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Farmers' Institute

Farmers' Institute image Farmers' Institute image
Parent Issue
Day
3
Month
March
Year
1891
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

The institute of the Washteuaw Farmers' Association, held in the court house, in this city, on Friday last, was very successful. A number of papers of great merit were read and interest in the proceedings was sustained until the last. The discussions were appreciative. Through most of them, however, could be traced the fact that the two per cent. government loan seemed to be uppermost in the farmers' mind. And any excuse for referring to it was at once seized. If any criticism might be indulged, it would be the too great number of papers for one day. The meal was too rich and too varied to be properly digested. And, much to our regret, the newspaper report must be greatly condensed in order to get the proceedings in at all. John Campbell, of near Ypsilanti, read a well prepared paper on The Farm Problem. The farm problem svidently has two main factors entering into it at the present time. What can be done by legislation to permanently benefit the farming interests of the nation and what products in the aggregate will yield the maximum of profits per acre? He took up the second factor of the problem. As the country grows older, it is apparent that profitable farming is largely a matter of latitude and longitude combined with a study of soil and climatic condition. So we have come to speak of one section as the cotton belt, anotheras the winter wheat belt, others as spring wheat, corn, or apple belts. In Southern Michigan we have to compete with a large area of country raising farm producís which do well in our ciimate. Taking the agricultural reports for six years, it is shown that eight leading farm products, wheat, corn, oats, barley, rye buckwheat, potatoes, and grown in Michigan, aggregate a greater cash value per acre than among either of nine other states, including Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. In the nine states the average cash value of these products was $6 1.87. per acre, while in Michigan it was $97.42. He spoke of the high stand of Michigan wheat, apples, clover seed, beans. If an energetic progressive farmer cannot make a success in Michigan, especially Washtenaw county, he probably would not succeed, go where he will. In his judgment a definite system of farm management carried on for a series of years, will give the best results, both in yield of crops anc1 in maintaining soil fertility. Prof. Emil Bauer, of Ann Arbor, read a paper on Fruit. He said, Michigan is an Eden of fruit, and Washtenaw county is gradually coming to the front in varieties and intelligent culture o: fruits. We must get rid of the serpent in the Eden, the destróyer of our forest and wind-breaks, which protect man, beast and plants. I; we would like comfortable farm homes and fruitful orchards, let us build a wall around them of evergreen trees. Michigan has the mos beautiful and majestic evergreens like the Norway and white pine, the hemlock, the balsam and fir, anc the cedar. Fifteen years ago, '. planted such a screen of cedars The trees are now f rom 25 tO3o fee high. They were f rom 5 to 10 inches high when planted. After the erection of such a shelter, we may safely plant fruit trees. Mr Bauer gave the following list o: good varieties to plant: Apples for home use, Red Astrachan, Yellow Harvest, Primate, Mellon, Ladies' Blush, Grimes' Golden, Gravenstine, Ohio Nonpariel ; for commercial use, Baldwin, Jonathan, Northern Spy, Red Canada, Greening, Golden Russet. Plant some sweet variety like Tallman to mix in with the above if you want jelly without the addition of sugar from the fruit factory. Pears: Gifford, Tyson, Sickle, Bartlett, Flemish Beauty, D'Anjou, Bosc, Winter Nelis. Peaches: If land is high and dry, AlexanderE. Rivers, Earlyand Late Crawford, Old Mixon. Plums: Bradshaw, Lombard, Quackenboss, Damson, Banasy; plant near the house or in the chicken yard. Cherries: May Duke, E. Richmond. Physicians in Germany aave observed that when cherries are plenty, children's diseases are scarce. Plant a few Orange Quinces. You can buy berries and grapes cheaper than you can raise them. Jut if you want them fresh, abandon he small fenced-in garden spot and )lant them in long rows in the field, o you can work them with a horse. Do the same with your vegetables. Above all things, the general farmer o take into consideration, whether he can spare the time to fight the nsect enemies of the different fruit rees. If there are childrert on the arm, it is desirable to plant fruit rees, else they will look somewhere alse for fruit. Prof. B. A. Hinsdale gave a plain and luminous talk on territorial exension of United States, using maps o make plain his description. He decribed the early territorial