64o 
SEPT. 5 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
there was a greater death rate among the bags than my 
doses of Paris-green would account for. 
Has any other cultivator had raspberries destroyed by 
wasps ? [Yes. Eds.] They multiplied on my grounds so 
as to render my last pickings worthless—eating off the 
crowns of the berries. I am now on the lookout for co¬ 
operative paper factories with malicious intent. 
Manistee County, Mich F. harmer. 
Live Stock Matters. 
GOOD POINTS OF SHETLAND PONIES. 
The R. N.-Y. has frequently spoken of the ever-ready 
market for good dwarf animals, particularly horses and 
cows. Ponies are in great demand, and there is certainly 
more money in breeding them than there is in breeding 
car horses or misfit trotters. The Shetland pony is the 
best known dwarf on this side of the water. We think 
our readers will be interested in the following notes on 
Sbetlands, which appeared in the London Live Stock 
Journal: 
“In 1700 Brand visited the islands, and writes: ‘They 
have a sort of little horses called Shelties, than which no 
other are to be had, if not brought hitherto. Some will be 
but nine, others 10 bands high. Although some are such 
that an able man can lift them in his arms, yet will they 
carry him, and a woman behind him, eight miles forward 
and as many back. Summer and winter they never come 
into a house, but run upon the mountains. If at any time 
in winter the storm be so great that they are straitened 
for food they will come down from the hill when the ebb 
is in the sea and eat the sea-ware, as likewise do the sheep 
—which winter storms and scarcity of fodder bringeth 
then so very low that they recover not their strength till 
about St. John’s Day (June 24th), when they are at their 
best. They live to a considerable age, as 26, 28 or 30 
years ; and they will be good riding horses at 24. Those 
that are of a black color are judged to be the most durable. 
The ways being deep and mossy in many places, these 
little horses come through when the greater would sink 
down. Yea, I have seen them leap ditches very nimbly, 
and climb up mossy braes and hillocks with heavy riders 
upon them, climbing even upon their knees when they 
could not get the height overcome. The Shetland ponies 
are foaled in the fields, live in the fields, and die in the 
fields.’ 
“ No particular care was taken of the young Shelty. It 
was left to range with its mother over the common and 
two-year-old colts and fillies were found still sucking 
upon their dams. There would be littlfe use trying to 
groom them before they are two years old, for till they 
reach that age their covering is wool rather than hair. 
They are then locally called ‘rools,’ a ‘pellet rool’ being a 
youDg horse with his shaggy coat hanging in tag locks. 
Another writer, dating 1870, gives this account: ‘The 
horse is accredited as the noblest of the animals, and the 
Shetland pony, for intelligence, stands at the head of all 
horses. Just notice the difference between the Shetland 
and Iceland ponies when they are embarked, or disem¬ 
barked on a voyage. The Icelanders are as hard to get in 
and out of a ship as so many swine. The Shetlander 
pricks his ears, cocks his tail, and mounts or dismounts 
a gangway, as if he had been getting up and down stairs 
all his life. Some years ago Mr. Hay reared a perfectly 
well-formed pony, which measured only 26 inches high, 
not so tall as a moderate sized rocking horse. If ever 
there was one this was a horse that, in stable phrase, 
would “canter round a cabbage leaf.” ’ 
“ The chief demand for the Shetland pony has been for 
pit work. Their superiority to all other breeds consists in 
their great relative strength to height. They can be used 
in thin seams; where larger ponies could not travel. 
And, though shorter in the leg than any other kind, they 
are wider in the body and shorter in the back ; and able to 
do, with ease, as much work as average ponies one hand 
higher. Their docile temperament enables them to be 
trained for pit work in as many days as it takes weeks to 
teach a Welsh pony. * I cannot,’ says Mr. Brydon, ‘ recall 
a single instance when a Shetland pony has had to be with¬ 
drawn from the pits as being wicked and unmanageable; 
a very frequent occurrence in other breeds.’ In a year a 
good pit pony will travel 3,000 miles and * shift ’ 3,000 tons 
of coal. The lot of a pit pony is certainly a hard one; yet 
they are well fed, and the equable temperature of the mine 
keeps them free from all catarrhal affections. Generally 
the Shetland pony from his tractable disposition is a 
favorite with the driver ‘ the putter boy.’ Only Bret Harte 
could do justice to some of the tales of the pit boys and 
their ponies in their combination of roughness and pathos. 
