THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
AUS 23 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
A National Journal for Country and Suburban Home 
Conducted by 
E. 8. CABMAN, 
J. 8. WOOD W A BD, 
Associate. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. 34 Pabk Row, New York. 
SATURDAY. AUGUST 23. 1884, 
Thkiie is many an acre only yielding 
ten bushels of wheat, and nearly starving 
the owner, that, with an expenditure of 
five dollars for manure, with no extra 
labor, would have given 25 bushels, and 
have made a good profit for the owner. 
We must make two kernels grow where 
only one grew before, if we would keep 
up with the times. • 
PRICES OF WHEAT. 
The Minneapolis Milling Association 
has fixed the price of No. 1 Hard Wheat 
at 77c.; of No. 2 ITard, at 74c.; of No. 1 
“regular,” at. 72c.; and of No. 2. at 09c.; 
all delivered at Minneapolis. The prices 
in the tributary regions in Minnesota and 
Dakota are to lie based on these figures, 
the difference being the amount of freight 
and handling charges. This means 62c. 
for No, 1 Hard Wheat at pointB 250 to 
300 miles distant; 57c. for No. 1, “regu¬ 
lar,” and 52c. for No, 2, the Chicago 
speculative grade. Thus the difference be¬ 
tween No. 1 Hard and No. 1 “regular” or 
soft is only 5c.; although last season the 
Association loudly announced that 10 cents 
per bushel more would be paid for the for¬ 
mer than for the latter this year, and urged 
farmers to sow hard seed. Doesn’t this 
failure to fulfill its promise look like a 
piece of contemptible trickery? Yester¬ 
day, August 15, “regular” -wheat sold in 
Chicago ai 77 l-4c. per bushel, the lowest 
point ever reached in that market, except 
once, many years ago, when means of 
storage and transportation were infinitely 
less than now, and freight rates touch 
more extortionate, so that there was a 
temporary glut in the market, which re¬ 
duced the price to 75c. per bushel for a day. 
The same grade yesterday was down to 
$1.03 1-2 in Liverpool, and No. 2 Red 
dow r n to 11.04, the lowest figures ever 
known in that market in the memory of 
man. Even at the above low quotations, 
the tendency of priceshas been downward, 
and it is considered quite probable by 
many, t hat 75c. at Chicago may soon be the 
quotation tor wheat, with correspondingly 
low figures in other markets. The de¬ 
cline during the week has been very con¬ 
siderable in all the markets, amounting to 
1 l-2c. here; I 8-4c. in Chicago; 2 3-4c. 
in St. Louis, 2e. in Cincinnati, and a 
corresponding falling off elsewhere. 
The visible causes of this decline are 
obvious. The crop reports from nil over 
this country and Canada, promise an ex¬ 
ceptionally abundant harvest; until the 
middle of the week, all cable news as to 
weather and prospects in European wheat¬ 
growing countries were favorable; the 
receipts at the primary Western markets 
have been heavy; the statement widely 
{ mblished last week that the Agricultural 
)epartmcnt estimated the aggregate 
wheat crop at only 485,0(10,000 bushels, 
is found to be unwarranted, in fact, spuri¬ 
ous, so that the belief now prevails that 
the aggregate crop will be considerably 
over 500,000,000 bushels-—all these cir¬ 
cumstances have had a depressing influ¬ 
ence on prices, and the question now asked 
on all sides is wlu*qM^r l they touch 
bottom. ™ 
It is quite likely the action of farmers 
will affect this question. All over the 
country, aud especially in the West, they 
are now in a far more prosperous condi¬ 
tion than they were 10 or half a dozeu 
years ago. They have prudently taken 
advantage of the good prices for agricul¬ 
tural products of late years; they have 
paid off mauy old debts, and boon careful 
about incurring new ones : they have 
improved their farms and farm buildings 
and invested freely in household conven¬ 
iences and agricultural machinery. Many 
of them are “forehanded,” and few of 
them are pinched. A majority of them 
pay close attention to the fluctuations of 
the market for foodstuffs, and not a few 
of them take occasional “deals” them¬ 
selves in grain and other produce. A large 
proportion of them believe that by holding 
their produce they will get satisfactory 
prices later on. In the event of a contin¬ 
uance of low prices, less grain will be 
thrashed and more will be stacked or 
stored. A very large number are quite 
able to hold their wheat till Christmas, 
1885, if they see fit to take the chance of 
a short crop next year. Tim average yield 
of wheat throughout the country is only 
about 18 bushels per acre, and this cannot 
be profitably sold by the producer for less 
than, say, 80 cents per bushel. Western 
fanners may be able to avoid a loss even 
if they dispose of it at a trifle less; but 
Eastern farmers cannot sell it without 
a loss even at this figure, and the average 
price to producers is less than this amount 
throughout the country at present. 
