182 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[December, 



certain especial fabrics, woven on hand looms, 

 the last novelties in dress goods and uphol- 

 steries, the fine merinos and cashmeres, all 

 the fabrics for popular consumption, made in 

 the European mills, instantly adopt all the 

 changes of style required by European fash- 

 ions, preserving the cosmopolitan character 

 which is the chaiacteristic feature of the 

 fabrics of this age. 



The third great fact indicative of progress 

 is the diminished consumption of foreign 

 fabrics. In 1860 we imported in manufactures 

 of. wool, $37,937,190. In 1878, with a popula- 

 tion increased at the lowest estimate not less 

 than 12,000,000, we imported a value of S2.5,- 

 230,154, a decline owing in part to commercial 

 inactivity, but mainly to our increased capac- 

 ity to supply onr own consumption. The di- 

 minished importations in certain classes, even 

 in later periods, are remarkable. Even so late 

 as 1872 the value of our importations of ear- 

 pets was $5,727,183. In 1878 the value of the 

 importation was but $308,389. Our principal 

 import is in dress goods, chiefly for wealthy 

 consumers, amounting last year to $12,000,- 

 000, though diminished $8,000,000 since 1872. 

 This is the youngest branch of our wool man- 

 ufacture, and presents the field in which the 

 next victories over our foreign rivals are to 

 be won. 



In 1872 about five and a half million yards 

 of carpets were im])orted into this country; in 

 1878 only two hundred and seventy thousand 

 yards. We are making to-day six million 

 more yards of carpets than we were 1872, and 

 of a quality equal, if not superior, to any for- 

 eign carpets. It has often Ijeen asserted that 

 in Philadelphia 'more j'ards of carpets were 

 manufactured tlian in the whole of Great 

 Britain. According to the latest statistics 

 before us, it is now manufacturing fully twen- 

 ty million yards of all kinds of carpets annu- 

 ally. The latest published statistics of the 

 exports of the United Kingdom for the year 

 1878, are six million seven hundred and fifty 

 thousand yards. Allowing the same quantity 

 for their own home consumption, it gave 

 Great Britain a producing capacity in 1878 of 

 thirteen million five hundred thousand yards, 

 while the city of Brotherly Love has an annual 

 production of twenty millions. The Eastern 

 States will swell the total to thirty million an- 

 nually, showing that we manufacture and sell 

 more than twice as many yards of carpets as 

 the whole United Kingdom manufactured and 

 sold in 1878. While these statements might 

 appear incredible, they are, nevertheless, facts 

 compiled from official documents. Endand, 

 with a population of 30,000.000 of people, and 

 her dependencies on which the sun never sets, 

 with 400,000,000 more, cannot, nor do they, 

 consume one-half the quantity of carpets we 

 do with a population scarcely one-tenth in 

 number. 



OUR GRAIN CAPACITY. 



A Chicago journal says : Tlie statement 

 frequently made of late, that Western farming 

 lands are becoming exhausted by constant 

 cultivation, etc., is easily answered. It was 

 long ago demonstrated that by rotation of 

 crops, an occasional deep plowing and crop- 

 ping with clover once in eight or ten years, 

 the original fertility of the soil is not only 

 preserved, but increased. The crops for the 

 years 1877, 1878 and 1879 are the largest ever 

 harvested, and this is true of the oldest as 

 well as the newest cultivated land. The 

 officers of the Illinois Agricultural Depart- 

 ment estimatp that when the level lands now 

 in cultivation in Illinois are tile drained, the 

 total average production of the entire State 

 will increase something over thirty per cent. 

 That work has begun in earnest, and is now 

 being pushed forward rapidly. 



The surface soil of the Illinois prairies is 

 composed largely of vegetable loam, strongly 

 impregnated with lime; it absorbs from the 

 atmosphere readily ammonia and other fer- 

 tilizing properties, and is so deep that fresh 

 fertile soil may be thrown up from any depth 

 at which it is possible to plow. There are no 



stones in the ground; hence the plowing is 

 comparatively easy and costs the farmer Ijut 

 little. When the land becomes so valuable 

 that owners can afford to bear the expense of 

 enriching it with fertilizers, the yield of crops 

 will be greater of course, but until that time 

 comes, the production will be increased very 

 largely by other agencies. 