A pony will follow its driver like a dog; and mourn, like 
a forsaken maiden, if he comes not. And boys (big boys, 
too) have wept like children over their ponies killed in 
accident even when human friends have perished as well.” 
FRUITS AND TROTTING HORSES; A GOOD SPAN. 
In reply to The Rural's invitation to say something to 
its readers with regard to how I came to make the “novel 
combination” of growing fruits and raising trotting 
horses, the combination appears more novel at first sight 
than after closer inspection. To raise fruits successfully, 
one must have fertilizer. The farmer’s fertilizer factory 
is his barnyard. The only stock the fruit grower needs is 
horses to do his work. Why not use them, then, to run 
the manure factory ? Some may ask, why not raise draft 
horses ? I answer, for the same reason that a man run¬ 
ning a thrasher does not get a 80 horse-power engine to do 
the work which can be done by a six horse-power one. 
Then again, in the case of the horse one cannot let 
the steam run down when he is not in use. The draft 
horse may do for the grain farmer who may. plod along to 
market and get there to-day or to-morrow, but the fruit 
grower must, many times, drive to meet the train or boat 
at a rate of speed that would ruin the legs of a draft horse. 
Another reason is that a hig horse cannot walk under the 
limbs of the trees, to do the cultivating. What we want 
is a “little big horse,” We want quality. We want, too, 
a horse with intelligence and I like a horse which shows it 
in his countenance. This quality I want for myself and 
buyers are willing to pay well for it in the stock I raise to 
sell. I want a horse that has been bred for generations 
“for a particular object.” I want a horse whose ances¬ 
tors have done something useful in the way of speed. The 
noble American trotting horse fills the bill. Nothing else 
does. 
Most of the work on a fruit farm is done from April 1 to 
October 1. Much of the work of raising horses is done 
from October 1 to April 1. Thus the two branches of 
farming fit together. If a man wishes much leisure he 
should choose one or the other branch. If he wishes 
steady and remunerative employment he may combine 
the two. 
I wish to say a few words on horses and hired men. 
What farmer has not been exasperated by hired men 
bringing in the horses trembling with fear, with broken 
lines and bleeding mouths. I have come to the conclusion 
that every person who raises sensitive and intelligent 
horses should have a pair of oxen with thick hides, long 
hair and dull natures. I have thought of adding to my 
business, that of raising such a breed and know they 
would be in demand. I have had a hired man come to 
me, after abusing a horse for 10 straight hours, with the 
information that the animal was balky or a puller that 
made his “ back lame.” Oh 1 that men or horses knew 
more ! It would not do, though, for if horses knew a 
little more they would kill a man who treated them so 
cruelly. If I succeed in establishing such a type of cattle, 
how many readers of The R. N. - Y. will agree to take a 
yoke of steers ? I want to find out what the demand 
will be ? I will enumerate some of the advantages of 
such a type over those used at present. 1. They would 
not run away. 2. They wouldn’t balk. 3. They wouldn’t 
jump when you say “ whoa,” and hurt the driver’s back. 
4. Their hides could be split six times instead of once to 
make American protected boots. Come, now, who’ll buy? 
South Haven, Mich E. A. B. 
Farm Politics. 
Here it is proposed to discuss with freedom and fairness, ques¬ 
tions of National or State policy that particularly concern farm¬ 
ers. The editors disclaim responsibility for the opinions of cor¬ 
respondents. The object is to develop a true and fair basis for 
organization among farmers. Let us think out just what we want 
and then strive for it. 
PRIVATE OWNERSHIP OF LAND. 
