The Farmers' Picnic

Last Saiiii-il i muy not have been a red letter day in the liistory of Washtenaw eounty, but it was a very large duy for thousands of the farmers of this and Livingston counties. For a long time the MWI had been lierulded that the 20th of Aujiust liad been decided upon by the agiicultuiists of this mul adjoining coramunities, to meet la a grand after harvest festival, and Whitmore Lake the place of meeting. Well, on last Saturday the day came, and it was as glorious a day asevershone upon the fair lul 1 s and beautlful plains of this grand peuinsula; in fact, liad the weathcr been ordered ior the occasion it could not have been better. At early mom the teams commenced going, the vchicles being loaded with the farmer and his wife, Iiis good-looking - nio.-t always - daujruters, his sous who were too young to take somo other farmer's daughter, and several plump-looking baskets. The best horse and carrlage was uauully taken by the best young man and his best girl - all went. At Ann Arbor it was one continual procession past the Coüriek office until nearly 11 o'clock, while at the T. & A. A. depot the crush was terrific, several car loads of people elbowing their way around among each other wlth seats enouih in the cars for about half the passengers. And maiiy were left who had tickets, there belng no room for tliem even to hang on. A kind agricultural friend volunteered to take ye scribe over to the show, and he accepted the invitation very quickly. It is adelightful ride to Whitmore Lake jnst now. The roads are fine, and the beautiful farms, the hills, the valleys, the woods, the well-to-do farm houses with an occasional old pioneer log house sand wiched in, all lend enchantment to this ride of ten miles. The farmers along this winding road - ior it doesn't run straight over 40 rods in any one place - have very sensibly left youug, thrifty trees along the sldes, many of them being nut bearing trees, sucli as hickory nut, walnut, butternut, all beautiful and looking all the handsonur for being mixed in with white oak, burr oak, black oak, rid o:ik, banwood, clin, etc., but scarcely a ¦aapte is to be seen. As the years roll by the more dullphtful will this drive beconie. As we neared the Lake the crowd bejran to loom un, and in order to fínd a liitcliing place we liad to stop several rods tliis side, soutli, of tlie cliuich; this was mar neon, but wlien at about 4 o'clock we went back after our vehicle the Street was lincd on both sides witli carnajes for rods and rods beyond our hltcblng place - and it must be remctnbered tliat tbis was only one of the roads leiding to the Lake. E;ich and every one w.-ts siniiliirly llned, whlle a string of teiim-i almost encircled the banks of thsit beaiiiiful sheet ot' water. THE CROWD was everwhere. On the lake n sail boats, in row boats, on the stenmeis, everywhere dottblg the placid waters; tlien on land, tlie (jroves were fu 11, the strects were crowded, the hotels jatnmed, private houses invaded, and the sliade of evety tree pro-emptod by all that it was posslble to accommodate. It w.is a jolly and well-fid lonkinfr cidwiI, too. Have your hunible scrlbe, there wassearcely acaduverous, hiineiy lookiug personage to be seeu on all the vast grounds. Dinner appeared to last all the time. They were eatinj; dlnner wlien we gotthere atuoon, and eating lunch wlieu we carne away at 4 o'clock, to say nothing of the intellectunl feast, which not over one-fourth present could partake of. There were all sorts of relreshment stands. The churcli people ser ved hot tea, coflee and ice creatu (the latter not very hot); private venders etull'ed the picnicers wlth peanuts, aud pop, tafty and watermelon, bananas and almost everything else - the prevalling price being a nickle. And, we are sorry to gay, that there were quite a nuinber of ganibliug deyiees. At the hotels the fiddles struck up a bit of a jig, and the merry makls and joyous swains threaded through theniazy quadrille, and all went inerry aa a nuirruiíí'- bi'll. Til E EXEHCISES comtnenced at abojt Y%, o'clock God's time, as thcy are pleastd to term it, for the average farmer would no more think of adopting the time used by the railroad monopolista than they would sow Cunada thistles iu among their fertile ilelds. The program opened with music, followed by a prayer by Hev. S. W. Bird, of Whitmore Lake, who invoked the blesslngs of Providence upon the great crowd of people, in a few d vott nd appropriale sentences. Hen. Win. Ball was down for an nd dress of welcome, but declined to indulge in the luxury, rather preferiing to listen than to talk. Aftcr a few words he introduced the man that man y of tlie vast assenibly had come to listen to, i HI8 nONOR, CYRUS O. LUCK, of Gilead, Bianch county, governor of Michigan. The governor sald that he had been engaged in the speeoh-maklng buslnens Tor some weeks, and only a day or two before he had