1867. 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



425 



prosperous, all others flourish ; and, vice versa, 

 ■when they are depressed, a languishing condi- 

 tion ensues. Agriculture is the basis, the 

 foundation of all other interests ; it cannot be 

 depressed without the sympathy of all others. 

 The farmers are the great consumers of man- 

 ufactured goods ; if their means are curtailed, 

 and they find it difficult to purchase, and must 

 economize to the utmost to live within their 

 means, the manufacturing and trade of the 

 country will most sensibly feel it. 



This state of things has existed for the last 

 nine months, and now exists, and must con- 

 tinue until the marketing of the present growth 

 of crops, which, by present appearances, will 

 afford some relief, and help to clear the mar- 

 kets of the surplus of woolen goods, which is 

 causing the low prices of our domestic wool. 

 The manufacturers and importers should have 

 foreseen, when in anticipation of an increase of 

 duties, they were straining every nerve to flood 

 our markets with foreign wool at the nominal 

 duty of 3 to 6 cents per pound, that a reaction 

 would ensue ; they ought not to have expected 

 that they could sell these goods, made from 

 cheap foreign wool, at a great profit, in com- 

 petition with the foreign importer of goods, 

 while they were leaving the domestic wool on 

 the hands of the grower, unless he would sell 

 at much less than the cost of growing it. By 

 this operation, combined with the other causes 

 named above, the farming interest, with its 

 onerous taxation, has been so cramped, that it 

 has been but a limited and poor customer for 

 woolen goods, and must continue to be so until 

 a change can better its condition, and place it 

 at least where it can receive a new dollar for 

 an old one. 



Every prudent man will wear his old coat 

 another year before he will run in debt for 

 a new one. But I would not be too hasty in 

 selling wool at present prices ; it does not pay 

 the cost of production. My surplus sales are 

 almost wholly confined to this article, and 

 where the help must be hired at present prices, 

 taxes paid, with all other contingencies, 1 

 know tlie fine qualities, well washed, cannot be 

 afforded for less than 70 to 75 cents per lb. 



Of all the protective tariffs we have had in 

 this country, none has had an Immediate oper- 

 ation. There have ever been depressing 

 causes that have postponed and delayed action 

 for a while, and so it is now ; but the time will 

 and must come when prices will advance, and 

 much more, in my judgment, than to pay the 

 interest for holding. The duties on woolen 

 goods are higher now than ever before, and 

 they should be, for the government excise 

 taxes are much higher than ever before, and a 

 protection against the foreign article should 

 be had. In order to give us a fair competition 

 in our own markets. The tariff of 1828, the 

 highest we ever had except the present on 

 woolen goods, and higher on wool than now, 

 had no material effect on prices for more than 

 two years. The country had over-traded, im- 



ported largely over the means for paying, and 

 the English manufacturers seemed determined 

 not to relinquish the American market, and 

 crowded their fabrics upon us, even at a loss 

 to themselves, hoping to break down and des- 

 troy our manufacturers, knowing that they 

 were then in their infancy, and if they could 

 not be crushed, would sooner or later become 

 their rivals, and hence these strenuous ef- 

 forts to annihilate them ; and from the vast 

 amount of woolen goods shoved upon our mar- 

 kets for the last twelve months by the foreign 

 importers, it savors a little of a repetition of 

 the old game ; but we shall survive it, as we 

 did before, and come out all right in the end. 



Whoever remembers the operation of the 

 tariff" of 1828, will take courage and not be 

 disheartened at the present aspect of the wool 

 and woolen trade. The trade was at a low ebb, 

 and so continued for a long time. Domestic 

 wool was a drug upon our hands in 1829, '30, 

 and many began to doubt the efficacy of tariffs, 

 and John Randolph proclaimed from his seat 

 in Congress that he would travel forty rod? 

 out of his way to kick a sheep. But business, 

 revived, the woolens were sold out of our mar- 

 kets, prices improved, and in 1831 wool ad- 

 vanced to 60, 70 and 75 cents per pound, — 

 nearly 100 per cent, in less than three years. 



I do not claim any such rapid advance un- 

 der the workings of this tariff, but I do claim 

 that no inconsiderable advance will take place 

 within the next eighteen months, and before 

 sacrificing ten to twenty cents per lb. on what 

 we now hold, I would hold a while longer, un- 

 less necessities are urgent. — J. W. Colburn, 

 in Co. Gentleman. 



Mt. Vale Farm, Vt., July 14, 1867. 



•WARM DRINKS IN HAYING TIME. 



Some years ago, a medical gentleman of high 

 repute published an article In the newspapers 

 of the day, urging upon all farmers and others 

 obliged to work much In the open air, to avoid 

 the excessive use of cold water, and use in- 

 stead warm drink. We all of us know that 

 many deaths and much sickness occur every 

 year by a too free use of cold water during the 

 excessive hot weather of summer ; and we are 

 convinced, not only from nature's reasonings, 

 but from experience, that warm drink Is less 

 liable to prove injurious, and will quench thirst 

 more satisfactorily than ice cold Avater. We 

 therefore urge all housewives to keep the tea- 

 pot on the stove when cooking, and send to the 

 men in the field a quantity of warm tea, with 

 milk and a little sugar added. This will be 

 more nourishing than water, will satisfy thirst 

 more completely, and men will not need to 

 drink of it so often as of water, and will con- 

 sequently receive no injury from taking It. In 

 hot weather the Interior system needs to be 

 kept at a temperature equal with or above the 

 temperature without, but the free use of cold 

 water chills the system within, hence the inju- 