Is It Ancient ?—The Rural New Yorker does not 
seem able to get rid of the Single Tax question. Several 
of its readers have protested against its summary attempt 
to dismiss the moral issue involved. The Rural New- 
Yorker protests that it “ does not even pretend to have 
reached any final conclusion on the Single Tax question, 
nor do63 it wish to take any particular side Id the dis¬ 
cussion.” It thinks, however, that the drift of recent 
articles by Single Tax men, printed in its columns, is 
“ towards national‘zation or confiscation of property in 
land, the most ancient , and hitherto ‘ sacred ’ of all prop¬ 
erty.” Where did The Rural New-Yorker find that his¬ 
tory ? Let it give its authority for the declaration that 
absolute private ownership is the oldest, or even one of the 
oldest, systems of land tenure.—Standard. 
I see by the New York Standard that The Rural con¬ 
siders that the Single Tax tends toward confiscation; on the 
other hand, our aim is to prevent the confiscation of the 
rewards of labor by land owners. Those who chiefly bene¬ 
fit from indirect taxation are land owners in cities who 
hold vacant lots for a rise; while those who suffer most 
are the farmers whose personal property and improve 
ments are all in sight and fully assessed. The Single Tax 
would enormously benefit farmers by transferring taxa¬ 
tion largely to city lands, and increase the purchasing 
power of all the farmer produces. A. M. burroughs. 
New York City. 
R. N.-Y.— First, a few words with regard to the “ drift ” 
of recent articles contributed to The Rural by advocates 
of the Single Tax scheme. We see no reason whatever to 
alter our opinion that the drift of these articles is “toward 
the nationalization or confiscation of property in land.” 
We invited discussion on the topic from both sides; but, 
beyond such bald assertions as that contained in Mr. Bur¬ 
roughs’s note, the apostles of the new doctrine have been 
silent. To the imp vrtial critic it appears to saddle on real 
estate all the national, State and municipal taxes, and to 
make the nation virtually the landlord of every acre alike 
in city, town, village and country-side. Wouldn’t that be, 
at least virtually, nationalizing the land; and wouldn’t the 
nationalization of the land without compensation to the 
owners, or those who are ordinarily considered the owners, 
be equivalent to confiscation? At present land is taxed 
only by the State and municipality, and, as a rule, “ city ” 
real estate bears as heavy a burden of taxation as rural 
real estate in proportion to the value of both. Wnile in 
some of the old settled States, like Massachusetts, where 
the towns are becoming congested with people while the 
rural districts are yearly falling behind, the value of town 
and city real estate may, in large areas, or perhaps even in 
whole States, be nearly as great as that of the rural land, or 
even greater, this is not the case in the vast majority of 
States, and in the whole country the value of the non mu¬ 
nicipal land greatly transcends that of the municipal, the 
word municipal being here used, not as “ belonging to 
the municipality,” but “ embraced in it.” Now, putting 
all the taxes of the country on the land alone, would vastly 
increase the present taxation of real estate; but the Single 
Tax advocates propose to increase the taxes on city land 
by taxing the “unearned increment” of its value, and 
most of them maintain that this increase would be so 
great that there would be no need for the State or nation 
to increase the taxes on lands in rural districts; indeed 
many of them, like friend Burroughs, dec are that such 
taxes could and would be decreased. This is mere asser¬ 
tion, however, and assertion is leagues away from proof. 
Speaking again merely as the mouthpiece of the vast 
bulk of the farmers of the country, The Rural once more 
asks for proof instead of assertion. 
With regard to the morality of the Single Tax scheme 
we merely reaffirm that it has not as yet received the in¬ 
dorsement of any creed in Christendom Indeed it has 
been recently officially condemned by the Roman Catholic 
Church, which embraces more Christians than all other 
Christian creeds combined. Now, the moral principles and 
doctrines of all Christian denominations are substantially 
identical; they differ only in matters of faith and worship. 