The Illinois wheat crop of 1879 is the 

 largest, and largest average per acre ever 

 grown in the State, being 45,714,661 bushels, 

 against 33,883,399 in 1878, 32,490,556 in 1877, 

 and 33,371,173 in 1864— the three largest pre- 

 ceding crops. It is claimed by some, especi- 

 ally the advocates of greenbacks ad libitum, 

 that the farmers are making very little net 

 profit, because of the low prices lecoived for 

 products, and instance that, although the 

 Illinois wheat crop of 1879 is 17,000,000 

 bushels greater than that of 1867, the smaller 

 crop had a greater money value by some $12,- 

 000,000. How little there is in such a claim 

 is easily understood when it is considered 

 that in 1867 everything the farmer had to ))uy 

 was from 100 to 300 per cent, higher; that the 

 price paid for labor was fully double, and that 

 freight rates were more than twice as higli ; 

 for instance, in 1867 grain freights from, say 

 Lincoln, 111., to Chicago, were 28 cents per 

 hundred, now they are little more than one- 

 third as much. 



Even as late as 1871 lumber from Cliicago 

 to Kansas City was $100 per car, now $40 

 would be regarded an outside rate; grain 

 from Kansas City to the Atlantic was $1.05, 

 now it is only from 33 to 35 cents per hundred. 

 The carelessness and extravagance of those 

 times added immensely to the cost of living, 

 and, taking all the facts into account, it will 

 be readily conceded that $1 has as great a 

 value to the people now as $2.50 did then, but 

 even at the rate of two to one, which is cer- 

 tainly far mider the mark, the practical value 

 of the wheat crop of 1879 is $78,861,278, as 

 compared with $55,160,000 for 1807. The 

 same rules that apply to the wheat are equally 

 applicable to all other crops. 



An important element to be considered in 

 estimating future production is the financial 

 condition of the State and the local govern- 

 ment of localities from which the increase is 

 anticipated. It is important to know whether 

 the people, the producers, ai-e now, or are 

 likely to be, loaded with taxation whicli will 

 paralyze their eflbrts and retard necessary 

 public improvements, or wliether their condi- 

 tion is such as will favor the making of needed 

 expenditures and a liberal development of 

 their resources. The farmers in these States 

 have, as a class, accumulated wealth very 

 rapidly; perhaps more so than any large agri- 

 cultural community ever had before, and, as 

 a natural consequence, much of extravagance 

 and local abuse of credit has followed, but at 

 the same time the financial afflairs of the 

 States and corporate subdivisions have, in the 

 main, been well cared for, and are now, as a 

 whole, in good condition; and there is but 

 little taxation except in cities. 



So far as the capacity of this country to 

 produce grain and provisions in large quanti- 

 ties and deliver them cheaply at the sea-board 

 is concerned, it may be safely assumed that 

 the past was little more than preparatory to 

 the future. 



GEESE. 



And Something About Them. 

 A farmhouse looks rather incomplete with- 

 out its usual surroundings of poultry in the 

 background, and nice well-kept poultry are 

 rather iin ornament than otherwise, and a 

 variety is the charm, adding beauty and utility 

 to the surroundings. None of our domestic 

 birds arc more hardy than the goose. They 

 are thoroughly aquatic birds, yet they will 

 thrive with only water sufficient to drink. 

