22 
gmw ®o|us, 
AGRICULTURE AND EDUCATION IN THE 
UNITED STATES. 
PROF. I. V. RODF.RT8. 
No. I. 
In order to arrive at ft full understanding of 
the principal c3.nses that have produced such 
marvelous changes and improvements, not only 
in methods and increased wealth, hut in general 
education anrl technical knowledge of the rural 
or agricultural population, it will ho necessary 
to state briefly the conditions and circumstanoes 
of the rural classes of Europe in former times. 
It will not be necessary, however, to go back far¬ 
ther than the seventeenth century as, prior to 
this period, changes in wages and condition were 
not of a marked character or in any wise perma¬ 
nent. 
Taking 1885 as tho perk d from which wo soon 
see in England permanent improvement, though 
small both in condition and wages, we find that 
gross ignorauco was tiie universal rule, and ab¬ 
ject poverty the inevitable condition of all the 
common people. And how could it well be oth¬ 
erwise? for wages were fixed by law in War¬ 
wickshire at-Is. a week (1 (5c. per day) without 
food, from March to September, and 3s. 6d. from 
September to March. 
In some other counties they were fixed at a 
slightly higher rate—as iu Suffolk, 5s. for win¬ 
ter and As. for summer. Edward Youno, iu 
“ Labor in Europe and America,” from which 
many of these statistics wore taken, states that 
“ Meat was cheap as compared with present 
prices, but hundreds of thousands of families 
scarcely know the taste of it.” 
Whcaten bread was not even thought of, as 
tho average price per quarter for wheat during 
the last twelve years of Charles 11. was 50a. The 
great majority of the people lived almost en¬ 
tirely on rye, barley, and oats. Tho produce of 
tropical countries, mines, and machinery—such 
sis sugar, salt, coals, candles, soap, shoes, stock¬ 
ings, and generally all articles of clothing and 
bedding —v ine positively dearer than at present. 
From this time (1085) forward, thero appears to 
have boon a steady and permanent increase not 
only in wages, but in tho monoy value of tho 
products of the farm. Manufacture received a 
groat impetus from the inliux of French fugi¬ 
tives which followed the revocation of tho edict 
of Nantes, in 1085. It is estimated that a half 
million of Protestant French, most of whom 
wore skilled artizans, with a. cash capital and 
effects to the value of upwards of three million 
pounds sterling, settled in England. This had 
a marked effect both oil wugos and products, 
and evidences of still more increased prosperity 
quickly followed the peace of Ryswiok, negoti¬ 
ated, September, 1097. 
Perhaps no period in the history of England 
shows, all things considered, so rapid progress 
iu diversified industries as the last quarter of 
the seventeenth and the first quarter of the 
eighteenth centuries. 
The colonies of North America about this 
time, offered great inducements to immigrants, 
and they appear to have been successful, for 
Pennsylvania alone received in 1729, 0,200 im¬ 
migrants. 
The Now World was the longed-for land, the 
ideal paradise to many an oppressed and half- 
fed laborer of the Old. It was the great subject 
to be talked of by day, discussed at tbo little 
gathering in the evening, and dreamt of by 
night. All of the causes that conspired to pro¬ 
duce the marked advancement in tho education, 
methods, and net results of tho tillers of the 
soil, we may not know; but certain it is that 
those enumerated had a marked effect; not di¬ 
rectly, by giving better methods and imparting 
technical instruction, but by arousing thought 
and energy; by creating a desire for, and partici¬ 
pation in. more of the comforts of life; by lift¬ 
ing the laborer out of tbo position of abject, 
servitude which sometimes was worse than sla¬ 
very, and clothing him with the attributes of 
manhood. 
The discovery and peopling of North America 
has been of more benefit to mankind directly 
and indirectly, than any other event that has 
transpired for the last thousand years. We now 
come to tho beginning of the ago of machinery 
adapted to manufacture, which in time affected 
very materially tho development and improve¬ 
ment of modes and implements of agriculture, 
and these iu turn, a little latsr, had a great influ¬ 
ence on the education and elevation of the food 
producers. 
Iu 1738 John Kay of Lancashire, invented a 
new method of throwing the shuttle, by which 
the weavers wore enabled to nearly double the 
amount of cloth. About tho samo time, Lewis 
Paul invented a machine for spinning cotton or 
wool by the aid of rollers. 
In 1764, Hargreaves invented the spiuniug- 
jenny. 
About 1769, Arkwright produced the spin¬ 
ning-frame ; and these in turn were improved 
and combined into ono machine called “The 
Mulo,”by Samuel Crompton, in 1775. Cart- 
right, ton years later, produced tbe power loom. 
