Bf- 
~P 
M 0 0 BI s S BUBAL NSW-YOBKEB- 
■JAN. 4 
Jiutustiiial iTopir.';. 
WHERE IS THE REMEDY I 
The people of the United States consider 
themselves intelligent beyond the rest of the 
world. They. boast of their free Govern¬ 
ment. They pride t hemselves on the develop¬ 
ment of the country. While in Europe the 
different nations are watching each other 
with a jealous view to preserving the balance 
of power and wit h a view to kingly preroga¬ 
tives, the United States is left free to admin 
ister her laws in whatever manner she sees 
fit. In Europe the great mass of the people 
is subject to the rule of kings. Republicanism 
is not tolerated in Europe. If a radical Re¬ 
publican of the French should take on ad¬ 
vanced position in regard to the policy of his 
Government, immediately President Thiers 
would be waited upon by the representatives 
of Royalty and informed thut such senti¬ 
ments could not be tolerated, ns they would 
endanger the peace of Europe, In other 
words, such sentiments would work an over¬ 
throw of their monarchies. It is this combi¬ 
nation that keeps the monarchs on their 
thrones and allows them to grow rich upon 
the hard toil of the masses. 
A spirit si mi Jar to the one shown in this 
monarchical combination of European nations 
is displayed in this country, though not by 
the Government. In this country the spirit 
of oppression and aristocratic selfishness takes 
a different form. It has its root in a selfish 
disregard for the interests of the common 
people. The industrial classes arc its victims, 
especially the agriculturists. And, though 
wo, as a people, make so many boasts of <un¬ 
freedom, yet tyranny, in the form of moneyed 
combinations, pervades our land; the farmers 
arc the subjects of this oppression, and some¬ 
thing must bo done to throw off this burden. 
We have long been told of the fertility of 
our soil, of the fertilizing effects of guano, 
bone dust, and of the ammonia derived from 
the air; we have been told how plants grow, 
the per cent, of ingredients derived from the 
ground and from the atmosphere; of rotation 
of crops, and how to raise tho best breeds of 
domestic animals; we have hoard of protec¬ 
tion and free trade, of tho law of supply and 
demand, and nearly everything pertaining to ) 
the vocation of the farmer, with this excep¬ 
tion:—How to obtain a reasonable price for 
grain and other farm products. Scarcely 
can there be found in the annals of history a 
parallel until tho plentiful crops of this year. 
The fanners’ barns and grain bins are filled 
to overflowing. And yet, while there has 
been such a bountiful harvest, the fanner Ls 
poor. Tho fanners of the Northwest look tit 
their bams and grain bins filled to repletion 
with a feeling of despair instead of thankful¬ 
ness. They are at a loss where to find a mar¬ 
ket of remunerative prices. They learn that 
tho crops of Northern Europe have been 
destroyed by storm and flood; that the crops 
of Groat Britain are short, and that it is esti¬ 
mated by Mr. Mechi, the great scientific 
farmer, that England alone will have to pay 
from £15,000,009 to £20,000,000 sterling more 
than in a good wheat season for foreign corn; 
that starving mouths on both sides of the 
ocean are waiting for their grain; and that 
the great West must supply this want; and 
yet they receive no equivalent, for their labor. 
Speculation and transportation rob them of 
their just deserts. Capital controls labor in 
this respect so, in a manner, to ruin it, and a 
remedy should be devised to right this wrong. 
It is not a natural antagonism between capi¬ 
tal and labor that causes this state of t ilings, 
but it is the great combinations that ptat tho 
ruling power in t.lie hands of a few. By these 
organizations a few men rule the carrying 
trade of North America, These great, crash¬ 
ing and arrogant combinations of capitalists 
should bo opposed. 
If each line of railroad was controlled inde¬ 
pendently, there would be a healthy compe¬ 
tition, cheap freights, better prices, and gen 
eral prosperity, instead of low prices and a 
tight money market, as now. But, with our 
entire railroad system under the absolute 
control of a few unscrupulous monej'ed des¬ 
pots, commonly called “ Icings," there can be 
no permanent or certain prosperity in any 
branch of agricultural pursuits. The price of 
our products is not regulated bj' the demands 
of foz-cign markets, but by the manipulations, 
combinations and "corners” of speculators 
and moneyed monopolists. The politics of 
the country is under the influence of these 
organizations. Their power is brought to 
bear on the legislative and the judiciary 
branches of the National and State govern¬ 
ments. 
No two rival “kings” will wait long be¬ 
fore they unite their forces to perpetuate 
their power. Opposition ship, steamboat and 
railroad companies will unite and act in con- 
| cert. The carrying trade on rivers, railroads 
and ocean is controlled by combinations, and 
the groat burden of these arrogant combina¬ 
tions falls upon the industrial classes. 
