PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENT 
are where you can see evils, you can warn those 
who see them with you, against them. A battle 
was never won by surrendering to the enemy 
before fight ing, A fair was never made Inter¬ 
esting, healthful in Its Influence, successfu l in 
the best respects, and creditable to the Intelli¬ 
gence and progress of the farmers of a County 
unless those who had a high standard in such 
matters worked faithfully to make it so. And 
any man who stays at home and does nothing 
towards a fair, and grumbles and growls be¬ 
cause fairs have 90 degenerated, is just about 
as sensible and wise as the man who denounces 
Canada thistles and yet lets the balloon-borne 
seeds float Into all parts of his farm because he 
is too careless or Indolent to prevent the seed 
maturing. We say : Go to the Fairs! 
—Now, please turn to our list of Industrial 
Fairs tor 1878. and see how many of them you 
can attend. 
me xetegrapfi monopoly and con¬ 
nect the telegraph with the Post-Office Depart¬ 
ment of the Government. 
8. Counteract monopolies made by the con¬ 
spiracy of private parties by counter-combina¬ 
tion and action, by building farmers’ elevators, 
manufacturing farm Implements, &c., &c. 
4. The beet agency against unscrupulous 
wealth, or Its similitude, is votes. He attaches 
great importance to organization and political 
action ; urges that farmers educate themselves 
in the theories and practices of finance, taxa¬ 
tion and government; urges an Improved stys- 
tem of finance; that farmers get down to cash 
payments as a means of reducing expenses and 
the cost, of what we purchase, etc. 
Mr. Flagg’s speechisfalilysummarizedhere. 
It is commendable In temper and spirit, con¬ 
trast.^ with the speech made by the Secretary 
of the same Association at the -vine place the 
same day. But it is a repetition of what has been 
again and again published, and which, we sup¬ 
pose, must be again and again repeated, in order 
t hat the farmers may be harnessed into a com¬ 
pact organization for political purposes, and 
aroused to take hold and draw together, and 
with a will, after they are harnessed. 
A NATIONAL ILLUSTRATED 
The Agricultural Excursionists have re¬ 
turned, we learn, though we have not seen a 
soul of them. We imagine they will have to 
sleep a week each, in order to recover from the 
exhaustion of live weeks’ travel and excitement. 
The members of the Rural staff (including old 
“ Daily Rural Life,") have not yet reported 
here ; but our readers may feel assured that in 
the next Issue of this hebdomadal they will be 
heard from in response to numerous inquiries, 
personal letters, packages of beetles and botan¬ 
ical specimens, which await their examination. 
oonductma; Editor and Publisher. 
CHAS. D. BRAGDON, ANDREW S. FULLER, 
Associate Editors. 
HENRY S. RANDALL, LL. D., Cortland Village, N. Y., 
Editor ok tii* Uki'autmkvt of Shkkp HewiAKORy. 
X. A. WILLARD, A. M., Little Falls, N. Y., 
Editor or rim Dbf»rtm**t of Dairy Hokbandrv. 
TERMS, IN ADVANCE: 
Subscription.—Single Copy, 12.50 per Year. To 
ClubsPtve Copies, and emu copy free to Agent or 
getter up Of Club, for $12.50; Seven Copies, and one 
free, for $10; Ten Copies, and one free, $20—only $2 
per cofiy. As we are obliged to pre-pay the American 
postage on papers mid led to foreign countries, Twenty 
Ceuts should bo added to above rates for each yearly 
copy mailed to Canada, and One Dollar per copy to 
Eui ope. Drafts, Post-Office Jloney Orders und Regis¬ 
tered Letters may be mailed at our risk. [ ip* Liberal 
1 rewltuxui to *11 Club Agents who do not take free 
copies. Specimen Numbers, Show-Bills, Ac., sent flee 
Medals of Merit at Vienna to American Ex- 
bibitors.—Among those who have taken medals 
of merit at the Vienna Exposition, who are 
advertisers with us, we notice the names of 
\DRIAN 0 E, Platt & Co., and Aui.tman, Miller 
& Co., (for Buckeye Mower and Reaper); North¬ 
ern Pacific Railway; W heeler, Me click & Co., 
Albany, N. Y., (for Ag. Implements); Provi¬ 
dence Tool Co., (for arms); Weed Sewing Ma¬ 
chine Co., Hartford, Conn,; Wiwos Shuttle 
Sewing .Machine Co., Cleveland, Ohio; Lamb 
Knitting Machine Co., Chicopee Fulls, Mass. 