During this period, groat improvement was 
made by Lord Dudley in tbo smelting of iron 
with coal, instead of charcoal; this, in turn, 
stimulated many branobos of hardware, notably 
that of manufacture of nails. Towns were built 
up rapidly and permanently, and tho evidences 
of tbrifi and growth were on every hand. Tho 
wages of the farm laborer and the profits of the 
farm were on a steady increase, and agriculture 
was materially benefited by finding a near and 
ready market for its products. 
Tho inventions spoken of, and others which 
for a time appeared to bo a universal benefit, 
proved to be the moans, in some instances, of de¬ 
grading and oppressing a portion of the working 
classes, particularly tho women and children en¬ 
gaged in the factories. We are all more or less 
familiar with the cffoetual efforts of Sir Robert 
Peel, Robert Owen, and others, to induce Par¬ 
liament to enact laws restricting the hours of 
labor anil prohibiting the employment of chil¬ 
dren under certain ages. 
Meantime, tho thirteen American States had 
acquired their independence, and the war that 
secured it was another great educator. The 
British soldiers, on their return, verified many 
of tho stories that before this had only been half 
credited, of the riohnoss of tho soil and mines, 
of the healthfulnoss of the climate and, above 
all, the perfect freedom and equably of tho peo¬ 
ple. Many of tho soldiers remained in the New 
World, or in time returned, ana soon came to 
love and respect a people they had so recently 
despised and hated. Tho citizen-soldier of the 
Colonies had also become hotter acquainted with 
his own country, by having seen much of it on 
his marches aud by coming in contact with those 
of distant localities. Both the British and Amer¬ 
ican, by their increased opportunities for obser¬ 
vation and foracquiring a knowledge of a variety 
of facts—or, iu other words, becoming better 
educated—formod a more accurate conception 
of the grand possibilities of the future. At the 
close of the war, many of tho soldiers of both 
armies returned to their farms with a better 
opinion and knowledge of their powers of miud 
and body, a tolerably clear understanding of 
their lights as citizens, and manhood enough to 
assert and dofond them. 
Jethro Hull commenced his experiments on 
his farm in Berkshire iu 1732, but they appear 
to have had little influence on agriculture until 
about thirty-live years later, when the in«u val- 
uable features of liis system began to be adopted. 
The old modes rapidly gave way to new and bet¬ 
ter cues. Drill culture and rotation of crops 
were largely practiced ; the cultivation of turnips 
aud potatoes increased rapidly; clover was in¬ 
troduced into tho rotation largely, and timothy 
supplemented it at a Iiltlo later period. Im¬ 
provements ill domestic animals followed quick¬ 
ly. All of thoso advances in .methods and sys¬ 
tems required increased knowledge anil skill. 
New ideas wore continually being advanced, dis¬ 
cussed, pondered over, and adopted orrejeoted. 
The same eager desire for more light, increased 
remuneration, and greater freedom, was seen, 
to a greater or less degree, on the continent. 
My object in writing this article -which is a 
kind of preface to what is to follow —is to try 
and point out some of the causes of our rapid 
advancement iu education and material wealth. 
In order to do this, it appeared necessary to 
trace briefly tho conditions of agriculture and 
those engaged in it anil other pursuits ; for even 
our immense natural resources (formerly unde¬ 
veloped), our mammoth rivers aud inland seas, 
and our almost unlimited extent of territory, 
will not account for it all. 
We hoar much in thoso days of natural selec¬ 
tion, hut no illustration on t o grand a scale has 
ever been witnessed as wo behold in tlio United 
States. Our immigrant ancestors wore largely 
composed of self-selected pooplo of tho Old 
World. The bravo, tbe energetic, the dauntless, 
the liberty-loving, tbo haters of oppression, ig- 
noranco, aud injustice, formed the sure founda¬ 
tion on which they aud their children buildod so 
nobly and well. 
A nation might be formed under more favor¬ 
able circumstances, but a nation never was. No 
such spectacle has ever been witnessed of a na¬ 
tion with territory sufficient for a dozen re¬ 
spectable empires, reclaimed from a wilderness, 
conquered by the arts of peace, and rising by its 
wisdom aud education from a few sparsely-set¬ 
tled colonies to a position of power, wealth, and 
refinement, that challenges the admiration and 
wonder of the civilized world. This selection of 
the fittest, explains the miracle that has been 
wrought iu our land during the past century. 
Cornell University, N. Y. 
.- - - 
WESTERN FARM TOPICS. 
PROF. EDW. M. SHELTON. 
Ur to December 1st of this year, we liavo 
received, during tho eleven months of 1877, a 
total rainfall amounting to a fraction over 42 
inches, which may bo callod a fair showing for 
this droughty region of tbo “ Great American 
Desert." Since that date wo have had one 
week of delicious Indian Summer, without frosts 
nights, the thermometer going up to 65° two or 
three times, This was followed by two weeks of 
nearly continuous fog banks and drizzling rains, 
varied with a couple of sharp thuudev storms, 
just such weather, in short, as 1 have seen in 
Southern Illinois at Ibis season ; which is saying 
about as mean a thing of tho weather as I am 
able. 
