Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1905-12-18
BucoIic Fads and Follies.

Commenting on TINS, II observes tHil
the statement is not in any way re-
markable, for there never were any
Belgian hares on sale as food product.
though three years ago it was prom
ised-or threatened-that they would
'glut the markets." Just where d
craze like the Belgian hare mania de-
fnitely ends is rather hard 70 say, but
clearly it has ended when its fruits are
no longer offered in the markets
When ping-pOng balls were first asked
for in store that didn't keep tneiil
any more it marked the END OF lid'
0bscssion; ard this case is ike uiito l..
The cult of the Belgian hare certainly
had some noteworthy features. Inc
creatures flesh was to supply US WITH
an excellent grade Of canned chicken
Or might he eaten under its own name,
for that matter: while its skin was the
ra,v material for imitation Sealskin.
The amazingly prolific qualities of
these animals, and the extremely small
exnense of bringing them to maturity,
we're always a trifle hard to reconcile
with the fact that they cost ten or
fifteen dollars pair. Still, prices were
prices. and the only possible danger
time become as common as cats, and as
cheap But, instead of fulfilling its pre-
dictcd destiny, the Belgian hare has
within few years vanished from the
ken Of oven the back pages of the
magazines.-New York Post.
Certainly those who were fooled by
The Eelgian hare craze are not likely to
forget their folly. 1t is unkind. of
course to rub The vinegar into their
wounds, but it is human nature. 1t
may DE some consolation to them to
realize that the fate of the Belgian
hare is by no means Il unique one in
cur agricultural history. There have
been numerous other bucolic bonanzas
which have failed to yield the prom
ised fortunes. Mountains have their
sailed mines; cities have their gold
bricks and other bunco games. while
farming sections have had Other things
than Belgian hareS i'll which fortunes
were easily figured out on paper but
never realized in cold cash. Almost
everybody who lives iii tn" country and
owns an acr" Of ground has been
daZZled 1T one time or another by some
alluring yet-rich-qlic X scheme. Fortu-
nate are those who have never tried to
put such sche mes into execution. The
belgian hare j.; merely one Of Il con-
IL. fe- ,,.,1
and vegetable, through which Il fortune
has been promised To those who are
willing to combine a little surplus
capital and industry.
Our New York contemporary which
mas a little fun at the expense of the
Belgian hare enthusiasts thinks they
were not any worse off than those who
have contemplated the establishment
of chicken farms. AS to those alluring
chicken farm pictures of which many
have dreamed it has this to say: One
can begin his calculation on d basis of
the minimum number of fowls, assume
that they will lay only half as many
ggs as such birds actually do. assume
that half the eggs never hatch, that
half the chicks die in infancy, that half
the remainder are carried off by hawks
before they are marketable. that an
epidemic of the pip or other ailmcnt
makes clean sweep Of half the
loultry-yard biennially. and that the
ruling prices for broilcrs are cut in two
and expenses doubled-Still the calcu-
lati"n points uncrrnGly to snug for
tul.c 1T tn" end Of ten years. ana three
or four chickens to the square foot Of
ground still left over"
Similarly, every on" is familiar with
tn" fact that an income Of several
an ordinary c"llar, if only it be planted
with mushrooms. The ginseng craze.
which was based perhaps, on more al
Turing promises than any of its prcdc-
cessois, is only now passing. The de-
partnent OF Agriculture, which had
promptly issued a bulletin warning
prospective growers that the ginseng
Industry was mighty uncertain" was
long in receipt of a half-hundred letters
day from all parts of the country i'll
DURING about the prospects, If 15,O00
year took the trouble to look for
trustworthy official information. what
must have been the number who took
the advertisers statements for
granted?
Then there has been the angora goat
GRAZ, and the raising of foxes for their
iur and Of SQUAD for the metropolitan
market. OF course, many people have
found money in poultry. with eggs at
40 cents u dozen. and some have prob
ably made money out of mushrooms,
ginseng. goats, foxes and squad. But
| IL all had gathered in the money
dreamed of and promised in these lines
IF business. fortunes as large as that