RURAL NOTES AND QUERIES 
Politics and the Patrons of Husbandry in 
Minnesota 
Some of the Granges of that State 
having appointed delegates to a political con¬ 
vention, Geo. L. Parsons, master of the State 
Grange, has addressed to the Order an admonl- 
tory circular letter from which we make the 
following extract; 
I lioem such action not only unwise, hut. in 
direct violation of the fundamental law of our 
order, and t hat Ir subjects the Grangesao doing 
to the danger <*r a revocation of their charters. 
Individual Patrons are tender no restrictions 
whatever io their religious or polit leal conduct. 
County Councils arc not recognized as belong¬ 
ing to the order, or subjoin, to its laws. Wc lav 
no claim I o any oontr.il whatever over so-ealieil 
iarinurs Conventions. But Granges of Patrons 
of Husbandry are prohibited by the law which 
gi.ve.s t hem existence from engaging In either 
religious or political action or discussion. This 
prohibition is imposed for the best ami wisoet 
ol purposes. It is our only safeguard against 
sure and speedy destruction. Upon obedience 
to this law depends our very existence as an 
order. 
I mill upon the offending Granges to retrace 
Ihf false steps taken; to recall their delegates 
• kctfiiJ to the convention above named, and 
reconsider their resolutions. I call upon all 
ihc Granges in this Jurisdiction “to conform to 
and abide by" the constitution, rules and reg¬ 
ulations of the Order, and to refrain from all 
political action or discussion. 
LIBELING ILLINOIS FARMERS 
ADVERTISING RATES: 
Iueide, Uth and 15 th pages (Agate space).90c. per line. 
iiri and lotli piiaes......... i no u 
Outside or last page. 150 “ 
Fifty per cent., ext ra for u n usual display. ” 
Special Notices,leaded, bycount......... 2.00 
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Heading " ......’.’.'.’.*."’"..3,00 “ 
2^“ No advertisement inserted for lees than $3. 
■PUBLICATION OFFICES: 
No. 5 Beekman Street. New York City, and No. 82 
Buffalo Street, Rochester, N. Y. 
“Who Pays, Indeed !” -Under this heading 
Mr. J. M. Stuart, Secretary of the Mutual Life 
Insurance Company of New York, gives else¬ 
where in this paper an interesting statement 
concerning Mr. Sheppard Homans’ connec¬ 
tion with the Mutual, anrl of facts relative to 
Mr, H.'s retirement from the Company. The 
statement of Mr. Stuart will attract attention, 
and shoujd receive a careful perusal. 
y Y» , , ouu iwwivmi m uuu auinirw 
ii e .•yof'ous fields of corn that spread out on 
all sides, and In the midst of them found a little 
H 10 ? f 1 he dwelling of t he owner 
01 ail t hat wealth ; had looked atthospook, and 
found It a Jog cabin—a lil i.lv shanty with mud 
stuck between the logs to keep r.tin wind and 
rain out a ho- el (for Jt was not hing but a hovel) 
L icet, by 80. with barely room to stand up in, 
with never a flower or shrub near, without the 
kindly shade of a tree; a bare, black, wretched 
abode, fit fur nothing but the -quail'd and the 
nigs. Nil books tMere; no gladsome tnusio: no 
f^aut plants to scent the air; no grateful 
shade to Cpol the heated frame of the man who 
hat toilea) « 11 day in the glowing fields, with 
the sun at 90*’. It was a stable fit. to pip the 
straw In. Yet the owner of those boautifui 
corn fields was the Inhabitant of this place." 
