The Lancaster Farmer. 



Dr. S. S. RATHVON, Editor. 



LANCASTER, PA., OCTOBER, i881. 



Vol, zm. No. 10. 



Editorial. 



DEATH OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



In our July numbei' we recorded tho diabol- 

 ical attempt ou the life of tlie Pre.sident of the 

 United States, by an assassin named Ouilcau; 

 and now we painfully record his success in his 

 hellish design. After seventy-nine days of 

 conflict, in the "valley of tlie shadow of 

 death," the strong man succumbed on the 

 19th of September, 1881, and left the stcn-my 

 banks of Jordan, peacefully and tranquilly, 

 for the happy shore that lies beyond. Tresi- 

 dent Garfield was two months short of being 

 fifty years of age, and therefore was stricken 

 down in the midst of his usefulness, and in 

 the very prime of life. The manner of his 

 death is a disgrace to the age we live in, a 

 dark blotch upon the face of humanity, and 

 a reflection upon our free institutions. 



Perhaps no man has ever died in this* coun- 

 try, or the world, whose death has been more 

 universally lamented, or more sincerely mourn- 

 ed, than that of James A. Garfield, the 

 late President of the United States. There is 

 no record in history like unto it ; it thus far 

 stands out prominent and alone. This may 

 not be because he was the greatest man who 

 had ever died, but because of the manner of 

 his deatli; the absence of all rational provoca- 

 tion, and the long sufierings he manfally en- 

 dured in an unprecedented struggle between 

 life and death. Something may also be due to 

 the facilities with which important news is 

 now transmitted throughout the civilized 

 World, through the modern invention of tele- 

 graphy; whereby during all those eleven weeks 

 of prostration the hopes and fears of the nation 

 were daily brought to the notice of the peo- 

 ples of this and other realms. But more, 

 much more, is due to the fact that he was un- 

 qualifiedly one of the people, and by way of dis- 

 tinction, one of the common people. His life 

 and moral and intellectual attainments, his 

 elevation to the Chief Magistracy of the 

 American Union, illustrated the possibility 

 of a common man to reach the highest Chair 

 of State, and his worthiness to occupy it ; and 

 that too by the sovereign will of that body of 



the people of whom he was an integral part. 

 Kings, Queens, Princes, and nationalities 

 have manifested their condolence, and min- 

 gled their sympathies with those of his coun- 

 trymen, for tlie stricken family and friends of 

 our late dying, and now dead President; but 

 there was no sympathy more universal, more 

 profound, and, that welled up from a greater, 

 depth, than that which flowed from tlie hearts 

 of the common people. The wretch that shot 

 him do wn in cold blood, was not one of tlie com- 

 mon people; he would have spurned the idea of 

 being regarded as such. His aspirations and 

 ambitions were far otherwise, or he would 

 never have aimed his fatal missile against a 

 human life, only because it legally interposed 

 between himself and his unsanctificd- desires. 

 According to our Eepublican theorij there is 

 nothing to debar the humblest citizen— when 

 otherwise properly qualified— from serving in 

 any function to which he may be appointed, 

 or elected by the people. In view of this 

 theory how singular the coincidence, that two 

 of our Presidents —self-made men— who had 

 risen from the common people, should have 

 fallen by the bullets of assassins ; not assassins 

 from among the rabble, but intelligent, and 

 educated assassins. Fellows, no doubt, who 

 could not brook being thwarted in their aspi- 

 rations by one of such an humble origin. 

 God forbid that this should be the practice of 

 Republicanism, but the coincidence seems sin- 

 gular. These assassins were not Farmers •. 

 they were not Mechanics ; they were not 

 common Laborers; they were Nothingerians— 

 JV"i/ii(isf.s— although they may have claimed to 

 be gentlemen. And to show how utterly futile 

 have been their attempts to annihilate common 

 worth, they have only assured to their victims 

 monuments, and an enduring fame, to which, 

 under ordinary circumstances, they never 

 may have attained. How true it is that "man 

 propo.scs, but God disposes." Evil always 

 has, and, ultimately, always will, react against 

 itself. 