The question arises:—"Where is the reme- 
ody? llow long must the farmer submit to 
tills legalized robbery? Is there no power 
that can oppose and subvert this despotism ? 
It would seem t hat a concert of action and 
unity of feeling among tho industrial classes 
would ultimately redress this wrong. One 
great reason why these combinations have 
been so successful in their nefarious business 
is, there has been no unity of act ion among 
the people. These combinations have been 
developing for years, and it will take years 
of per. istent and united effort on the part of 
tho laboring classes to oppose them success¬ 
fully. 
Farmers should lie represented better in 
the legislative arid the national capitals of the 
country. While the great railroads and 
moneyed monopolists of the country have 
their representatives or lobbyists ia Congress 
to see about, their respective interests, the 
farmer’s interests are uncnml for. In the 
last Congress, of throe hundred members, 
only fifteen were nominally farmers, and 
perhaps not more than two of these were 
practical farmers, If the remedy is not in 
organization and representation, then there 
must be a revolution in trade; trade will find | 
new channels and roads to tho great entre¬ 
pots of the world. Boston, New York, Balti¬ 
more and Philadelphia cannot afford to lose 
tho trade of t he West. These cities cannot 
expect to receive the products of the West 
when the farmers are being ruined, for soon, 
if there bo no new way discovered, fanners 
will have to give up their farms to pay debts. 
The condition of the West is growing worse 
even year. It will be ruined, with all its 
advantages of soil, climate and cheap lands, 
unless some different plan is found to trans¬ 
port her products to tho sea, 
It is t ime that the farming community of 
the whole country unite against these combi¬ 
nations. Work together harmoniously and 
patiently, and a public sentiment will be cre¬ 
ated which shall command respect and atten¬ 
tion. Let the industrial classes organize for 
self-protection, and sec that their rights are 
preserved inviolate 
Chilicothe, Ill. Darius H. Pinqrev. 
Diary of a iluralifit. 
DAILY RURAL LIFE. 
From the Diary of a Gentleman near New 
York City. 
FREEPORT, ILL., BEET SUGAR FACTORY. 
Mr. C. II. Rokenstii,, who became inter¬ 
ested in the beet sugar factory estab¬ 
lished by.the gentlemen Genneut, at Chatti- 
worth, Ill., on its removal to Freeport, in 
a private note lo one of the editors of this 
paper, says:—“I have had a great deal of 
trouble in getting started, to break in about 
a hundred hands, all inexperienced. A great 
deal has boon wasted in consequence; but I 
think I have overcome all difficulties now. 
The works are getting along nicely. Sugar 
is coming out. now satisfactorily, and you 
will find that sugar manufacturing interests 
will take the lead in this Northwestern coun¬ 
try; for you kno w we have as good soil and 
good climate as there is in the world; and 
since they build one beet sugar factory after 
another in Germany, Russia, France, and 
other countries, and make them pay where 
the?' must pay £11 per ton for coal, while we 
pay here but £3; anil where a factory like 
ours, with the capacity to work up fifty tons 
of beets per day, has t o pay to the Govern¬ 
ment $2(12.50 per day tax, and we, not any¬ 
thing, 1 can see no good reason why a factory 
should not pay here, where there is every¬ 
thing in our favor. 
“ 1 consider it a disgrace to this country 
that, while all other countries make their o wn 
sugar, and export beside, we should sit still 
and pay hundreds of millions of dollars for 
imported sugar. This is what prompted me 
to undertake to build a beet sugar factory. 
I thought if I could bring this industry into 
a state of perfection here, and demonstrate 
its profit, I should have accomplished a great 
deal for my country. 
“ We have a splendid factory, built of stone 
and brick. The main building is 374 feet ! 
long, and from 50 to <if» feet wide; auothor 
building ia 143feet long; the boiler house is $5 
feet long and 55 feet wide; the smoke-stack 
is 120 feet high. The boiler house is so ar¬ 
ranged that wc can throw coal from the cars 
immediately m front of the boiler. Germans 
who have visited us, familiar with the busi¬ 
ness iu Germany, say wc have things as nice¬ 
ly arranged as they ever saw them in the 
factories m that country.” 
Wo are glad to hear of the good prospect 
that Illinois is to demonstrate tho praetieabil- 
itv and profit of manufacturing beet sugar. 
Wo know no man in t he West more likely to 
win success in this, his latest ambition, than 
Mr. Rosf.nrttei,; for he is not one of the sort 
of men who fail. As a farmer, stock breeder, 
horticulturist and manufacturer, lie has prov¬ 
ed himself to be one of the most successful in 
Northern Illinois. We are sorry to hear of 
his failing health. 