The Country Gentleman, commenting upon 
the foregoing paragraph, says: 
“In the connection in which It was said, this 
extract means nothing nt all, unless it was in¬ 
tended to bo taken as fairly rlmracterfzintf the 
way in wulcli Illinois farmers, ana class, are In 
Ihe habit of living. Are such statements likelv 
to swell the tide of emigration thitherward—to 
promote the value of the land, ortho interests 
of the farmers ? Are they true? And when it 
Is borne in mind that, on account of the general 
concentration of public into est, in that direc¬ 
tion, they are t ure of the widest possible circu¬ 
lation and comment, in this country and in 
The New Jersey Slate Fair is be held at Wa- 
verly, Sopt. let,h to 20tb inclusive, and the pros¬ 
pect is that it will prove a great success. Please 
note the time-10th to 20th—as a later period 
has begu erroneously given in some papers. 
Industrial Fnlra.-Since tho list of Fairs on 
page 128 was prepared and sent to press, we 
have received information of the following; 
Broome Co., (N, Y.,) Whitney's Point, Sept. 16, 
18; Livingston Co., (N. Y.) Geneseo, Sept. 17,18. 
SATURDAY 
THE FARMERS’ MOVEMENT. 
VIEWS OF A PROMINENT MAN, 
Hon. W. C. Flaoo is the President of tho Il¬ 
linois St to Farmers* Association, and an active 
agent in promoting what is culled “The Farm¬ 
ers' Movement.’’ in the West. We believe he is 
not a member of the Order of the Patrons of 
Husbandry; for lie pronounces the faults of 
that Order to he Its secret organization and Its 
deprecation of political action in its combined 
capacity. MuFlago recently made a speech 
at a. gathering of fanners at Winchester, 111., in 
■which be discussed the “ Aim and Scope of the 
Farmers’ Movement.” It. may interest some of 
Advertlnements Delerred.—In consequenee o 
the crowded state of our paper we are obligee 
to defer over a column of new advertisements 
T? V, .....WWW, ... -IJir, ,.uuiill> «11IU J1J 
Europe, the question arises whether Mr. Smith 
should be encouraged, as a representative of 
the rarniers associations, to continue his ora¬ 
torical efforts. We forbear presenting other 
Westport, Conn., Aug. 18.— The weather 
here has been unusually dry, the drought be¬ 
ginning in the early part, of the summer and 
continuing up to last, week, when we had be¬ 
tween two and t.hreo inches of rain; now we are 
having rain nearly every day; the ground Is wet 
down some six or seven inches; in som e places 
the moisture was all dried out entire!v. hmv 
torical efforts. We forbear uluvr 
extracts from hla speech which invite still 
harsher comment.” 
We have no such forbearance toward a man 
whom wo know Is enough of a demagogue to 
libel Illinois farmers and that beautiful State 
in the way Mr. Smith does in the paragraph 
from his speech above quoted. Such a " farm¬ 
er" is no representative of Illinois farmers. It 
is a libel upon them which they ought to and 
doubtless will resent. "The owner ol all that 
wealth" would probably live like a brute wher¬ 
ever he was and whatever his circumstances, 
no matter whether railroad tariffs were oppres¬ 
sive or not. The man who owns such “ glorious 
fields of corn," and has neither tree, shrub, or 
flower about his “hut," and no books, nor 
music, nor other evidences that he has a culti¬ 
vated soul, probably lives as best suite him ; for 
no man, no matter how poor, nor how much 
oppressed, who is worthy to be known as an 
Agriculturist, would, or need to, live in the 
squalor and filth which this Secretary of the 
Illinois Farmers' Association depicts. It is an 
Infamous Jibe] upon Illinois farmers and upon 
all intelligent farmers. The man who leads such 
a life In Illinois, or elsewhere, does not. de¬ 
serve, and probably could not appreciate, the 
sympathy of Mr. Smith or any one else. 
The Enemies ol Chinese Labor in California. 
—Mb. Chablks Nordhofy evidently tells us 
the trouble in one of his letters to the Tribune 
when ho says: 
“ The anti-Chinese agitation here has led me 
to look a little closely Into this matter, and I 
declare to you my belief that there are not a 
hundred decent men, who work for a living, 
engaged In this crusade against, the Chinese. If 
you oould to-day assemble, in San Francisco, all 
who join in this persecution, and If then you 
muier, ano never independent in carrying out 
a policy of his own." Hence the causes which 
have led to the Farmers’ Movement , are: 
1. Granting to railway, express and telegraph 
corporations powers that are perverted to the 
unduly taxing or plundering the people. 