THE WILD GRASSES. 
Taking tho West ns a whole, there is no other 
single crop that nearly equals the spontane¬ 
ous crop of wild grasses that annually cover 
prairie and plain with the densest verdure. I 
need not multiply arguments to prove this pro¬ 
position. Lot it he remembered that well-nigh 
all tho cattlo obtaiued form tho vast grazing 
regions West of the Missouri River, all the 
“Texans” “ Chernkees” and American cattle of 
many names, to say nothing of sheep, are 
“ made” on tho wild grasses of this region. And 
yet this immensely valuable product rarely 
figures among tho “ available assets” of a State. 
Even the fervid imagination of the real-OBtate 
agent rarely riots among the wild grasses of his 
imHold lots. Tourists, speculators, and news¬ 
paper correspondents, while marveling at tho 
“crops” and the flocks anil herds, unite in ig¬ 
noring the grasses which make flocks and herds 
possiblo. Our own farmers are equally indif¬ 
ferent to the importance of this subject. Thou¬ 
sands of acres of prairie land are annually 
brokon up for grain crops, never so sure and only 
in favorable seasons so profitable as the orig¬ 
inal prairie grass. 
Tho advantages of these prairie grasses may 
be snmmod up iu a lino: they furnish excellent 
pasturage, and when cut in tho proper season, a 
good quality of hay; but they are pro-omiucntly 
valuable to the Western farmer, because tho 
severest droughts but lightly effect their growth, 
while neither grasshoppers nor chinch hugs, 
tho twin scourges of our farms, have ever boon 
known to injuro them. 1 certainly do not 
think of any cultivated plant for which so much 
as this can be said. Within tho past four years 
I have seen corn selling in our rural towns at 
ST per bushel, and wheat aud oats au almost 
total failure the year following, but I have never 
yet seen the native grasses of Kansas reduced to 
even a half crop. 
But all this is only one sido of this question, 
although it is the side usually overlooked. 
There is another Bide to the picture with which 
farmers are too familiar, but which equally must 
bo told. The prairie grasses are as wild as tho 
Indian and the buffalo, and even less tamablo. 
They endure mowing well, hut even when mod¬ 
erately pastured, they disappear never to return. 
In old pastures, and iu tbo vicinity of towns, 
indeed wherever the native grasses are closely 
pastured, the character ol the natural herbage 
changes rapidly, tho perennial grasses give 
place to annuals greatly their inferiors, and in 
the transition weeds rapidly multiply. Upon tho 
alluvial bottoms adjacent to this city, where only 
a few years since waved luxuriant, grasses 
“ waist high," are now seen douse masses of 
ooarso weeds alternating with patches of feebly 
growing annual grasses. Moreover, the wild 
grasses are late in starting in the spring, rarely 
making good feed before tho middle of May in 
this locality, anil the first frosts of the fall end 
their growth for the season. In this way our 
winters, so far as feeding is concerned, nro 
lengtfiened nearly or quite two months boyoud 
what they would be had we the tamo grasses. 
It will he Been that those are serious defects in 
tho obaraotor of our wild grasses, largely off- 
sotting their other sterling qualities; neverthe¬ 
less, 1 most earnestly counsel every farmer liv¬ 
ing west of the Missouri River, who ownH a field 
having a good stand of prairie grass, to allow 
tho invading plow to enter it on no protenso 
whatever. Much a field should bo treasured as 
tho English farmer treasures his permanent 
pastures, or tho Eastern farmer his wood lotH. 
TAME GRASSES. 
West of a lino drawn north and south through 
the city of Lawrence iu this State, there are 
many patches of blue grass growing in door- 
yards anil occasionally a small field may bo seen 
sodded over with some ono of the tamo grasses, 
but over all this vast area not one farmer iu fifty 
ever sowed a handful of grass seed, if I except 
Millet and Hungarian, and there exists a wide¬ 
spread notion that Kansas is not adapted to tho 
growth or tho tame species. I shall spend no 
time in combatting this idoa. Few of the 
people who argue against tho possibility of 
growing tho tamo grasses hero have any concep¬ 
tion of the tremendous import of this reason¬ 
ing; for if it can be shown that tho cultivation of 
tho grasses is from climatic or other causes, im¬ 
possible, then it is proved, as conclusively as 
moral reasoning can prove anything, that this 
country is incapable of sustaining a dense agri¬ 
cultural population; that tho slovenly scourging • 
system called “ pioneer farming” is the highest 
style of farming it is capablo of. and that a large 
portion of these beautiful prairies must ever be 
given over to tho nomadic herdsman. 