THE CROPS OF iSSi. 



The special Report, No. 38, of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, is to the following 

 effect: 



The Cotton crop from ten States, including 

 305 Counties, has an average condition, up to 

 the 1st of August, 1881, of 88 against 102 on 

 the 1st of August, 1880. It diminishes five de- 

 grees below what it was on the 1st of July 

 last. The highest condition is that of Florida, 

 which shows 100: the lowest is Texas which 

 is 79. 



Corn— The general average condition of 

 com on the 1st of August last, was 77, against 

 98 at the same date in 1880; on the 1st of July 

 last the average condition of corn was report- 

 ed at 90, which shows a great decline in one 

 month. The lowest condition is in South 

 Carolina, 41 ; the highest in "Wisconsin, 95. 

 The great drawback to the corn nearly over 

 the whole country was the prevailing drought, 

 to which has been added the LucusUi and the 

 Chinches in Illinois, Missouri, and Kansas. 



SrRiNa AV HEAT— The condition of this ce- 

 real ou the 1st of August was the same as it 

 was at that date in 1H7U: that is, 81 for the 

 whole country: in 1880 it was 88. New York 

 and the New England States report the high- 

 est averages. lUinoisand Iowa the lowest, on 

 account of the chinches and the drought. En 

 passo)U— dry weather is always favorable to 

 the multiplication of the "chinch-bugs." Wet 

 weather is detrimental to them. 



TouAcco— Tlie general average of this 

 plant shows a condition averaging 85 on Aug. 

 1st against 80 at the same time hist year. 

 Nearly eight weeks of drought since then, 

 will show a lower condition in tlie next re- 

 port. These averages are condensed from 

 thirteen tobacco growing States, the highest 

 of which is Wisconsin, 100, and the lowest 

 Tennessee, 77. Pennsylvania is reported at 

 %; 2 below last year, same date. 



Potatoes— This crop August 1, was 92 

 against 98, same date last year. The New 

 England States range from 91 to 107, whilst 

 the Southern Slates range from C9 down to 05. 

 The "Colorado Beetle " has been helping the 

 drought. New York and Pennsylvania ave- 

 rage respectively 96 and 92. 



Hay— The summer of 1881 has been re- 

 ported as favorable to the hay crop, and the 

 quaUty good. 



Pasture— At the date of the.se returns the 

 drought was prevailing to an universal extent, 

 and pastures are reported very scant almost 

 everywhere, with the exception of the north 

 Atlantic States. In Penusylyania in the coun- 

 ties of Elk, Butler, Monlour, Sus<iuehanna, 

 Union, Sulivan, Beaver and Bradford, the hay 

 crop has been particularly good, although even 

 in some of these the pastures have been injured 

 by dry weather, and in others by wet weather. 



Of course all these reports will put on a dif- 

 ferent face, in the Reports to October the Ist. 

 But as copious rains have fallen in many 

 places since the 1st of August last; the gen- 

 eral average may be better than is now antici- 

 pated. Perhaps it could not well be worse. 



INTERNATIONAL COTTON EXPOSI- 

 TION, ATLANTA, GEORGIA. 

 Joseph E. Brown, President ; Samuel M. 

 Inraan, Treasurer; 11. I. Kimball, Director 

 General; John W. Byckman, Secretary. Ex- 

 position opened October 5th, and closes Dec. 

 31st, 1881. The only World's Fair of the 

 year, open to exhibits of every nature, and 

 from every people. 



This grand conception of the South was 

 formally opened in Oglethorpe Park, near 

 Atlanta, Georgia, with imposing ceremonies, 

 on Wednesday, the otii of October, and it is 

 designed to continue it until the end of the 

 present year. Elsewhere, in this number of 

 The Farmer, will be found a spirited illus- 

 tration of the exposition grounds and build- 

 ings. A coteinporary who w;is present at the 

 opening, and who is a resident of that region, 

 graphically describes the location of this new 

 enterprise of the South, in the followihg terse 

 language, " Let the readers (of Tue Fae- 