CROPS. 
Taken as a whole, we do not remember 
any year in which the crops of this coun¬ 
try were so abundant as they are likely to 
be the present season. There have been 
years in which the yield of some particular 
crop exceeded the outcome of the same 
erop this year, but the harvest, as a whole, 
will be the most bountiful with which we 
have ever been blessed. All reports coin¬ 
cide in this view. Although here and 
there this or that crop may be deficient, 
still the averages of all throughout the 
entire country are high. The report of 
the Department of Agriculture differs con- 
siderably in some respects from those of 
the various State Boards of Agriculture, 
as well as from those of other “authori¬ 
ties;” but in view of the vast and expen¬ 
sive machinery for its compilation, it is, 
perhaps, likely to be as correct for each 
State as the State report, and it is the only 
national report, and that by whose figures 
the crops of successive years are con¬ 
trasted. 
According to this report for August, 
the condition of corn, on the first of the 
month, averaged the same as in the July 
report, and was higher than in any August 
since 1880. It has been exceeded only 
three times in ten years—in 1875, 1879, 
and 1880—when it was 99 in each instance 
against 98 now. There has been an im¬ 
provement in Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, 
Nebraska, Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, 
New .Jersey, and the Pacific Coast; but a 
slight decline is reported in Ohio, In¬ 
diana, Illinois, and in some of the South¬ 
ern States. In parts of the Ohio Valley 
and Texas severe droughts have reduced 
the condition of the crop six points. The 
averages of the principal States are: New 
York, 91; Maryland, 94; Virginia, 95; 
North Carolina, 97; South Carolina, 94; 
Georgia, 97; Alabama, 99; Mississippi, 
90; Louisiana, 78; Texas, 83; Arkansas, 
91; Tennessee, 99; Pennsylvania, 90; 
Kentucky, 91; Ohio, 81; Indiana, 94; 
Illinois, 92; Iowa, 103; Missouri, 102; 
Kansas, 101; Nebraska, 105. 
The report of wheat includes only the 
spring wheat region, as winter wheat had 
already been harvested, aud to a large 
extent thrashed. The average of spring 
wheat on the first of the mouth was 98, 
one point higher than in the last two good 
spring wheat years, aud higher than in 
any year since 1877. The winter and 
spring wheat crops are likely to aggregate 
not less than 500,000,000 bushels, and 
several “authorities” put the total yield 
at over 515,000,000, some going as high 
as 520,000,000 bushels. 
The average condition of oats is 94, one 
point lower than at the same date in 1883. 
The eroj) has been harvested in the lower 
latitudes, and promises a fine yield 
in most of the Northern States. 
The condition of rye averages 97, the 
same as last month. Barley also main¬ 
tains its high condition, and buckwheat 
promises a full crop on an area about the 
same as last year. Tobacco promises a 
large crop. The averages for the principal 
tobacco-producing States ure: Massachu¬ 
setts, 85; Connecticut, 92; Pennsylvania, 
82: Maryland, 102; Virginia, 97; North 
Carolina, 99; Tennessee, 103; Kentucky, 
97; Ohio, 94. The prospect is good for 
another large crop of potatoes, though not 
so large as fast year, on an area three per 
cent, smaller. The present indications 
point to a crop 10 per cent, less than that 
of 1883, with a larger difference should 
the conditions be less favorable in the 
future. 
The condition of cotton is improved in 
Virginia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisi¬ 
ana, and Arkansas,the improvement being 
specially manifest in Mississippi and Loui¬ 
siana. in South Carolina, Florida and 
Alabama, the excessive rains have caused 
a weedy growth and the shedding of 
forms, and prevented cultivation. Iu 
Texas the drought caused the loss of one 
point, and raised serious apprehensions 
for the future; but later telegrams an¬ 
nounce welcome rams, especially iu the 
northern parts of the State. The cotton 
moth has appeared in the Gulf States, and 
worms are reported in a few sections, but 
no damage has, as yet, been done. The 
plant is generally reported late and defi¬ 
cient in fruitage, but in a condition to 
give a heavy yield with favorable weather 
and deferred frosts, or to be greatly in¬ 
jured by continued excess of rain in one 
section and drought in others. So far, 
the condition is as favorable as in six of 
the past 10 years. The State averages arc: 
Virginia, 88; North Carolina. 87 ; South 
Carolina, 91; Georgia, 90: Florida, 97; 
Alabama, 92; Mississippi, 89: Louisiana, 
85; Texas, 79; Arkansas, 87; Tennessee, 
92. The average condition has advanced 
from 86 in July, to a little above 87. From 
this and other reports, we should estimate 
that the total crop will be not less than 
6,500,000 bales. 
