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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
NOV. 28 
WHAT ABOUT THE PEOPLE’S PARTY? 
IS IT DEAD OR “ONLY WAITING?” 
WHAT THE POLITICIANS SAY ABOUT IT. 
Alliance Leaders Talk. 
“ In Kansas the result is generally satisfactory to all parties. Each party realized all 
reasonable expectations, hence all is serene and everybody happy. It was amnsing to 
note how carefully studious the party managers were not to ignore the farmer, and 
henceforth the hayseed will continue to be an influential factor in Kansas politics and 
have his legitimate say. The contest in the State was mainly between the People’s party 
and the Republican party; the Democratic vote was mainly a passive quantity except 
where fused with the Republicans, especially for judges. The Republicans and 
Democrats combined have about two offices to the People’s one. They also elected seven 
of the nine judges. 
“ Another result of the recent election is the beneficent'effect on the Alliance organiza¬ 
tion, ridding it of an element that was calculated to breed discord and leaving it 
absolutely free from any political entanglements. The Alliance in Kansas to-day is 
strictly a farmers’ organization and absolutely free from any political embarrassments, 
notwithstanding the efforts of the old parties to make It appear that the Alliance and the 
People’s party were one and the same, for had that been the case they would have 
captured at least 80 per cent of the offices. The People’s party and the Alliance are as 
distinct and independent of each other as the G. A. R. and the Republicans or the Knights 
of Reciprocity and the Democratic party.”—Kansas Farmer—Senator Peffer’s paper. 
“ The elections are in no sense indicative of the strength of the People’s party. We are 
not particular about capturing State offices. Our purpose is to win legislative seats. 
The Republicans are making great claims of gains in Kansas, but there they combined 
with their ancient enemies, the Democrats, in opposition to the People’s party and the 
campaign was the most bitter I ever witnessed.”—President L. L. Polk, Farmers’ Alliance. 
“ With gains of 10 per cent in Kansas, South Dakota and elsewhere, we have reason to 
be elated. The third party Is a great tidal wave of reform, and can’t be kept back. The 
Alliance cannot even keep it back. It will go right ahead and consolidate the individual 
organizations, and the Alliance itself will become a part of It; not that the Alliance will 
aid the establishment of the People’s party, for it will go right on studying economic 
questions and accomplishing reforms.”—Congressman Jerry Simpson. 
“ Some of the old, lonesome party hacks are sucking a good deal of comfort from the 
hope that the Southern Alliance leaders will not come into the People’s party movement. 
I dislike very much to spoil their happiness, but from personal conversation with many of 
the Southern men, including Presidents Polk and Livingston, I can say that they have 
cut loose from all old party ties, and that they will be among our best workers in the 
campaign of 1892. Prior to that they are organizing, educating and drilling their forces 
ready for effective work all along the line.”—Congressman John Davis, Kansas. 
What Republicans Say. 
“ The Alliance as a political movement 
has culminated, but it would not be wise 
to say or to act on the assumption that its 
masses have changed their opinions on 
economic questions or progressive politics. 
They have simply seen that the plan adopt¬ 
ed by the leaders was not a wise one.”— 
Kansas City Journal. 
“ Here in Kansas the People’s party will 
dwindle down until it reaches bed-rock, 
which is the old union-labor party that 
united the disgruntled, soured, anarchistic 
and socialistic elements of our politics. 
This, in our judgment, will be the final 
end In 1892 of the People’s party of Kansas 
that brought to light so many leaders that 
could not lead and made so many prom¬ 
ises it could not fulfill.”—Topeka (Kansas) 
Capital. 
“ The sotry figure cut by the Farmers’ 
Alliance in the recent elections in the West 
is as conclusive proof as could be demanded 
that the grievances of which the farmers 
complained are merely transitory in their 
character. A year ago the whole West was 
determined in its demand for cheap money, 
but now nothing is heard on that subject. 
The Kansas farmer, who is busily market¬ 
ing a crop of wheat twice as large as he 
had last year and a crop of corn three times 
as large, at prices as good as he has known 
for nine years, has no time to talk about 
the money sharks of Wall street, or to 
devise grotesque financial schemes by which 
money shall be cheap to everybody.”— 
Philadelphia Inquirer. 
