sold at 10 and II cents a, pound; sugar
coffee calico and muslin at nearly double y &
the price at which they car, now !, ~
bought Tho first clean clover, seeds@I
ever saw cost so a bllshel, as no clover
hullers had been invented at that time
10 tramp a nooring with four horses
for several days. and then only about
half the seed was clean and the chat a,
home farm--Syaldo F. Brown in New
York Tribune. ts..s IS