THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
539 
i89o 
RURAL SPECIAL CROP REPORTS. 
Massachusetts. 
Brookfield, Worcester County, July 
20.—No rain for about six weeks here. Po¬ 
tatoes will be a failure. All vegetation is 
suffering greatly. h. r., jr. 
Wisconsin. 
Colgate, Dunn County, July 23.— 
Winter wheat will go from 10 to 20 bushels 
to the acre; spring wheat is not much 
raised and looks rather poor. Barley will 
not average over half a crop. Last year we 
had a big crop and then could hardly sell 
it. Oats are looking fair—about as good 
as anything. The hay crop was big and 
most of it was in good condition. Corn 
that was put in early looks good ; but the 
late planted will not amount to much. 
Potatoes are not promising very well at 
present: bugs are infesting the crop by the 
thousand, but I have not noticed any 
flea beetles this season. The weather was 
very wet the first of the season until about 
the first of July. Taking the crops as they 
look now, I think this fall will be the worst 
time for money that we have had for a long 
period. H. T. J. 
Illinois. 
Pleasant Valley, Jo Daviess County, 
July 30.—The weather is extremely dry 
and hot, too, by spells. Pastures are getting 
very short and corn is damaged to at least 
half its average yield. Potatoes are de¬ 
clared to be a failure. The hay crop is a 
fair average and secured in first-class con¬ 
dition. Oats are very light, being injured 
by the terribly hot week when in the milk. 
Farmers are very much dissatisfied about 
unequal taxation, unjust management of 
railroads, the burdensome tariff on the 
necessaries of life and the financial condi¬ 
tion of the country generally. The aboli¬ 
tion of the liquor business would be the 
longest step toward the prosperity of the 
laboring class, and the turning of the 
saloon licenses from the city into the county 
treasuries would be the heaviest blow the 
license system has for a long time received, 
for few towns would tolerate the saloon ex¬ 
cept as a means to draw money from 
farmers to build town streets and side¬ 
walks. Farmers’ Alliances are being 
formed rapidly and next spring will see 
the Alliance in this State controlling a 
majority vote. w. s. s. 
Georgia. 
South ^Washington, Wilkes County, 
August 3.—The winter of 1889-’90 was ex¬ 
ceptionally mild, so that our fruit trees 
did not drop their foliage until February, 
while vegetables, such as turnips, cabbages, 
beets, peas and snap beans, grew as in 
spring. Volunteer tomatoes, bush Limas 
and potatoes flourished and roses and ver¬ 
benas were in full flower—the latter hand¬ 
somer than I have ever before known them— 
while tender Moon-flowers had bloom buds. 
This continued until the middle of March, 
when the cold snap of a few days came, and 
owing to the rank, tender growth it killed 
all vegetation, including cabbages, which 
were then two feet across. Oaks and all 
trees, except peaches, were in full leaf and 
were killed back six to ten feet, and many 
were entirely killed. Many think that the 
cold killed the peach buds, but such, 1 am 
satisfied, is not the case. Last year we had 
the heaviest yield of peaches ever known in 
this section, the trees literally breaking 
down, many splitting from the junction of 
the branches entirely down the trunk to 
the ground. The excessive yield killed 
many and prevented the remainder from 
putting forth any except a few blooms 
alter the freeze. Though everything eLe 
was so flourishing, our peach trees looked 
dried up and showsd no signs of bud 
swelling before the freeze, tvflile many 
branches had even then begun to die back 
three and four feet. The result is that 
there are no peaches in this section. On my 
own place, with some 300 trees there is not 
one peach, but there are many dead trees. 
Tne ireeze coming so late prevented our hav¬ 
ing cabbages or English peas, but we have 
had immense yields of beans, beets, toma¬ 
toes, egg plants, cantaloupes, water melons 
and grapes; while in counties around us 
one of the finest corn crops ever known 
has already matured, and there is every 
prospect that the cotton crop will be 
better than last year’s, which was partic¬ 
ularly good. These crops have been made 
at less expense than for years, for, although 
labor was scarce, owing to the great de¬ 
mand for it in railroad building and im¬ 
provements in cities and towns, yet we 
had “ a dry May,” which always means a 
cheaply cultivated crop. SUBCRIRER. 
Connecticut. 
Watertown, Litchfield County, August 
4. —The hay crop is mostly well secured in 
a fine condition and is very heavy. Rye 
has been cut, and is a good crop. Oats 
suffered early from rust upon the leaves ; 
they have recovered somewhat, but will be 
a light crop. Corn is growing finely. Some 
farmers have dug early potatoes; they 
yield well, and are selling at 75 cents per 
bushel. Apples are a failure and so are 
most other kinds of fruit. Eggs are 25 cents; 
butter 25 cents. P. R. 
Indiana. 
Rockville, Park County, August 5.— 
The articles on fruit tree agents are well 
put and will do much good. I buy my 
trees of the Storrs & Harrison Company, 
and aim to give good satisfaction in price 
and tree. Wheat in our county will aver¬ 
age about four bushels to the acre. Oats 
will average about eight bushels to the 
acre. Hay a very large crop. Corn very 
promising. A. C. B. 