The Bureau of Industries of the Prov¬ 
ince of Ontario, Canada, estimates the 
production of 17,408,356 bushels of fall 
wheat on 864,961 acres, and of 13,224,341 
bushels of spring wheat on 720,632 acres, 
or a total of 30,632,697 bushels on 1,585,- 
593 acres, against 21,328,902 bushels on 
1,677,877 acres in 1883. The grain is of 
excellent quality, being plump, bard, and 
bright. Advices from the Province of 
Manitoba speak in high terms of wheat, 
barley, peas and oats, while corn is iu the 
ear, with a fair prospect if frosts hold 
off. The “North-west” is expected 
to export five million bushels of wheat 
this season. 
Moffutt, the London statistical agent of 
the Department of Agriculture, reports 
that the weather for the first 10 days of 
August was hot and forcing, and that an 
improvement in the wheat prospects was 
noted “in all European countries,” with 
magnificent harvesting weather. Through¬ 
out Germany, to which he appears to 
have devoted special attention, the crops 
were in fine condition, wheat averaging 
98; rye, 99; barley, 98; oats, 96; and 
hay, 104. All the world over, crops this 
year appear to be unusually abundant— 
an excellent thing for the consumer, who 
will he able to buy at low figures; but not 
quite so good a thing for the producer, 
who will have to sell at still lower tigurcB 
by far, to allow for the large profits of all 
the middlemen—railroad and shipping 
men, speculators, merchants, etc., etc. 
that intervene between both and prey 
upon each. 
-- 4 ♦♦- 
THE FOOLISHNESS OF LEGISLATION. 
“The trenchant blade * * * 
For want of fighting had grown rusty, 
And eat into itself” * * * 
This is the universal experience of ev¬ 
erything. Constant use, constant attri¬ 
tion, incessant application keeps the 
sword smooth and shining, the penny 
bright, and men sharp and uctive. The 
continuous blowing of the wind, the con¬ 
stant motion of the water as it dances in 
the brooklet, or thunders and tumbles on 
the beach, keep air aud water bright, 
pure aud health-giving. Stagnation, 
which is idleness, is foulness, infection 
and death. Idleness is the foe of success, 
the incubus upon the shoulders of pro¬ 
gress, the greatest danger in any govern¬ 
ment, the bane of the world. So long as 
men are constantly employed, so long are 
they contented; to them the days are 
short, their health is good, their sleep 
sound, and neither individuals nor the 
Government have aught to fear; but once 
they are idle, they become discontented 
and plot mischief. So long as a man 
keeps his laud under constant use, sup¬ 
plying it with what is necessary for the 
greatest fertility, and farms it to the 
highest point of productiveness, he can 
hardly have too much. But the moment 
he has more than he can so use, the idle 
land becomes a curse, constantly breeding 
weeds and thistles, to the injury of the 
owner and of .the entire community. The 
same rule applies to all enterprises; con¬ 
stant employment of capital and machine¬ 
ry conduces to profit; idleness, to loss. 
’ Were a farmer to buy a hundred-acre 
farm, who had meana and ability to work 
only fifty; were a manufacturer to build 
a mill much larger than he could keep 
running; wore a corporation to call in 
much more of its capital stock than it 
could profitably use, leaving a large sur¬ 
plus idle iu its treasury, it would be ad¬ 
judged lacking ordinary business ability. 
That individual or corporation, other 
things being equal, will be most suc¬ 
cessful thht keeps capital most actively 
employed. The Government is, to a cer¬ 
tain extent, a huge corporation, of which 
the citizens are the shareholders, and the 
money used by the Government is the 
capital stock, mostly derived from the 
shareholders by some sort of direct or in¬ 
direct taxation, and so long as it calls for 
no more than it can legitimately employ 
for public purposes, or for the business 
needs of the people, it is acting for the 
good of the people, and should receive 
their hearty support. 