addressed 15000 people and 10,000 teams ; thut he had a good votce, and wonld try and make hlmself heard provldlng the people would allow hlm to do all the talklng. He knew that there was a greal teraptatlon for nelglihors and friends to vlsit, especial ly amone those who had not ieen eaoh ollier for a lonif time, but thelr convereation lnterrupted and embarraxxed a speaker and ptevented thoae arounil tliem from hearing what was suid. Then he told a story of a youiiK man und hls sweetlieart doing thelr oourllng In such a crowd, and how qulet lt became arnund that couple after she had consented to marry the fellow. The govemor thcn started out wlth the familiar propiwltlon thal the farmer was the foundation, the basis, of all countrles and all governments. All Induslrles. all trades, uil lui' lni"iK depended upon the man who tlllpd tbesoll; when he prospera the natlon prospers, when he fails the nailon goeg under. It Is the farmer who fllli wlth hls products the shlps that salí so inajestlcally over the ocean.and they send Ihe great tnilim rolling over thelr tracks of steel to the great trde centers. The speaker had seen Chloagoswept nearly frora the face of the earth, barned, blackened nothlng left, but a heap of ashes and charred embers, and he thought to hlmself, well thls city can never rlse agaln. Hut he had seen it arlse. re-bullt In greater grandeur and splendor than ever before, and lt was all doue by the proflts off of plgs aod oorn Now there are cerlaln thlngs farmersowe lt to themselves to do, and one thlng lt to come to a picnic. The speaker del red hUaudlence to throw aslde thegovernor business and llsteu to hlm slmply asa plaln farmer, of Ollead ; for he wa nothlng but a farmer, and knew well how to feel for and sympathlze wlth farmers. He seen torren ts come down and sweep off the producís of hls hard tol!, he had watcued hls iltlclH of corn and other crops dried yes burned up by the heated air and the merclless rays of the sun. Another thlng the larmer owea lt tohlmself to do la to organlze, organlze, organlze. We flnd every other class of people formlng BHssclatlous. The lawyers have thelr assoc" ations, the doctors- both big and llttle plll- tlielra, the ministers merchants, rallroad men, everybody but the farmer, who above all olhers would be most beüeflted thereby Way, up at Petoskey they have a hay-fever ansoclatlon, and even the coffln-makers have unlted la au assoolatlon ; all geem to fully understand the great beneflt of organlzatlon save the farmer. It lg sald that when an Kngllshman gets drunk he wunts to gwear; when an Irlshniiiii gets drunk he wants to ' flght; an Itallan wanU to a Qerman wants to teil a story; and a Yankee wants to organize Bomelhlng drunk or sober, I Away back wlien ho was ft boy, n )iundred years orso ago, he hiui noticod that to perfect a M irne-shoe the lron had to go through tbe bands of boïuo twenty men, now lt Is all done by muehluery. When he flrst Itarted on hls farm be out wbeat wllb a Blcklo, tben wit li a eradle, tben wlth a roaper on Inch one nmn rode to rake off tho bundleH and auotber to drive (he drove); then came tho drop hundir roaper, but now a man juinp on IiIm soir-binderand liasall the work douc by machluery. Tlio tendency of cvprythlng was to centralUe power and lessen labor, wby, our letters eveu,rewrltten by machlnery now- but he warued every young man never to wrlte a love letter wllh a machine, for lf he dld tbe flrl would certalnly rofuseblm, asshowould hink, and Justly ho, thathecould uot lmp rt the true,warm,hcart-felt passion through the cold type, tbat he could tbrough a pen graspedlu hls own hand- and ho couldu't elther. lp at Lanslng the governor sald, be dld half bis talklng by machlnery. He woulil slt there In hls office and converse wlth frlends at Ypsilantl, Aun Arbor, Detroit and elsewhere. The farmers should centralizo thelr power. They are the stowest people to see and realize tbe necesslty ol gettlng these machines. man kuew better thau blmself the nwi s-i tles of farmers, He went on to hls farm thirty years ago In August, poor as a cbureb mouse, and had bewed out hls home froni tbe wllderness. He bad been blessed wlth a frame of lron and a constltutlon of steel, to whlch fact he attrlbuted muoh of hls snooeH Mueh was due also to that wlfe who hnd worked wlth htm. The Ufe of the farmer wassometlme8dlsoouraKlng, bul he wlshed every one of them to look up. Look up and tfcank God that they coulü rear thelrchlklren free froni templallon. These ohlldren, the farmers' chlldren, are the one's from whose ranksare recrulted the men wbo rule the destlnles of tbe natlons. He belleved In educatlon. Edúcate the bralu. Kuuoate, edúcale, edúcate. He was nol a fanatlc In thls respect but he belleved In liberal educatlon. Krom hls boyhood up he had been a ilrm and persistent advocate of educatlon of tbe masHes, so that every boy and glrl mlght have a thorough undersiandIng; nol