New York. 
Merritt’s Corners, Westchester Coun¬ 
ty, August 6.—For the past few days very 
warm weather has existed, the mercury 
reaching 100 degrees Fahr., at 2 p. M. The 
oat crop is mostly harvested, and the yield 
is very much below the average. Corn 
promises a good crop. Some farmers com¬ 
plain that their potatoes will not produce 
much, while others say that the crop is 
doing nicely. The blight is not much 
heard of. Hay is abundant and of good 
quality. Splendid weather attended the 
gathering. I notice that quite a good many 
pickles are planted this year, and I under¬ 
stand the price rules high ; in some places 
they are selling at $2 per 1,000. Fruit will 
be generally light in yield. The quality of 
the apples on the trees is not generally 
good. The price for milk is low, as usual, 
and dairymen cannot see that by producing 
less, of a better quality, a profit would re¬ 
sult. Educate the farmer and you trans¬ 
form the nation. j. c. F. 
FARMERS IN POLITICS. 
(Continued from Last Week.) 
In Nebraska the People’s Independent 
Party met in State convention at Lincoln 
on July 29. Nearly every county in the 
State was represented and over 900 dele¬ 
gates were present. Of these the members 
of the Farmers’ Alliance strongly predom¬ 
inated with a good following of the Grange, 
the remainder being Knights of Labor and 
Union Labor adherents. Fiery Ex Senator 
Van Wyck and Jay Burrows are looked 
upon as leaders of the Alliance movement 
while the Knights of Labor find a leader in 
Ex-Governor David Butler of Pawnee 
County. An attempt to adopt the standing 
platform of the Alliance, without change 
or addition as the platform of the combin¬ 
ation proved a failure, as the labor element 
insisted on the insertion of a plank in favor 
of the Australian ballot system, and the 
eight-hour law. After considerable debate, 
both points were conceded. The platform 
favors the free coinage of silver; the issue 
of all paper currency by the government 
alone ; the abolition of land monopoly 
either “ by limitation of ownership or grad¬ 
uated taxation of excessive holdings,” so 
that competent men should have an oppor¬ 
tunity to labor, secure homes and become 
good citizens. It demands the prohibi¬ 
tion of alien ownership of land, and 
while declaring the present railroad sys¬ 
tem a system of spoliation and roobery, it 
insists that the general government should 
own and operate the railroads and tele¬ 
graphs and furnish transportation at cost, 
and that the Nebraska State Legislature 
should enact a freight law which shall fix 
the rates no higher than those now in force 
in Iowa. It demands that the State and 
national systems of taxation, including the 
tariff, shall be so adjusted that all will 
bear their just burdens, instead of our 
farmers, laborers, merchants and me¬ 
chanics being compelled to pay, as at 
present, by far the largest portion of the 
public expense ; it also demands the adop¬ 
tion of the Australian ballot system ; that 
eight hours shall constitute a legal day’s 
work except for agricultural laborers, and 
that the soldiers of the late war shall re¬ 
ceive liberal service pensions. It further 
declares that the political machinery in 
that State has been controlled by the cor¬ 
porate power for the plunder of the people 
and the enrichment of itself. 
The following State ticket was nomi¬ 
nated ; For Governor, J. H. Powers, of 
Hitchcock County; for Lieutenant-Gover¬ 
nor, W. H. Dock, of Saunders; for Secre¬ 
tary of State, M. C. Mayberry, of Pawnee ; 
Treasurer, J. V. Wolfe, of Lancaster; Au¬ 
ditor, John Beatty, of Holt; Attorney-Gen¬ 
eral,George W. Edgerton,of Douglass; Com¬ 
missioner of Public Lands and Buildings, 
W. F. Wright, of Nemaha; Superintendent 
of Public Instruction, Prof. D. Almond, of 
Furnas. As soon as the State convention 
had ad journed.the delegates to the first dis¬ 
trict Congressional convention assembled 
and unanimously nominated ex Senator C. 
B. Van Wyck for Congress. Van Wyck was 
“ retired” from Congress by the Republi¬ 
cans on account of his uncompromising hos¬ 
tility to railroad extortions,and on that very 
account is likely to be sent back by the 
farming and laboring interests in the State. 
The general opinion is that the union of 
these two interests makes a very strong 
party. Of course, the race question does 
not enter into politics in Nebraska, which 
has hitherto been considered one of the 
“ certain ” Republican States, and though 
the great majority of the recalcitrant mem¬ 
bers of the Alliance have hitherto been 
Republicans, still that party declares that 
it is still confident of victory at the fall 
elections, in spite of the defection of so 
many of its staunchest adherents. Of the 
142,159 males engaged in all occupations in 
Nebraska in 1880, 89,881 were employed 
either as agricultural laborers, farmers, 
gardeners, nurserymen and vine-growers, 
or stock-raisers, drivers or herders. 
