THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



21 



There is doubtless s<ich a thing as disin- 

 terested patriotism, or love of country, but we 

 never hare believed, and never ran believe, that 

 all manifestations of patriotism are in reality 

 what they appear to l)e. How can men, daily 

 subjccteii to the vicissitudes of the cannon's 

 fell moutli, indulge in wanton acts of theft, 

 rapine, pillage aiid destruction, and at the 

 Siime time be disinterested patriots? or what 

 must be their ideas of lieaveu and its beati- 

 tudes, and their fitness for such a jilace, when 

 they are ready to die ostensibly for their coun- 

 try, with their hands so imbrued in blood. The 

 farmers of our country are characteristically 

 men of peace, and when wars ensue they are 

 not brought about by the patienl and humble 

 tillers o^ the soil, who liir for humanity, l)ut 

 by scheming, intriguing, and ambitious idlers, 

 who esteem " the world as booty, and men as 

 brutes." 



Xothing but a state of moral and intellectual 

 culture will impress men with a true knowledge 

 of their resiwnsibilities and their rights, and 

 teach knaves that " those who br.eed the quar- 

 rels should be the men to light." 



VOICES FROM ABROAD. 

 "UERE AND THERE." 



The following extracts from letters to The 

 Express will be read with interest by our farm- 

 ers, coming as they do from two former resi- 

 dents of Lancaster county; not only on account 

 of the information they impart as to what is 

 transpiring in other parts of our widely ex- 

 tended countrj', but alsoon account of the sug- 

 gestions they make in reference to the com- 

 munication of items of information on the 

 farming progress of the county, which would 

 be interesting to local readers, but more «.^pe- 

 cially to those residing far beyond our limits, 

 but who still retain an affectionate recollec- 

 tion of their dear old homes. Should any of 

 our rural population contemplate a change in 

 their local habitat, they miglit find something 

 worth knowing in these letters, by way of com- 

 parison or contrast with their present stalun. 

 If we, however, owned a farm in Lancaster 

 county worth S'500 per acre, and it was paid 

 for, we would not trouble ourselves much 

 about cent, per cents, on first investments, or 

 large profit margins. Many of the farmers of 

 Lancaster county have come into possession 

 of their broad acres through inheritance, and 

 have subsequently imjjroved them without 

 counting the cost, and who prefer moderate 

 profits and healthful ease more than they do 

 the increa.sed labors, the responsibilities and 

 ianxieties of larger and more complicated 

 operations. These, of course, will be content 

 with what they have and remain where they 

 are. Others will act according to necessity. 



FARMING IN ILLINOIS— KEMINISCENCES OF 

 BY-GONE DAYS. 

 Maroa, Macon co., Ill, Jan. 16, 187.5. 

 Winter has laid itR icy hand upon us in earnest. 

 The thermometer on Saturday marked twenty-one de- 

 grees below zero. Kansas calls upon us for material 

 aid, and the good people re.spond cheerfully in money, 

 clothinc:, corn and other necessaries of life; and it is 

 ritrht they should, for seldom we see a iieople so pros- 

 perous and happy. Oureropsof all descriptions have 

 been Rood, with remunerating prices. The health of 

 our comnuuilty was never better. The doctors say, 

 "distressingly healthy." 



DWEM.IN'I! HOUSES, 



large and beautiful, are springing up like magic in 

 every direction, and few thrifty farmers are found liv- 

 ing in huts, or riding to chureli in a lumlier Wiigon. 

 Almost every necessary of the farmer hasgonedown, 

 ■while the produce of the farm, except wheat, has 

 gone up. 



DUB nOMR MARKET. 



Lumber sells at from $lo to #40perthou8and; coal 

 from $3 to $4 i>er ton; wheat, SOcents; corn,.5.5cents; 

 oats, 50 cents; while i)ork stands (irni at (i'-i gross. 

 These arc balmy days for Central Illinois, and if the 

 money obtained is properly used will prove a great 

 blessing. 



Thisdate, A. D. 187.5, reminds me that my flftieth 

 birthday is nigh at hand, and that 



FORTY TEARS HAVE PASSED 



since the managing editorof Tlic A' j-prcs.? and I struck 

 glad hands, not over the bloody chasm, but over the 

 silver stream, made alive, not with flsh, but with mini- 

 ature water-wheels and tilt-hammers, made and ope- 



rated by our own hands near our olil homes In Bart. 