an educatlon of the liead at the expense of the body. You have posslbly educated your sous and daughters, lf so thls educatlon to be of any benefit must be constan tly brougbt Into use. You do uot send your chlldren to Ann Arbor, to Ypsilantl, to Lanslug to get them out of the way : not at all, but to make them flt to stand up among thelr fellow men. After they have obtalued knowledge they raust make use of lt and keep lt brlght. Hereln Is where too many farmers fall. In too mauy cases we k now less Iban we dld al twenty. IHere tbe speaker was glven a glass Ulied wlth a dark, eider looking beverage, Unit Mr. Ball sald was cold tea, and the Uov. dldn't dispute Ifcj Contlnulng, the Gov. sald that there was no calllng under the hat or head of man tbat affords inoreopporlunlty forstudy and luvestlgatlon tban tbat of agricultura. If the farmers would improve thelr opportunltles they mlgbt be the wisest men ín America; and we will glve the lawyers credit lor havlng considerable wisdom some times. The trouble wlth the farmers Is that they are overworked, and needlessly so. They do four days' work when they ought not to do bot three. As a general thlng the farmer tills too much land ; he shoulu reduce tbe number of acres and what he does 1111 till better. He should let a portlou of hls farm grow up to trees, and theu we wouldn't have such droughts. We all work too much physlüfilly. Dou't use our bralns euougn ; thls Is as true on tbe farm as any where else ; we ought to brlng more of our braln into service and use less muscle. The best fertlllzer that high heaven ever furnlshed Is human bralns. The Uovernor sald that wben hecame to bis farm In (jilead, Branch Co., 3ü years ago, be had beard hls iather and mother teil of the lmpoverished soll of (Jonnectlcut and Virginia by reason of leltlng the larm run out. In ralslng tobacco and nlggers, and he tben vowed that he never would let bis farm run out, and lt never had; he belleved lt to be more fertlle uow thau lt was at tbe start. And any farm may be kept so by worklug lntelllgenlly. This could be done In a great measure ( eiperlmeullng, observlng, and meeting together and talktng wltii those havlnit Itke solls mul farms needing similar treatment. The Imhi moral seutluient of the uo. hl was rouud In Uod's open country, that is, the best average. The farmers out number all other classes. Tbe speaker pald he had been a student of hlstory. He had read of theancleut nattons of the old world, of Koine aud Círeece, of Svria and Egypt, and he found that thelr ciownhill iu uo Instaure was caused by the farmers. It resulted froin the degeneratlon of the people through the accumulatlon of great wealth and the lndulgi'Mi-i' of luxurlutis tasles, lu facl through tb degeneraiion of the formlug interest. It Is not the farmers of Ireland who aie to-day .u-Uu) i nu thal noble Uland. 80 we must beware and elévate the foundatioD ; we must progress, but not let the heai progresa fuster thau the feet ; we must allow 110 ulf to form bétweeu the foundation and the head ; we should profil by the story of the last duys of the Koman republlo. I never hear of the glory and grandeur of tin republic leut 1 tremble for lts safety. We must nol let the bead go too high, but when ltdoe go up the bed rock must come up wllh It. Everythlng arlses from the foundation up, not from the head down ; wheu we see ihls foundation crumbllng. we may well tremble. The Ciovernor tuild he wanted lo quote a seuteiice from the Qood Book but hurdly dared lo do so, for he never could cotnruH auylhtug to memory, and had never dellvered a commltted SDeech In hls llfe, he could get at the substance of a thlng though. and the substauce of Ihls seutence was: "Alan shall ent hls bread by tbe sweat of bis brow." The trouble appears to be, nowever, that there are a large class of fellows who want to eat thelr bread by the sweat of ome one else's brow. We are the vlctlms of Ihe Bo hemianoat fellow- he wanU to eat the breud euind by the sweat of anolher's brow- of the lightiilng rod agent, aud the numerous other swlndlers. Tb üov. then advlaed each and every mn to lake hls wife lnto partnership wlth hlm and make her a coufldent In all business transactlons. He reclled au lnslance or belng at a hotel table one day where three very handsome, well-dresaed, ezqulsltely pollte young men were also sealed. And he llstened to thelr conversatlon. One fellow was quite down-splrited, he had been very unsuccessful ; nuother one spoke up and bragged extremely over hls success. "Vhy," says he, "I am roplng In the uld codgers rlght along a half-dozeu a day." When asked the seorel of hlsHuccess he replied that be dld business excluslvely wllh the men, addlng "make your bargalns with the men alone, don'l for Uod's sake let the wlfe say a word." There are men who would be much better off in this world's goods haa they tbe habll of laking their wlves luto thelr counclls. Wby, the