2. Granting special privileges in the shape of 
patents, protective tariffs and banking, which, 
“ Without being specially injurious In them¬ 
selves, ‘have aggravated and intensified vital 
wrongs.” 
3. “ Conspiracies against the public interests 
generally based upon and originating in these 
special privileges unwisely granted by National 
and State Legislatures.” 
Of course, 1 ere Is a good deal of elaboration 
of these points; and then Mr. Flagg tells his 
fellow farmers what he thinks “We ought to 
resolve aDd to do." We sum up what he says 
who join In this persecution, and If then you 
cook Horn this assemblage aiJ the ‘ Hoodlums,’ 
all the bar-room loafers, and ,all the political 
demagogues, 1 don't believ you would Lava a 
hundred men left on the ground. That Is to say, 
the people who act ually earn the bread they eat 
do not persecute the Chinese.” The Chinese do 
a great deal of work which white men will not 
do out here; they do not stand idle, but take 
the first job that is offered them. And the re¬ 
sult is teat they are used all over the State 
more and more, because they chiefly, of tho 
laboring population, will work steadily and 
keep their engagements. So far as I have been 
able to learn, such a thing as a gang of Chinese 
lea ving a piece of work they had engaged to do, 
unless they were cheated or Ill-treated, is un¬ 
known. “ Then they don’t drink whisky.” 
GO TO THE FAIRS? 
RURAL BREVITIES. 
“A reader” is informed that Blanchard's 
churn is manufactured at Concord, N. H. 
(k>L. F. D, Curtis, Charlt on, N. Y., has ship¬ 
ped a load of Ayrshire stock to California to be 
exhibited at the State Fair in September. 
Gen. Hiram J. StbiceuER, Tecumseh, Kan., 
several years secretary of the Kansas State Ag. 
boo., and in 1871 its President died recently at 
his borne. 
Rbv. John A. Anderson, Junction City, Kan., 
has been elected President of the Kansas State 
Ag. College, He Is described by the Kansas 
Farmer as “ a man of broad culture, quick per¬ 
ception, great energy, infinite common sense 
and is intensely practical.” 
Fine Cluster of Tomatoes.— Rev, E, P. ROE, 
Highland Falls, near West Point, N. Y„ brought 
into our office, the other day, a single tomato 
stalk, which contained 14 full growD (and most 
of them ripe) tomatoes In a cluster. They were 
perfect in themselves, resembling the Trophy 
(externally) except the calyx end. He thinks 
this stalk or plant is the result of cross-fertili¬ 
zation, If it should prove so (and it. Is distinct 
in prolific character from several other varieties 
growing about them) and should hereafter re¬ 
tain its prolific characteristics, Mr. Roe may 
have something valuable to put on tho seed 
market. A further test will settle the matter. 
I go by favor." No matter; have the satisfaction 
of knowing that you have contributed some¬ 
thing to illustrate the resources of your coun¬ 
ty and the progress and condition of it6 agri¬ 
culture and horticulture. Do not go and gru Bi¬ 
ble because “ there is nothing to see.” Take 
something worth looking at; at least take the 
best you have got and lot others judge whether 
It is worth looking at. 
" But there are to be horse-raoes ; would you 
have me take mv family to s.eahorse race?" 
It is better to go and point out a dangerous 
place to a child, yourself, than let the child go 
alone and run the risk of getting into trouble. 
If the horse-racing proves a nuisance and an 
evil, become a member of the Society and use 
your vote and influence to suppress it. If the 
horse-race is the chief attraction, it is your 
duty to aid in supplying some counter attrac- says:- 
tion. You cannot exert aD influence upon any tional 
one by staying away from him or her. If you is wou 
The Beautiful Engravings of birds In Avilude 
cost hundreds of dollurs, and the tine and Instructive 
descriptions many weeks of labor. Every family 
ought, to have it. For sale by all booksellers and toy 
dealers, or sent, poat-p id, on receipt of seventy-five 
cents, by West & Lisk, Worcester, Muss. 
" An excellent addition to our home amusements.” 
—Christian Union. 
Ladies will experience much less trouble with 
their sewing, if they use the Eureka Machine twist. 
Try it once and be convinced. 