* ■* * 
In Tennessee there was, the other day, a 
lengthy dead-lock in the Democratic State 
Convention held at Nashville. The Farm¬ 
ers’ Alliance and the Laborers’ Union were 
strongly represented. Their delegates in¬ 
sisted on a proper representation of their 
views in the platform and of their numbers 
on the State ticket. The old Bourbon 
Democrats, who have had a prescriptive 
right to the offices for years, believing that 
many of the agricultural and labor repre¬ 
sentatives were not over-supplied with 
funds, attempted, by delaying action, to 
force a large proportion of them to return 
home, through impecuniosity, before final 
action could be taken. Finally, 650 of them 
decided that if they should be compelled to 
go home they would leave proxies and 
money to assist in paying the expenses of 
the others. This resolute attitude seems to 
have cowed the office-holding faction, and 
voting for Governor was permitted to pro¬ 
ceed. On the 25th ballot, John Buchanan, 
President of the Farmers’ and Laborers’ 
Union, and the Alliance candidate for Gov¬ 
ernor, received 801 votes against 443 for 
Patterson and 360 for Baxter, rival “ regu¬ 
lar” Democratic candidates. As it was 
evident that Buchanan would inevit¬ 
ably have a majority on the 26th 
ballot, county after county voted in his 
favor, and the other candidates were 
promptly withdrawn, so that the nomina¬ 
tion of thb farmers’ candidate was carried 
unanimously by acclamation amid a “ hur¬ 
ricane of applause.” The next Governor of 
Tennesse is a little over 40 years old, and 
is a genuine, practical and successful 
farmer. He is president of the State Alli¬ 
ance and was an officer in the Agricultural 
Wheel, which has been amalgamated with 
the Alliance. From the first he was the 
farmers’ candidate, and went into the con¬ 
vention with pledges of support from over 
half the delegates; but the mossback 
Democrats were loath to loose their grip 
on the offices and tried to tire out their 
opponents by dilatory tactics. The pre¬ 
liminary canvass was closely contested, and 
a great deal of bad feeling was developed ; 
but from the first Buchanan held his forces 
well together, and is sure to receive the 
full strength of the party at the polls. The 
race question has a dominant influence in 
Tennessee, so that the contention of the 
farmers there was not for an independent 
ticket but for control of the Democratic 
party. Having secured this, their candi¬ 
date is sure of election, as the Republicans 
have not even a “ fighting chance ” of suc¬ 
cess. According to the census of 1880, of 
the 1,541,982 inhabitants of the State, 936,- 
119 were white and 403,151 colored, and of the 
391,562 males eugaged in 70 different named 
occupations, 275,620 were employed in one 
branch or another of agriculture. 
* * * 
In Arkansas the Farmers’ Alliance and 
the Farmers’ and Laborers’ Union, in con¬ 
vention at Little Rock, the other day, suc¬ 
ceeded in effecting a consolidation. The 
combination will henceforth be known as 
the Farmers’ Alliance and Industrial 
Union of Arkansas. The organization will 
not put an independent ticket in the field, 
but its full strength will be exerted in 
favor of those candidates who give the 
most trustworthy pledges that they will 
support the demands of the combination, 
which are submitted to each candidate in 
print. Hitherto the Republican candi¬ 
dates have been the more compliant, 
and, as a rule, the strength of the or¬ 
ganization will be thrown in support of 
that party. A memorial embodying the 
sentiments of the association was form 
ulated for presentation to the General As¬ 
sembly of the State. Briefly summarized 
while it denounces all Trusts as inimical to 
the public welfare, it is especially bitter 
against the ‘‘gigantic combine which has 
been effected by and between all the pub¬ 
lishers of school books used in our land,’ 
and it demands that the coming legislature 
of the State shall authorize the Superintend¬ 
ent of Public Instruction to print all school 
books used in the State; and shall establish 
a public department of printing. It also 
urges the appointment of a Committee on 
School Books, who shall prepare a suitable 
series of books for common free use 
throughout the State, and it solicits the co¬ 
operation of neighboring States in publish¬ 
ing such books jointly, in order to curtail 
expenses. A memorial was also unanimous¬ 
ly adopted for presentation to the Con¬ 
gress of the United States,urging that body 
to so amend the patent laws as to make it 
impossible for any man or association to 
control any patent for any discovery or in¬ 
vention in such a way as to force “ the in¬ 
convenient multitude” to pay tribute to 
a few mercenaries ” who manufacture and 
control the article. It declares that every 
patent on any useful article in general use 
should be purchased by the government 
from the inventor, at a “ reasonable price,” 
and that he and his heirs should be granted 
an annuity, varying from 1500 to $5,000, for 
15 years after the grant of the patent. The 
race question enters largely into Arkansas 
politics. According to the census of 1880, 
of the 802,197 inhabitants of the State in that 
year, 591,531 were white and 210,666 colored, 
and of the 230,076 males engaged in all occu¬ 
pations, 195,002 were engaged in one branch 
or another of agriculture. Thus it is, as in 
all other States in which farmers are tak¬ 
ing a lively interest in politics at present, 
that they are in a majority, and as they are 
invariably supported by labor organiza¬ 
tions, they could easily secure victory if all 
or even the great majority of them took an 
active part in the contest on the same side. 
(To be continued.) 
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