210 HENRY HILL GOODELL 



he pleaded the loss of his wife, who "did as much work as 

 two bullocks." 



Stuart Woods, in a recent number of the " Quarterly Jour- 

 nal of Economics," says : "The agricultural processes of dif- 

 ferent countries are among the surest indications of the 

 condition of the laboring population. In Germany it is a 

 common sight to see a cart drawn by a woman and a dog. 

 Where labor is dearer and money more plenty, or the 

 people a little easier, a horse releases both alike from their 

 unnatural task. In the United States, where labor is dear, 

 costly agricultural machinery is extensively used in spite of 

 the smallness of the farms. It is much used in England also, 

 because there the farms are large; and wages, although lower 

 than in the United States, still far exceed those of other 

 countries. In Russia, on the other hand, in Turkey and in 

 Asiatic countries, we find the rudest tools; baskets are used 

 instead of wheelbarrows, wooden ploughs instead of iron 

 ones; and gangs of spade-men replace both the ploughs and 

 the beasts which draw them. A part of this is no doubt due 

 to sheer stupidity, but much is also due to the price of labor 

 and the rates of interest." 



The products of the soil are as various as the climate and 

 geological character of the country. Fruits are abun- 

 dant, of excellent quality, and extensively used by the whole 

 population. Grapes are delicious, and within reach of the 

 poorest, selling at the rate of two pounds and three-fourths 

 for two or three cents. Apples, apricots, peaches, cherries, 

 and plums have their localities of abundant growth, but no 

 attention is paid to obtaining the best kinds, or improving 

 those already possessed. 1 



1 I am largely indebted to Hamlin's Agriculture of the East for my facts. 