 The goose will endure almost any amount of 

 cold without sufl'ering, and subsist on coarse 

 diet such as hay, frost-bitten grass and dis- 

 carded vegetation, without injury, whereas 

 our hens and chicks would perish. Still it is 



better to allow them some shelter from the 

 winter's severity and driving storms, and to 

 give a handful of corn each daily. In summer 

 they will take care of themselves, and should 

 be allowed some waste place on the farm— an 

 unclaimed swamp or boggy marsh. In these 

 places tlie grass springs up early in the season, 

 and is fresh and lender— just the food desira- 

 ble for young goslings. Goslings do not re- 

 quire much feeding if taken from the nest 

 early in the season, while the grass is sweet 

 and nourishing. They, however, need a lit- 

 tle start with unsifted meal, moistened with 

 water, adding a little salt. Goslings make 

 rapid growth, and consequently are weak and . 

 require protection from pelting storms. A 

 hard .shower will destroy a whole brood of a 

 month or six weeks' growth, simply from the 

 beating of the rain on their uncovered backs. 

 The wing feathers are slow in coming, and 

 when once fully matured, entirely cover the 

 back, the tenderest part of the goose. 



From their peculiar habits, which lead them 

 to inhabit places that are more or less subject 

 to accidents, from the vermin whicli infest 

 such grounds, they (especially the young) are 

 exposed to much danger, and liable to injury, 

 if not total extermination, by those enemies. 

 If the birds are allowed to frequent a pond of 

 water, the sna.pping-turtle also dwells there, 

 and lurks beneath the smooth surface of the 

 water, occasionally thrusting a head above. 

 The unsuspecting goslings launch on the ele- 

 ment which they are so well fitted by nature 

 to navigate, and immediately, ten chances to 

 one, a bird is seized by the leg, which iseitlicr 

 broken, or if the bird be young it is swallowed 

 entire. Many young are lost in this way, the 

 prey of lurking enemies, which do not trouble 

 the' full grown. In order to be entirely suc- 

 cessful with goslings, they should he kept 

 from such places, and confined in grassy 

 places or iuclosures, and supplied with fresh 

 water daily. When limited in their range, 

 they must he fed. Give them a coarse kind 

 of feed, such as cold, boiled samp, cooked un- 

 til tender and salted. They thrive better on 

 coarse diet than do chiekens. 



Wlien full grown, if the feathers be regu- 

 larly plucked throughout the season, they 

 should be given a trough of water to bathe in. 

 This practice of plucking feathers from the 

 live birds may seem cruel, yet it has been fol- 

 lowed for many years, and will continue to be, 

 so long as people enjoy the luxury of feather 

 beds. If done by an expert, and at a certain 

 time, when the shaft is fully ripened, tlie 

 plucking is rendered easy for both. The breast 

 feathers are the principal ones desired, and 

 tliese, on our common gray geese, come read- 

 ily. If allowed to remain tliey will fall off, 

 and thus be lost. Do not pluck the feathers 

 under the wings, or many of those coarse 

 ones growing on the thighs They are of 

 small value, yet afford a support for the wings. 

 In wrencliing away the quills, draw only the 

 primaries and leave the secondaries, as they 

 cover the back, while the former fold under. 

 Where there is any wild blood intermixed, 

 the feathers come liarder. As there is always 

 a certain knowledge to be acquired in the per- 

 formance of any labor, so also is there a 

 method in picking geese. Confine the bird's 

 legs, protect the beak (as some birds will bite) 

 by drawing a stocking over and down the 

 neck, lay the bird on the back across your lap, 

 witli the legs and tail under the left arm, and 

 witli tlie riijlit forefinger and tliumb proceed 

 to the cruel business. If every one who now 

 nightly occupies a feather bed were obliged to 

 pluck each feather one be one from the breast 

 of a live goose or gander, feather beds would 

 be few and far between^ Any one who lias 

 once i)lucked a Wvc old gander, or even a 

 odose. has had occasion perhaps to arrive at 

 some approximate idea of the amount of 

 strength they possess, more especially if a 

 blow be received from the wings. The better 

 way for tender-hearted and sensitive beings is 

 to rear a large brood of goslings and slaughter 

 tliem in the fall, and be satisfied with feathei- 

 beds from young geese picked after death.— 

 C. B. in County Genllevian. 