The oldest trustworthy records we possess of any settled 
community are those of ancient Egypt. In the time of 
Joseph—according to the Hebrew Bible, 1700 years B. C.; 
according to the Septuaglnt 2,810, and according to Bunsen 
about 2 675—the land was held by private owners, and 
doubtless had been for ages In the XLVII. Chapter of 
Genesis we learn that the Egyptians, after they had ex¬ 
pended all their money in the purchase of food during the 
seven years of famine, first surrendered their live stock to 
the government for more food, and then, in the second year 
of the famine, surrendered all their land also, except the 
priests who were fed gratuitously by Pharaoh. Verse 20 
tells us, “And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for 
Pharaoh ; for the Egyptians sold every man his field.” As 
was customary in other parts of the world in later days, 
the people were allowed to retain the land as tenants of the 
monarch, at a rental of one fifth of the “ increase” or pro¬ 
duce. That land was held by private owners in Canaan 
even at an earlier date may be learned from the sale of the 
cave of Machpelah to Abraham about 200 years earlier. 
While the above are the earliest records of the private 
ownership of land, it must be borne in mind that at that 
epoch—about 4,000 years ago—Egypt had been a well-set¬ 
tled country for at least 2,000 years, and had made great 
advances in civilization according to the ancient standard, 
and the same can be said, though to a less extent, of the 
neighboring land of Canaan. The real history of land, how¬ 
ever, commences with the division of people into tribes, 
for the division of tribes involves distinction of territory. 
Originally, no doubt, whether the first appearance of man 
on the earth dates back about 6 000 years according to the 
Biblical account, or several hundred thousand years or 
more, accdrding to the opinions of most scientists, land, 
like air or water in our own times, was of little or no 
account, because it was so abundant in proportion to 
the wild, scanty and thriftless population. The gradual 
advance of the human race to the state of civili¬ 
zation attained nowaday by some of its sections is well 
represented by the present condition of other parts. The 
earliest age \^hen men lived solely on wild fruits or on 
the produce of the chase is represented to day by most of 
the aboriginal Australians or some of the tribes of wild 
American Indians, while the second or pastoral stage is 
represented in modern times by the life of the Tartars 
of the Asian steppes. In both conditions an enof' 
mous extent of country is needed to support a small 
population. Un ’er such conditions each tribe jealously 
guarded its own territory from intrusion by others; but 
within it all the members of the community had an equal 
and unrestricted right to use it. But at a very early period 
the higher races discovered a better meins of subsistence 
than that afforded by the natural produce of the earth. 
No record remains to tell us at what period in human 
history the artificial cultivation of crops was discovered. 
Whenever agriculture began, however, it necessitated more 
settled habits, and the consequent change of life, combined 
with a fuller and more regular food supply, promoted a 
rapid growth of population. For some time, no doubt, 
owing to the abundance of unoccupied land on all sides, 
the idea that it was common to all still prevailed ; but as 
the population grew denser, the apportionment of land in 
separate and small districts gained in favor. The tribe, 
augmenting in numbers and territory, subdivided itself 
into villages, each of which soon came to exercise a nearly 
independent sway over its own district. A community of 
forests and pastures was still maintained ; but the special 
skill and labor needed in husbandry soon led to the appro¬ 
priation by each family of a portion of the arable land as 
their exclusive property. Still, however, the village rulers 
changed every year the lots assigned for culture, so that 
one year of cropping followed by a relapse into natural 
growth for a succession of years was the usual rotation. 
It is at this stage that contemporary writers first de¬ 
scribe the tenure of land in ancient times, and there are 
numerous illustrations of its survival in modern days. 
But as population increased and the unoccupied lands di¬ 
minished, the necessity for better and more frequent culti¬ 
vation of crops became greater, for in the absence of ma¬ 
nure the land inevitably became less productive. As the 
demand for labor increased, the land was more definitely 
appropriated to single families, for those who worked 
hardest were unwilling that those less active should share 
the products of their labors. Under such circumstances, 
a stage would soon be reached where pasture lands alone 
would be held in common, while arable lands would be¬ 
come permanent possessions of different families. When 
any district became too thickly populated to allow of allot¬ 
ment of land in severalty, the tribe either migrated to 
some other district where unoccupied land was abundant, 
or cast off swarms to seek their fortunes elsewhere, or left 
some of its members to obtain a livelihood by service with 
the others or in trade. Private property in land thus first 
became established. 