prosecuting attoruey of Ingliam county told me thal there were not less than SlUO.UOO worlh of Bohemlan oal no'es alone lu that couniy, and the farmers have got them to pay. Here Is where you would galn by organlzatlon. Take your wlfe and your nelghbors lnto your coufldences, and you wou't be sorry for It The chlef executlve then launched into the mauure questlon. He sald that, oomlug on the car to day I shed teare ol blood wheu I saw a poor deluded farmer plllng up hls manure In heups, for 1 knew It was labor lost The barn yard manure U the proper and natural fertlllierof the nelds, that Is a fact, and one fact Is worth anatfullof nclion. aud th.H manure must be husbauded aud cared for, but It dldu't want to be plled up In heaps at uil, but you ahould spread It wneu you draw It or In some Instances use It as top dressing. This had been proven a fact from long exprleuce and many experiment. He then reclted how he had experimentad wlth theorles advanced In the Michigan Farmer, and spread manure aud plowed all ulght so toget thefertlllzlngqualltlesbefore It went up In vapor. But neverthe:e88 he advised the farmer to take all theagrlcultural papers they could, and to read but not practlce all the theorles advanced. There were many brllllant theorlsts In the world and he knew of a brlghl, smart teacher who went down to tbe Mammuth Cave in Kentucky and got slght of the eyeless flsh to be fouud In that cave. Thls converted hlm to the theory of evolutlou. He became a rampant evolutionist, and addresslng hls das oue day, he told them that he supposcd that al most any sort of an animal or fowl oould be produced lf dealred. For lnsUnce hesald that you mlght toke a chlcken and clip lts wlug nrul keep that up for several generatlons untll flnafly you would breed a li leken wlth one wlng. A brlght-eyed boy iu Ihe rear of the clans arose, mul sald, "Prolessor, may I aak you a questleu 1" "Cerlainly," replied the Prof., "I ara alwnyx glad to explaln anytnlng to my class " "Well," sald the boy, "how is it ttaen that lambsarealwayB boru wlth long talls, wlieu wealways cut tbeir talla off?" The teacher dldn't answer the questlon and lt had been a slumbling block in the' way of that teacher' theory of evoLullon ever slnce. Hard. sensible, practical fact giithered frora our own experlenoe, and the experlenceof thoae about uu Is what we must rely upon. The burelen of society we must bear. The churches we must suntaln. and all these thlngscome from the farmlng classes The merchant charges up hls taxes In the regular expense account and the farmer buylnic hls goods helps pay Ihem. [How about us other fellowB who buy of the merchant also? Don'twehelpout hlR taxes also ?1 JuRt as the llquor dealer adds the amouut of taxes placed on hls llquors to the prlce ol hls ilrlnkK. "I wlsh the Infernal stuff could be taxed out of ex Istence ' added the Uovernor. Heconcluded that thn farmers had arlght to complaln, and when esseutlal, to relst the ImpoHltlons placed upon thera. The hopes and possibllilies were great for the farmera lf they only Improved what was tnelrs to lmprove. They should never crush orbe crushed, hut they should be the power lUelf1 tle tlirone realer tlla the throne Iu other countrles SO per cent. of the earnlngs of frmern was absorbed, but here the farmer was lar better off. He hoped thut the farmers would guard well thelr rlghts tbat they mlglit hand down ihe country a rich Inherltanee to thelr ohlldren and thelr chllilreu's chlldren. Afler listeiiinc to soine excellent motie Mr. Starks of Webster irave one of hls clüirHcterlstic artdrewws full of humor and f uu. Andrew Campbell, of Pittsficld, wís CHlIeil upon and procceded Iu give the aiidlence a sound argument in fnvor of higher educatlon. He thought that the furmer's needed that quite as much if not more than they did organizatiou, and hc gHVe good and substantiiil reasons for his views. Too much intelllgence could nol i be gained by the farmer ny inote tlmn ny olher clag. Congressman Allen.of Ypiilnutl, agreed I with both the Governor and Mr. I bell. He thought the farmers needed both orgauizutiou and higlier education. Hiere was uiucli to be jjalued and ' ng to be lost in either. Hecongratulated ' M thousaiuU present upon the happy occasion tlicy were enjoytng, ml fult bonored in bcinjr called before Mioh in andience of sober, honest people. Ilis n-marks wcre very fellOltOUi and recejvrd with jireat picamire by tbc liearcrs. The Ciipliiiii is ïlwayi il favorito on ÜM platform. To estímate the numbet of Ppla iriitlit-rcd togettof would almost bc impnssiblc, as the people were eciitterecl over milcH of terrttoiy. 8ome suy tliere were 10,000, sonie say 15,000, and it is probable that tlie lnst mentioiiud (unies are none too {rreat. It was n gn&t tlay, at any ratc, and the coming togetbor of so iiiany people, without an accident or anytlilng to mar the pleasure of the occasion wa remarkable.