CLEANING UP THE OUT-BUILDINGS. 
Dee, 10.—Probably one of the greatest an¬ 
noyances to which the man who keeps hired 
help about him is subjected t.o, is the trouble 
involved in keeping all the implements used 
about the place in proper order, and where 
they can be fqund whin wanted. On the 
farm, tho proprietor u us. be constantly on 
tho watch, or tho plows, harrows, reapers, 
and Other necessary implements, will be left 
out in the field, and nuts, bolts, hammers, 
and similar articles will be found upon a tone 
or corner of the fence, instead of in their 
proper places. At t he appn wch of Winter all 
these things should bo looked over, and those 
out of repair placed where they can be 
i-eached, when a leisure day afford- an oppor¬ 
tunity for putting them in order. But should 
there be no repairs necessary, all implement s 
composed of iron, or in part, of this material, 
need to be examined occasionally, to prevent 
rust; for dust, moisture, and various kinds of 
filth are likely to accumulate about the barns, 
sheds and other out-buildings. Now, a good 
housekeeper always sets aside certain days in 
the week to do certain kinds of work, such as 
baking, washing and dusting the rooms; why 
should not the man adopt a similar system 
for keeping his out-buildings and farm im¬ 
plements in order. I have tried various pl ans 
for keeping things about my barns, sheds 
and shops in shape, but find none ho satisfnc 
tory as to set apart a certain day, or part of 
a day, in each week for a general cleaning up. 
Barrels, boxes and pieces of lumber are sure 
to accumulate, and in provoking disorder, 
unless one makes a special effort occasionally 
to have such things put into their proper 
places and neatly piled up. Then again, cob 
webs and dust will accumulate about the 
stable, upon the beams, rafters and other 
parts of the building, and while this filth may 
not do any positive injury to anything with¬ 
in, still a little sweeping and dusting up will 
not only make everything look better, bu l it 
encourages habits of cleanliness among hired 
help. 
I suppose that my men are about as good 
as the average, but they need a hint quite 
often in regard to tho dusting up of t he barn 
and tool-house. In performing this work t<.- 
duy, I found, as 1 usually do, several tilings 
that required immediate attention to prevent 
loss, Mice hud found a lodgement in some 
sweet corn saved for seed; the knives of a 
lawn mower had got wet in some unknown 
way, and rust, was rapidly fallowing. Al¬ 
though I endeavor to keep a sharp look-out 
for such things, still it is seldom that a close 
and careful examination does not reveal a 
good chance for loss, in one way or another. 
1 can readily understand how fearful leaks in 
the finances of many farmers could and do 
occur, just for tho want of a frequent and 
systematic cleaning up of implements and 
out-buildings. 
SUMMER AND WINTER VIEW 0E HOMES. 
Dec. 20.—Tho snow covering the ground, 
and the leaves having fallen from deciduous 
trees and shrubs, one has an opportunity of 
studying the general appearance of the homes 
of our country pieople in Winter. lain not 
at all surprised at the oft-repeated assertion 
of city folks, that “the country is so very 
dreary in Winter,” for if one draws his con¬ 
clusions from outside appearances, the homes 
of most of our farmers are the very quint¬ 
essence of desolation. The bare stems of a 
stunted lilac or mock orange bush, with a 
few straggling shoots of an old cinnamon 
rose bush, and a worm-eaten Lombardy pop¬ 
lar guarding the dilapidated bars or gate, 
complete a picture far too common, even on 
many a valuable farm. I am not disposed to 
paint a word picture ol’ my own home or its 
surroudings in Winter; but as I look out upon 
the snow to-day, and notice how cheerful the 
brilliant green of the Austrian Pines, Hem¬ 
locks and Spruces appear, toned down by the 
more somber colore of tho various species and 
varieties of the Arborvitoes, I cannot help 
thinking that if the surroundings of farmers’ i 
homes are so cheerless in Winter, it is merely 
because there is no disposition on the part of 
the farmer to make them otherwise. The 
first cost of our best and most hardy ever¬ 
greens is so trifling that no one need put that 
in as an excuse for not planting them, after 
winch, very little attention will insure beau¬ 
tiful trees in a very lew yea re. A few hand¬ 
some evergreen trees about a place soon 
changes the. entire aspect in Winter, and in¬ 
stead of the cold, cheerless outlook, they will 
impart to it warmth and beauty. Bare brick 
and granite walls, relieved only by frosted 
plate glass, arc far more dreary things in 
Tt inter to me than a cottage in the country 
surrounded by clean, glistening snow, relieved 
by the flitting shadows of deciduous trees and 
the deep, rich colors of evergreens. And the 
habits of the animals in my bam and barn¬ 
yard are fully as interesting, and of far more 
practical value than those of the Metropoli¬ 
tan menagerie, 
DWARF AND STANDARD PEARS. 
