The log cabin Democrat., 1909-11-17

M A was harvest in full swing. W M Those were fortunate who were able to take adVan' | tage of the brief glimpses of sunshine
 and dry weather to house their crops. | It is characteristic of the very dry season that the stalks have less | strength than usual, and are there fore easily beaten down by the wind and rain, with little power of recov- | cry left them. So long did they lie,
 in fact, that in many cases the weeds | grew up through the corn and pro- duced matted tangle which no | mechanical reaper could deal with. In consequence, therefore, the cOun- try was secured for haryesters, casual laborers. men, village women, and even children were hastily engaged so that it has been common to see bands of shearers at work exactly as they might have been seen 60 years ago Many were hoping that Septem7 Der would bring some settled weath- CT and occasionally it has appeared as though blue skies and wind were to predominate, but the hope proved illusory. Clouds quickly drifted across the sky and torrents of rain fell upon
 the kindly fruits of the earth. ' Harvest therefore, proved a tedious, difficult and costly business, and, un- tunate, the financial outlook is dark ened at the same time. Before the corn was practically ripe it looked better than we had reason to expect, as the wet had produced an enormous growth of straw. If by any chance there had come a good period of sun shine it is possible that the ears would have filled well: but from the reports of those who have threshed a portion of their in-gathering it seems to be practically certain that the harvest will be light in grain. With the proof of this comes the in telligence of serious drop in prices
 Of course something of the kind had been expected and was discounted be forehand During the late spring and early summer when exceptionally high prices prevailed for wheat, the English farmer was only lOoker-On at the game. and to some extent per haps a sufferer. Yet the situation is not without it's consoling features
 The price is still good for September, and shows what to the grower must be a gratifying increase of price real ized since last year. The movement that began with the century is, there fore. being carried steadily on. It is described in the agricultural statistics for 1908 Since the beginning of the century the price of wheat has shown a distinct tendency to higher level than that which characterized the closing years of the last century.
 Farmers will be well advised not to send their wheat to market at pres ent, as prices are almost invariably at their lowest in September, and there is every reason for thinking that they will increase considerably.
 The ong-talked-of effect which the extended use of motor cars is pro ducing has now become perfectly visible. In the volume of statistics for 1908 there is a new table which sheds an interesting light upon this side of the problem. This is a list of the contract prices of hay and straw at Colney Hatch and Hanwell asylums in the years from 1893 to 1908: 1893 and 1894 were times of great scarcity, and accordingly we find extraordinarily high prices rul
 ing. But in 1895 prices were resum- ing their normal. Last year and the year before we find that prices had fallen very considerably. It is the same with straw In year like the present, when straw is extremely abundant, this becomes a very serious consideration, and there would seem to be no getting out of the fact that in future years the value of fodder will continue to diminish. One sees the law working obviously enough in practice, especially in the neighbor- hood of London. There used to be men who made their livelihood by purchasing hay and other foodstuffs for the purpose of converting them into fodder for the bus and tramway horses of London. To large extent these latter have ceased to exist, and their place has been taken by motors which consume no corn, and thus tend
 to the impoverishment of the farmer. Another complaint frequently made about the motor is that it is causing
 serious diminution in the supply of
 manure that used to be obtained
 from towns. Railway companies car
 ried on the whole at very reasonable rates manure from stables and streets