situation of the country, the main part of the present United States being under the dominion of Spain, including the Mississippi valley. In 1802 3onaparte compelled Spain to retrocede Louisiana to France, leaving Spain in possession of Florida. Our government under the lead of [efferson set on foot negotiations which led to the purchase of Louisana for $15,000,000. The treaty gave no boundaries to the province, :or no man living knew where these joundaries were. It contained about a million square miles. This cession jreatly alarméd Spain. Bonaparte lad agreed never to aliénate the territory except to Spain. Spain had striven to make the gulf of Mexico a closed sea. So long as she controlled the whole coast, she could with some degree of assurancè make this claim. Spain was disposed to push the boundaries of Florida westward, our government to push them eastward. In 181 9 Florida was purchased of Spain. There was a dispute as to the western boundaries of Louisiana. Mr. Jefferson claimed it extended to the Rio Grande. The Spanish government claimed the boundary to be near the Mississippi. The treaty of 18 19 fixed this boundary. Before this no man could have bounded the United States on the southwest. Shortly after 181 9 Mexico revolted from Spain, anc declared her independence. Certain bold adventurers began to establish colonies in Texas. These colonies looked ultimately to annexation to the United States. In the course o a few years Texas declared her in dependence of Mexico. You are no to suppose her people were Mexicans. Nearly all of them had been born in the United States. In 184 the question of annexation figurec in the presidential campaign, and in 1845 Texas was annexed without antreaty. There was a dispute be tween Mexico and Texas as to the western boundaries, which led to the Mexican war, which was followed in 1848 with a treaty which gave u California, Nevada, etc. In 185; another treaty gave us some mor Mexican territory. In 1868 Alaska which belonged to the Russian gov ernment by the right of discovery (Concluded on Tourth Paije.) FARMERS' INSTITUTE. (Continued from First Page.) was purchased for $7,000,000. The United States of to-day consists of eight pieces of territory, viz: Square Miles 1. Original United States 827,000 2. Louisana 1803 1,000,000 3. Florida 1819 60,000 4. Texas 1845 378,000 5. Mexico 1848 545,000 6. Meiico 1853 46,000 7. Oregon 500,000 8. Alaska 1868 577,000 Mr. McDougall started out by saying that he was willing to follow the fundamental truths of political economy; that supply and demand fix the price; that cheaper money drives out the better and that economie forces, through tending to produce an equilibrium, never reach stability. He.gave a BRIEF HISTORV OF MONEY. In England 300 years after the Norman conquest, there was only silver money. The first gold coin was struck 1257 but was immediately driven out of circulation by the popular outcry against it. Edward Illfinallysucceededinintroducing the gold coin and for about 400 years the struggle between gold and silver was kept up, the English government adjusting and re-adjusting the weight of its gold and silver coins. But the coins of but one metal were usually in general use. Under William III gold was rated very near its bullion valueand silver much below. As silver coin was worth less than bullion, it was gathered up, melted and sold out to the kingdom, gold coming in and taking its place, till finally silver was demonitized, except in payments of 40 shillings or less. England thus came to have a gold standard, not because the people preferred it but because in fixing their relative legal valué gold was made the cheaper money. The French have maintained the doublé standard. Before the discovery' of gold in California and Australia, the money of France was aimost entirely silver. At the time of the French revolution silver was made the cheaper money. The largely increased yield of gold made gold the cheaper according to the French ratio of 15 to 1. Gold began rapidly to take the place of silver in the French coinage. Thus the principal coinage of France, which was mainly of silver in 1850, was by 1860 almost wholly of gold. The United States Congress in 1792 fixed the weight of pure silver in a dollar at 371 grains,and the weight has not been changed since. Alexander Hamilton, secretary of the treasury, reported the relative ratio of silver to gold at 15 to 1. Accordingly the weight of the gold dollar was fixed at 24.54 grains The market value of gold was greater than its legal value. Golc was therefore sold abroad and silvei was the metal in circulation until, in 1854, congress reduced the weighi of the gold dollar to 23.2 grains. After the ratio of 16 to 1 fixed in 1854, silver bore a premium in the London market of from one to three per cent until 1874. Thus it will be seen that the cheaper metal has always displaced the