Dec, 21.—Not many years ago dwarf pear 
trees were all tho rage, and nobody seemed 
to want anything else; but of late the de¬ 
mand is all for standard trees. Dwarfs arc 
denounced by at least ninc-tentlis of those 
who pretend to direct poinological matters 
in the various rural journals. I suppose it is 
all right, but 1 must confess to have a kind 
feeling for the dwarf pear trees, in spito of 
all that is said against them; for u thirty 
years’ experience convinces me that they arc, 
with very few exceptions, fully equal to 
standards in value. Dwarf pear trees are 
like improved breeds of cows or horees; they 
require extra care to produce extra results; 
therefore the negligent cultivator had better 
let. them alone. I suppose this ia a very good 
reason for recommending standards, because 
not one man in ten will properly take care of 
either; and under neglect the latter probably 
stands a little tho best chance to live. Early 
maturity and great productiveness caused 
the failure of a majority of dwarf pear or¬ 
chards, the greed of owners not permitting 
the thinning out of the fruit or application of 
manure to keep up vigorous growth. When 
our people learn that a tree can bo worked 
and starved to death as well as a horse, 
then dwarf pears will again bocoino popular. 
The few who knov. how to manage these 
trees still plant them in preference to others, 
especially where the grounds are limited to a 
few city lots or acres. 
INQUIRIES AND ANSWERS. 
J. G. S., Washington, D. CL, asks the fol¬ 
lowing questions : 
1. “ What are the prospects for those who 
remove to the West ?” It depends upon what 
they know how to do, their disposition to do 
it, and the enterprise, force, and good judg¬ 
ment. together with the amount of money 
with which they go there. This answer is as 
specific as the question. 
2. “What is the average price of land?” 
We <lo. not know. It ranges from $1.25 to 
£1,000 per acre, depending upon character and 
locality. 
3. “ What, are the average wages per 
month?" Wc do not know. For farm help 
probably not over $20 to £25. 
4. “ Is the neighborhood of Chicago a good 
place for a dairy farm or market garden ?” 
Yes. 
5. “ What crops are generally raised in Illi¬ 
nois ;” All crops common to the temperate 
zone—corn, wheat, oats, barky, potatoes, 
beans, pens, roots of nil kinds, flax, hemp, 
all tlic grasses and clovers, cotton in tho 
Southern part, and all kinds of fruits. 
(J. “ When do they commence planting in 
spring?” In the northern part or tho State 
seed sowing often begins in March, and con¬ 
tinues, with corn planting, through April, 
May, and into June. 
7. “ Does much snow fall, and are the Win¬ 
ters severe there ?” Considerable snowfalls 
and the Winters are severe. 
8. “ Is the neighborhood of Chicago the 
best locality f” For some people and pur¬ 
poses, yes; for others, no. 
W. 11. C., Alma City, Minn,, asks some one 
who has l\ thorough knowledge of that por¬ 
tion of land situated on the East side of the 
Chesapeake Bay to give a minute but truth¬ 
ful description of it in the ILl’hai. New- 
Yorker— diameter of climate, productive¬ 
ness of soil, cost of fertilizing, crops raised 
and their market value; topography of the 
country; how much has timber on it; 
schools, churches, and character of its inhab¬ 
itants ; value of land for sale ; why it is for 
sale, etc. 
A. G. C., New York City, writes :—“There 
are four of us, strong, hearty young men, 
who are very desirous of going out West and 
either raise live stock or fruit and vegetables. 
We intend purchasing some 300 or 400 acres, 
and would like to know how much we would 
have to pay per acre ; where is the best 
pluee to go ; iu what State and about how 
much would we need on a start ; also, which 
is the most profitable, stock-raising or farm¬ 
ing ?” Judging by the character of these 
questions', these four strong, hearty young 
men kuow little or nothing of farming; 
whether they do or not they had better in¬ 
vest their money, if they have any, in United 
States bonds, bearing interest, reserving only 
enough to take them into Illinois, Iowa, 
Kansas, or Missouri, and there hire out on a 
farm until they can make up their minds 
from actual experience and observation what 
is best for them to do. For we cannot con¬ 
ceive how 6ueh questions could be asked by 
men of practical experience in fanning ; and 
if they have not tlus they had better get it 
before they invest their money in land or 
stock, 
UJ 
■m 
B 