“ With the rejuvenation of business and 
the return of a new era of good crops and 
higher prices for farm products, the Alli¬ 
ance and the third party movements which 
have grown out of it, have rapidly declined. 
As we have seen, it was unable to make 
itself felt at all in the recent elections. It 
was born in poverty and reared upon mis¬ 
fortune. It cannot live in an atmosphere 
of prosperity, and so is dying a slow and 
miserable death. It may be ruled entirely 
out of account in future political calcula¬ 
tions.”—Detroit Tribune. 
“The collapse of the Alliance was to 
have been expected, though few expected 
it so soon. It has a single powerfully good 
effect. It clears the atmosphere. The 
Democratic party will substantially in¬ 
dorse the free-3ilver and free-trade dogmas, 
making the Presidential issue a clear one 
of protection and honest money for the 
people.”—Chicago Journal. 
“ The vote in the West seems to indicate, 
then, that those who prophesied a brief life 
for the Farmers’ Alliance as a political 
factor were right. Like Jonah’s gourd, it 
flourished for a day and then wilted, leav¬ 
ing the West as safely Republican as it has 
been in the past.”—Philadelphia Press. 
“The example of the States that voted 
this November will be followed all over the 
Union next year. The third party has 
ceased to be au element of strength or In¬ 
terest in American politics.”—St, Paul Pio¬ 
neer Press, 
What Democrats Say. 
“ The People’s party has gone to pieces 
because its commanding spirits steered it 
straight upon the rocks. Will the members 
learn from the eventful year to join Demo 
crats in sound reforms, or will the majority 
go back to the Republican organization and 
work for currency contraction and trade 
restriction ? Will Kansas farmers vote for 
billion-dollar Congresses and closed mar¬ 
kets in Europe, after the lesson of this year 
in what European demand for breadstuffs 
is worth and in where taxation falls.”— 
Kansas City Times. 
“ Democrats of the South should take 
timely warning from this complete collapse 
of the independent movement elsewhere. 
It should admonish them that the great 
National party which sympathizes with 
them in principle and object is the only one 
that can successfully oppose Republican 
misrule, corruption and extravagance next 
year. They can hardly, with the results 
before them, be guilty of the folly of de 
serting their only reliable allies at the 
North.”—Atlanta (Georgia) Journal. 
“ With the decline, if not total disappear¬ 
ance, of the People’s party before the 
next Presidential election, the farmers of 
the great West will be able to throw their 
resistless weight into the political scale 
in behalf of tariff reform.”—Philadelphia 
Record. 
“The action of Alliancemen In the States 
mentioned in Tuesday’s elections ought to 
be a warning to Southern Alliancemen 
against tbe folly of following such politi¬ 
cal prophets as Congressman Simpson and 
Senator Peffer.”—Savannah News. 
“ Kansas is just as sure to go Republican 
in 1892 as Maine, and there will practically 
be no Alliance left except in a few Southern 
States.”—Nashville American. 
“It is entirely probable that for some 
years the Democrats in Kansas will have 
even less influence in the government than 
heretofore. They have sacrificed the char¬ 
acter of their party without gaining any¬ 
thing substantial in return. Their folly 
will not be imitated in the South, where it 
would be far less excusable, because the 
risks taken would be greater, and we ex¬ 
pect the third-party talk, which was so 
frantically eager only a few weeks ago, to 
quickly die out.”—Macon (Georgia) Tele 
graph. 
“ The Alliance, which was the[core of the 
People’s party, began in the right and 
dwindled to nothing by getting head over 
heels into the wrong. It was organized as 
a protest against class legislation. The 
farmers under its influence rapidly learned 
something of economics, and their first 
efforts were in the direction of reform in 
the National and State Governments. But 
the Bellamjites and the Georgettes and the 
socialists and anarchists talked their way 
to the front. Their jaws became the or¬ 
gans of tbe People’s party,”—Kansas City 
Times, 
Poultry Yard. 
House up the hens and keep them housed I 
English poultrymen think highly of 
“ beggar’s bread ” for hen food. This “ beg¬ 
gar’s bread ” is the crusts, bakery sweep¬ 
ings, etc., that humans with any choice in 
the matter would never eat. 