 I pause for rcllcction, not for the return of those 

 " balmy days" of our boyhood, or to return to the 

 rocks and hills of my native State, to obtain a liveli- 

 hood; for eleven years' experience has proven beyond 

 all doubt, that Illinois stands pre-eminently over her 

 sister States in agricullure, and will continue so 

 through all lime to conic. She lias never sutlercd to 

 any great extent from any natural calamity, and has 

 never called uiK)n her sister States for assistance, yet 

 many of her inliabitants emigrate East, West, North 

 and South; but I will venture the assertion that no 

 other State can boast of so many 



" RKTCRXINO I'RODIGAI,8." 



Farmers who believe there is more money made, 

 and made easier, among the rocks and hills of an 

 E.isterii farm, which costs $:!00 per acre, than we do 

 on our .?;J0 prairie lands, wilt be interested in the fol- 

 lowing : 



Four boys, age<l from I'l to 20 years, raised during 

 the past season l,(i'i9 bushels of small grain and be- 

 tween 8 ,tKX) and 9,000 bushels of corn , besiiles potatfu's , 

 sorghum, Ac. We will now take :i'20 acres of land at 

 $'!0 per acre .and add $1,400 for horses and imple- 

 ments, and wc have f 11,000 capital hivested. 

 Cash sales for hogs and other articles - $2.21.5,00 

 Value of corn and oats on hand . . - - 4,01.5.00 

 Earnings off the farm -------- 240.00 



»(i,470.00 



Int. at 10 per cent, on investments $1,100.00 

 Taxes --.-----.- 125.00 

 Cash paid out for labor - - - . 140,00 



$1, .105.00 



Balance ---------- $5,105,00 



My own time has been spent chiefly on improve- 

 ments, as follows, with cost of material added : 

 240 rods of three-board fence - - - - $ 180,00 



40 rods picket fence inclosing house - - 140,00 

 One corn-crib holding 4,000 bushels of corn 250.00 

 One two-story dwelling house 10 by 28 feel 2,000.00 



Total - - - - $2,570,00 



Now, Mr. Editor, if some one owning $'i00 land 

 will show a better year's work, with the same amount 

 of capital and labor, I will consider the subject of 

 emigrating East. 



THE EXPRESS — 



long may it live to express its condemnation of bad 

 men in high places — send it regularly, as I claim a 

 life-lease upon it. Please find a ten dollar " stamp " 

 to pay the printer. J. W. F. 



"LIKE A LETTER FROM OUR OLD HOME," 

 Powell'SjStation, Tenn., Jan. 18, 1875. 

 [Extract from a business letter,] Enclosed find 

 post-office order from Knoxville for $8 for The ^'cekly 

 Express, which will pay arrearages and one year in 

 advance, I will try to be more punctual the ne.xt 

 time. Your paper has come very regularly and we 

 have perused its columns with a relish. It always 

 seems like a letter from our old home. As Salisbury 

 township, Lancaster county. Fa., is our native place, 

 the articles written by your Gap correspomlent have 

 always been interesting. Could he not give some 

 items of the farming, &c,, in Pequea Valley — how 

 many cattle are fed by our old neighbors, prices paid 

 for them, prospects of growing crops, how much 

 sowed, planted, Ac, what good horses are selling for 

 and general items in the valley ? C. H, S, 



THE FARMERS' NORTHERN MARKET. 



At the annual meeting of the stockholders 

 of the Farmer's Northern Market Company, 

 of Lancaster, the President, David Evans, 

 presented his annual report. It states that — 



"While reasonable profits may soon be expected, 

 they will not be as large as they ought, as long as 

 sellers will prefer to stand on the street with their 

 marketing, and people as willingly buy there as in a 

 place better adapted for the iiurp<isc. But let us hope 

 that what we have inaugurated here will soon be 

 follnwed in the three quarlcrs of the -city; and while 

 affording the public these belter facilities, will also 

 give the stockholders adequate renumcration for their 

 investment. Indeed, there arc no places in any city 

 of the same population, and laid out on the same 

 plan, that, affonl tiner and more suitable sites for 

 markets, than the places now occupied by the old 

 Indian Queen Hotel, in the eastern section of the city, 

 the Plough Tavern in the western section, and the 

 spot on the southeastern corner of South Queen and 

 Mid<ile streets, in the southern section of the city. 