But I am abundantly satisfied that even on the 
agricultural portions of Kansas, Nebraska, In¬ 
dian Territory and Texas, several of the most 
valuable cultivated grasses may be successfully 
and profitably grown. I desire to state briefly a 
few of the facts of my own experience upon the 
college farm since 1873. In 1874 I began an ex¬ 
periment with fifty odd varieties of grasses 
and clovers, and of all these, Blue grass, Tim¬ 
othy, Orchard grass and Alfalfa have proved 
the most trustworthy. Dining this same sea¬ 
son,although onoof the most disastrous droughts 
ever known prevailed in the State, I cut two 
tons per acre of excellent Timothy hay, from 
ten acres of ground. Tn 1875,another season of se¬ 
vere drought in this locality, this field fnrnlsheil 
excellent pasture go although in tbo sandy por¬ 
tions of it considerable injury was sustained 
from the dry weather. The year 1376 was a 
very favorablo ono in this State lor all cultivated 
plants. During this season I cut over five 
tous of good Alfalfa hay per aero, at two cut¬ 
tings, from two acres of ground, and another 
cutting of fully ono ton per acre might havo 
been taken before winter set. in. 
At this time we have, all told, fourteen acres 
of mixed Timothy, and Blue grass, soeded iu 
1875 and now forming as handsome a sward as 
can bo found in Kentucky, three acres of 
Orchard grasB. Bedded last apttng, and oven now 
almost perfectly occupying the ground, and 
five acres of Alfalfa, which will easily cut ono 
and a half tons of hay per acre every two months 
of the growing season. 
In conclusion, 1 earnestly counsel Western 
fanners to sow grass seeds, and to thoso living 
west of the Missouri, I say sow Blue grass and 
Orchard grass for pastures, Timothy and Alfalfa 
for mowmg ; hut sow in tho spring, preparing 
tho ground thoroughly as for wheat. I havo 
tried this plan four years and have never onco 
failed in obtaining a first-class catch. 
Manhattan, Kao. 
■-- 
JOTTINGS AT KIRBY HOMESTEAD. 
COL. F. D. CURTIS. 
Bees arc now wintered by our most successful 
bco-men in collars. Tho cellars are kept dark 
with a direct ventilation out of doors. The ven¬ 
tilator is a wooden pipe so arranged that tho 
current of air passing through it may be in¬ 
creased or limited according to the weather. 
Tho cellar Bhould ho dry and free from mold. 
Not three per cent of loss in ewanns will happen 
when bees are wintered in a well ventilated, dry 
cellar. Bees now do well in this section and arc 
rapidly recovering l'roiu tho almost total anni¬ 
hilation which was caused by tho epidemic a few 
years since. This disease which was so de¬ 
structive rau for two years. It was a dysentery 
which attacked tho bees during the winter. Mr. 
Heaton only saved ono liive out of sixty. Our 
twenty swarms were all swept away. A few' 
hives of hoes help to make a farmer’s table more 
attractive, and generally there is a little surplus 
which may bo turned into cash. But few por- 
sous are calculated to be successful apiarians on 
auy extended scale. We havo only two in town, 
and they can work among their bees with perfect 
impunity. Thero is a sort of bee charm which 
a few persons have; they are the ones to mako 
keeping boos a business. AU others had better 
keep out of tho way. They may take the chances 
aud oover their faces and hands, and endure a 
few things for the love of honey, but to have all 
this bother and tho stings which many hives 
would surely furnish, is both an anticipation and 
a reality which we do not care for. 
English sparrows are migrating from tho 
citios iuto tho country. In tho village, a mile 
distant, they havo made their appearance this 
winter, and tho homely things aro likely to drive 
away all of tho sweet songsters which help to 
make spring so welcome. It is a pity tho enter¬ 
prise was ever born which brought them to our 
land. 
By accident we have discovered how to manage 
tho check of a high-headed and hard-mouthed 
horse. Bueh a horse should bo checked up, es¬ 
pecially if it pulls on the reins, as tho check will 
relieve tho driver. When a horse is chocked up 
tight it caunot. kick up so readily nor will it in¬ 
cline to run auy. To chock and uucheek such 
au animal, take hold of one side of tho rein with 
one baud and pull the head around towards you 
and then with the other hand put tho check on 
tho hook. It cau bo done with perfect oaso 
whou, if tho person should attempt to pull the 
check directly back to tho hook-line, it would ho 
very hard work. 
Throe spoonfuls of meal aro wasted every day 
when the measure is filled heaping full and in 
carrying it from tho granary to tho horses’ 
mangers. A peck of corn ground in tho ear is 