Mr. Wyckoff has no difficulty In selling 
his White Leghorn hens at 35 or 40 cents a 
pound. You can buy plenty of White 
Leghorn hens in the city for 12X cents 
a pound. Why the difference ? Mr. 
Wyckoff’s hens are bred for laying. Every 
one of them carries around with her 
a good share of the results of his care and 
patience in selecting hens for layers. The 
12%-cent hen is just as good to eat. The 
other hen is bought for her breeding possi¬ 
bilities—the buyer hones through her to 
make a short-cut to a flock of laying Leg¬ 
horns. He pays a good price for improve¬ 
ment, and is willing to do so. Are you 
selling “ improvement ” in your goods ? 
“ If not, why not ? ” 
A CANADIAN HEN STORY. 
“ They’re building, but I’ll be hanged if 
I know what it is.” So said one neighbor 
to another as the building of the new hen 
house was in progress just after one of the 
boys had put up a blue silk handkerchief as 
a flag, and one of the girls had muttered : 
“ Ay! tear her tattered ensign down.” 
The hen house was a verity—it stood 
there an actual fact at last. Ever since the 
McKinley Bill passed we have had the poul¬ 
try fever, and have determined to raise eggs 
so cheaply that we could afford to laugh at 
the restriction put on the sale of Canadian 
eggs in the “ States” by the duty of five 
cents a dozen. But there is no abatement 
in the prices—we can still get 20 cents a 
dozen for new laid eggs, and that pays. 
Our poultry were a mixture of Plymouth 
Rocks and Dorkings until one of the firm, 
with the enterprise of her sex, asked a 
favored friend to bring her a setting from 
Mr. Travers D. Carman, the able young poul- 
tryman at the Rural Grounds. From these 
several Wyandottes were raised, and care¬ 
fully tended till last spring, when with a 
brood of chickens the only hen was in the 
orchard, and a fox carried her off, to the 
great grief of the owner. Then we vowed to 
erect on the site of the theft a hen house 
that would defy reynard, and keep our 
chickens in safety. The fascinating account 
of Mr. Wyckoff’s successes as related in TnE 
Rural, thrilled us with a wild desire to 
share them, and we sent to him for eggs of 
his famous White Leghorns. It was in early 
spring; our roads were in a fearful con¬ 
dition, and six miles of deep mud and 
slush lay between us and the railway 
station. One of the boys (bless theml 
they’re always ready in an emergency) 
started on foot and trudged o\er 12 
miles, bringing the precious box in tri¬ 
umph. The six dozen eggs were 13 to 
the dozen, even-sized, pure white, and there 
wasn’t a cracked one among them. A 
neighbor shared the lot, and after patient 
waiting we were each rewarded by 35 
chickens from the 39 eggs each. They all 
came out together: the nests were full of 
them, the prettiest chickens I ever saw. 
Of the number, a great many were cock¬ 
erels, and I think I have only six while 
my neighbor has 10 purebred hens. We 
are satisfied with our bargain, and the 
fowls are very much admired. Some day 
1 hope to tell The Rural of their record 
in eggs. I never hoped to get such good 
results after the box had been through 
the express office, and it certainly seemed 
wonderful that such a large percentage 
should hatch. I should like to see Mr. 
Wyckoff’s place and learn the secret of 
his success. [Hasn’t he imparted it freely 
in The Rural? Eds]. At any rate we in¬ 
tend to give the White Leghorns a fair 
chance, and our house for them is in the 
orchard. It is double-boarded with tar 
felting between and is 16 by 24 feet, with 
a window in the east and south ends, and 
the folks are filling in the floor with good 
loam, in which are plenty of pebbles and 
sand. I intend to put in a stove on which 
some food can be cooked for the morning 
feed, and have planned everything except 
the hen yard; that is to be on one side of 
the building. We have found out that 
the Leghorns can fly over a high building 
like pigeons. What kind of a fence will 
keep them in? [A woven wire fence. Eds.] 
Hillside, Quebec, Can. ANNIE L. jack. 
Later Notes,— Tbe hen houee is nearly 
finished ; there has been a good deal of com- 
pt at out it, I have been advised to have 
it “ Queen Anne style; ” to have a “ tiled 
floor; ” to “ put a carpet down,” and to put 
in “rustic seats.” I have been asked if it 
is to be lighted by electric light, and, un- 
kindest cut of all, what will I take for all the 
eggs till April 1. But when Neighbor Sayse 
came over he gloomily shook his head. 