 With the markets thus located, and two held on 

 Tuesday and Thursday, or Friday, of every week, and 

 the other op|iositc two on Wednesday and Saturday 

 of every week, there would be convenience afforded 

 to the cititizens of our city enjoyed by few ot her cities; 

 and, withal, create an impetus to improvement in the 

 different parts of the city not now to Ije realized. The 

 only objection that can tie urged to such a step is that 

 of a supiiosed decline in the value of property where 

 the market is now held. But this is not founded on 



good reason. The exiiericnce of other places is not 

 such. And if the case were such, who would feel a 

 justification in the pleu — that general prospi'rity and 

 convenience to the public should be sacrificed for the 

 bcni^fit of a few ? Let us hope that this great need 

 will s(K)n be suiiplried to the full measure of its press- 

 ing claims." 



The closing of the evening markets one hour 

 earlier is suggested, together with such rules 

 as will prevent the congregation of boys using 

 vulgar and indecent language, and the habit 

 of smoking in the market liouse. The punish- 

 ment of a f(!W transgressors by way of exam- 

 ple is recommended. 



The Treasurer's annual report shows the 

 financial condition of the company. The re- 

 ceipts from rents of stalls were $:i,23li.'.»-2 ; for 

 rent of restaurant, .?.'!")'i.."5S, making total re- 

 ceipts ."Silj.Wii.:!!!. The whole amount expend- 

 ded WiW S4,0rt4.4H, leaving the excess of ex- 

 penditures over receipts S4!iM.lH, which is 

 $1H2.28 more of a dificiency than in the pre- 

 vious year. 



For the current year the receipts are estima- 

 ted at - - - - - - 8.5,052.00 



and the expenditures at - - - 2,980.13 



Leaving a balance of - - - 82,071.77 

 which the report states may be applied either 

 to the reduction of the debt or the payment 

 of dividends to stockholders. 



The following persons were elected directors 

 for the current year: Benj. L. Landis, .John 

 Buckwalter, .Joseiih Samson, Isaac Powl, 

 John Hess, Clirn. Zecher, C. A. Bitner, Con- 

 rad Gast, David Evans. 



'FARMER JOHN." 



On page 24 we print a little domestic poem 

 which impresses an instructive les.son and is 

 veiy appropriate to the fin^sides of both 

 "ti>wn and country." We insert it in The 

 F.\u>iEU because we feel it will be welcomed 

 by the wiser class of our readers, and serve to 

 break the dull monotony of perpetually playing 

 upon a single string. 



We have long thought of devoting a 

 "corner" in our journal to the reception of" 

 effusions of this kind, but want of space, 

 heretofore, has prevented it. But, should we 

 conclude to make this a feature, of course we 

 must re.serve to ourselves the privilege of judg- 

 ing the quality of what should be iulmitted and 

 what denied. 



Many poetical effusions are only flights of 

 fancy and written to merely please the fancy; 

 still, there arc many of the true "ring,"" 

 which speak in more imprassive language than 

 the tame numbers of prose, and "Farmer 

 John" we conceive to be of that cluiracter. 



CANARIES. 



Rather more than three hundred years ago, 

 a ship partly laden with little green birds 

 captured in the Canary Islands, having been 

 wrecked near Elba, the birds made their 

 escape, flew to the island, and there settled 

 themselves. Numbers of them were caught 

 by the inhabitants, and on a<rcount of their 

 sprightly vivacity and the brilliancy of their 

 voice they soon liecamc great favorites, and 

 rapidly spread over Europe. The original 

 color of the canary is not the bright yellow 

 with which its feathers are generally tinted, 

 but a kind of dai)pled olive green, black and 

 yellow, either color predominating according 

 to circumsUvnces. By careful management 

 the bird-fanciers are able to procure canaries 

 of every tint between the three colors, having 

 instituted a set of rules by which the quality 

 and arrangement of the coloring is reduced to a 

 regular system. Still the original dappled 

 green is always apt to make its appearance, 

 and even when two colored birds are mated, a 

 green one is pretty sure to be found in the 

 uest For our own part we care little for the 

 artificial varieties produced by the fanciers, 

 and to our mind an intelligent bird and a good 

 song.ster is not one whit the less attractive 

 because the colors of its plumage are not 

 arranged precisely according to the fancier's 

 rules. 