But the Goverment has no right to 
collect from the people a larger sum than 
is sufficient to meet its legitimate wants, 
and when it goes farther, it is unjustly 
oppressive, and the people have a right 
to complain. But what shall we say 
when legislators are so oblivious of the 
people’s rights as to pass laws compelling 
the purchase of silver and the coinage of 
tokens which everybody objects to taking, 
and to continue this abominable prac¬ 
tice at such a rate that, we have now' over 
$180,000,600 of these tokens Idle in the 
hands of the Government. This is over 
7,000 tons, or 85 trains of 20 cars each, 
or over five miles of solid trains all loaded 
with silver tokens bought with the peo¬ 
ple’s money; but which nobody will 
willingly receive. 
Besides having its Treasury vaults all 
full, the Government pays over $40,000 
rent each year for warehouses in which to 
store the surplus; add to this 3.5 per 
cent., interest on the vast sum which this 
costs, and we have the expense of hoard¬ 
ing this worthless metal, $9,340,000 per 
annum. We do not wish to be under¬ 
stood as opposed to the use of a silver 
dollar; but we do insist that it shall he 
worth a dollar, so as to be interchangea¬ 
ble for gold. We arc unalterably opposed 
to the law that compels the purchase of 
silver and coinage of at least $2,000,000 
of these 85-cent tokens each month. Coin¬ 
age should be left free, and such money 
should be coined and in such denomina¬ 
tions, and such only, as is demanded by the 
people, and never, as with the Bli*d dol¬ 
lar, merely to create a demand to relieve 
an over-stocked silver market. 
These millions will never enter largely 
into circulation, for two reasons: first, 
they are too bulky and less convenient 
than paper currency and gold; and, sec¬ 
ondly, because they are dollars only in 
name, their intrinsic value being much 
less, and though by edict of law they are 
made a legal tender, the people will never 
use them extensively, and yet they have 
each year, as the result of this foolish and 
unjust legislation, to be taxed over nine 
millions to carry this gradually accumu¬ 
lating load. 
Worse yet; should a financial crisis 
occur, this vast amount of inferior coin, 
being a legal tender for debts while re¬ 
fused as a purchasing agent, would at 
once cause gold to be hoarded and to 
leave the country, and would at once 
unfix and depress valuations, and business 
stagnation and failures would be univer¬ 
sal and unavoidable. 
Nor is this the worst feature. Idle money 
in the Government vaults, is no less cor¬ 
rupting and dangerous than when in pri¬ 
vate institutions; every sharper wants a 
portion aDd, as a result ot their congrega¬ 
tion, ’ Washington has become notorious 
as a den of thieves and blacklegs; Con¬ 
gress is bought, badgered or coaxed into 
all sorts of dishonest, extravagant and 
unnecessary legislation, and millions of 
the people’s hard-earned money are di¬ 
verted from their proper uses and find 
their way into the pockets of these scamps. 
Is it not time the farmers were a little 
more attentive to the qualifications of 
men seeking thuir votes? It is about time 
we ceased this piling-up of millions of 
short-value tokens; for the money should 
be used to pay the nation’s debts as rapid¬ 
ly as possible. Let us see to it that only 
honest men be elected, who will quickly 
right the laws, aud give us only honest 
money. We have long enough furnished 
a market for the surplus Bilver of the 
world. Let us be done with such fool¬ 
ishness ! __ 
BREVITIES. 
IF m 0 a p s this dry, hot 
weather, it will certainly kill them. Try it I 
If you neglected to plant those strawberries 
last Spring, you can put thorn out now. Give 
them good care and raise a very satisfactory 
crop next Summer. 
As the Presidential election takes place on 
Tuesday, November 4th. the dates for hold¬ 
ing the Second Annual Kansas City Fat Stock 
Show have been chauged, so that tbo fair will 
now extend from October 25th to November 
1st, both days inclusive. 
No time should be lost in plowing for 
wheat, whether Summer-fallowed or stubble 
ground. If possible plow so early as to have 
a good, heavy rain between the plowing and 
seeding. A good, soaking rain, so coming, 
often doubles the yield of wheat. 
If the clover fields show few or no red 
blossoms, the midges are at work, and the best 
thing to do is to cut it soon for hay. A good 
second crop of clover made into hay and 
properly fed, is worth quite as much as the 
crop of clover seed, were no midge present; 
but where the pest is abundant, there need be 
no expectation of seed. Don't be deceived by 
the plump, hard feel of the heads, as a head 
filled with the midge larva? is as plump and 
nearly as hard as if filled with seed. 