“It won’t do; hens likes to be in a barn¬ 
yard ; they likes to scratch about the stables 
and get pickings there. You won’t get no 
eggs in that place, I vow.” It was a dis¬ 
couraging, weary prophecy for November, 
and I want some wiser, more experienced 
poultryman or woman to tell me if the re¬ 
fuse “pickings” of the barn-yard and 
stables are necessary to success In egg rais 
ing—and what are the conditions that will 
make hens lay if put in a new, clean home 
now, and well fed with corn, buckwheat 
and plenty of warm water ? We give sand 
and earth on tbe floor, and charcoal and 
ashes are supplied, also oyster shells. Is it 
better In winter when snow lies heavily to 
keep them in all the time after the first 
housing, or do they do as well with a run 
for exercise in fine weather ? I have been 
thinking of getting an incubator, but it 
seems to me so much attention is required 
and there are so many chances of a slip 
between the egg and the chicken that I hesi¬ 
tate. Perhaps some one can tell me of a 
simple and successful incubator that has 
been well tried. There is a diversity of 
opinion in our house as to whether hens 
need salt. Who can give the desired in¬ 
formation ? ANNIE L. JACK. 
THE DUCK. 
That the duck has its own sphere of 
usefulness upon the farm is undoubtedly 
true. This is found in converting all sorts 
of waste vegetable matter incidental to 
the culture of the ordinary farm and mar¬ 
ket garden crops, into large, palatable eggs 
and tender, juicy flesh. It is certainly a 
very doubtful question whether a large 
flock of ducks would afford a profitable in¬ 
vestment for farmers in general; for to 
successfully puisueduck culture on a large 
scale, two things are essential—nearness to 
an abundance of cheap food of some sort 
and proximity to a good market. The 
former desideratum is found upon the ex¬ 
tensive reaches of low, flat lands, bordering 
on the sea, such as are found along the 
shores of Cape Cod and Long Island, where 
each succeeding tide washes in quantities 
of quahaugs, clams and numerous other 
small fish. Upon such food ducks revel 
and make rapid growth. The cost of keep¬ 
ing is also light. Thus large numbers are 
often made to pay well under these favora¬ 
ble conditions. I think, however, that a 
flock of 10 or 12 ducks can be turned to 
profitable account on every farm, since 
much cheap food is generally available. 
There are always more or less headless cab¬ 
bages, small turnips, inferior potatoes, 
which with clover, meat scraps and ordi¬ 
nary waste from the farmer’s table, and a 
very little corn, will support a few ducks a 
large portion of the year at practically no 
expense. 
Now is a good opportunity for those 
farmers who have never tried them, 
to secure breeders for a start, at a small 
outlay, as many who have reared more 
young stock than they can profitably ac¬ 
commodate the coming winter, will be glad 
to dispose of the surplus at a small mar¬ 
gin above the regular market rates for live 
poultry. Late fall bargains can usually be 
had in all classes of fowls. With a trio or 
two for a commencement, the farmer will 
be placed in a position where he can soon 
determine whet herd uck culture is destined 
to be congenial to his tastes and ideas. It 
will not be long now before the ducks will 
begin to lay, well-bred Pekins commenc¬ 
ing in January and February, and laying 
well-nigh every day for four or five months. 
A duck differs from a hen in this respect 
at least, that, whereas a hen lays at best 
only every other day and is even then un¬ 
certain, a duck almost certainly drops 
an egg each morning during the laying sea¬ 
son. To secure the best results small flocks 
are always desirable, and heavy feeding is 
a necessity. Large numbers grouped to¬ 
gether never do their best. An epitome of 
duck culture would read like this : Select 
large, two or three-year-old breeders, feed 
them upon a large variety of coarse, bulky 
food, hatch the ducklings early in the sea¬ 
son, stuff them full five or six times a day, 
keep them growing, and dress them as soon 
as they are well grown, if for market. If 
your larder can produce a good ham now 
and then, you will find ham and ducks’ 
eggs about as palatable a meal as could be 
wished. MYRON SUMNER PERKINS, 
Estes Co„ Mass, 