dearer. Up to 1867, there had been no quarrel in any country as to which was the better metal for standard coins. The first monetary congress of 1867 was called to devise a scheme for the unification of the coinage of all nations. Three propositions were made: first, to adopt the single silver standard; second, to adopt the single gold standard; third, to adopt the doublé standard. The first was rejected. The second was adopted after a debate in which [Mr. Wolowski, representing France, presented with great penetration and clearness the evil effects which must follow its adoption by all nations, for as surely as the law of supply and demand sets the price so surely would gold rise in value and with it increase the value of every evidence of debt in every country having gold for its Standard. Those who spoke for the doublé standard simply argued its convenience and adaptation. The weight of the French five franc coin was made the unit, but no nation adopted the recommendation of the congress. But the action of the congress was very potent in termining Germany to select gok as its Standard and also in the act by which silver was demonitized in the LJnittd States. This act did iot demonitize the silver dollar directly. It simply omitted it from the coins to be made at the mint. In 1876, a committee of congress reported that the fall in the price ol silver was not caused by any recent large productions, but mainly by the concurrent demonitization oi silver in Germany, the United States and the Scandinavian States and the closure of the mints of Europe to its coinage; that gold is more fitful in production than silver, that the averge production of both is more steady than that of either; that to discontinue the use of either one would greatly increase the purchasing power of the other and greatly reduce prices; that the supplies of both the precious metáis taken together, if not diminishing, are at least stationary; that the supply of gold taken by itself is falling off. The act of congress remonitizing silver in 1878, providing for anothei money conference, to which all countries except Germany sent delegates. Although they accomplished nothing, it may be of interest te note that every one of the members of the conference expressed himseli as opposed to the general demonitization of silver. Mr. McDougall then quoted the utterances of Harter, the Nation and Windom that free coinage oi silver would mean the retirement oi $600,000,000 in gold, which would cause commercial disaster unparalleled in human experience. "Not one of these men" he said "has ever given any scientific or logical reasons for the assertions. There are none to give. They can appeal neither to reason or experience." It is true that a cheaper money will always drive out a dearer, but there is no historical example of its ever causing a panic. This very thing happened in France during the fifties without causing a riffle in the finances. They forget to say that every gold dollar would be replaced by its equivalent of silver, consequently there could be no contraction. The owner of silverminesisscornfully accused of trying to increase the value of his property. He simply asks the government, which pays a bounty to iron, copper, coal and nickel miners, to restore his natural market. The debtor is stigmatizéd as wishing to pay 100 cents of debt with an 82 cent dollar, and reminded that creditors are sometimes widows and orphans. It will not do to rule a case out of court becausethe defendants are sometimes orphans. The western debtor has brought his case to the court of public opinión. His complaint is that the government, by forbidding the use of one of the precious metáis, his obligations, being payable in the other, have been very seriouslyincreased. He knows that he is simply stating an axiom in political economy that the variations in supply and demand affect values It is too much for him to hope that in spite of the clamor of the eastern creditors and their attorneys, the eastern press, the court, to which he has appealed, will give him a fair hearing and render a just judgment. In the discussion which followed Andrew Campbell couldn't see the justiceof allowing $i for 83 cents of silver. W. H. Dancer thought that to reduce taxation would leave more money in the pockets of silver and that free silver would raise the price of silver. J. Q. A. Sessions said that the present law would exhaust all the silver in the country. Free coinage would make millionaires of every western senator who voted for it. Uuder the present law Uncle Sam makes the profit on silver. Under the free coinage law, the silver miners would make it. Robert Campbell didn't see any danger of being flooded with European silver, because the United States and Mexico produced threefourths of the silver of the. world. Why couldn't the standard be made 1 to 16? John Campbell didn't see that increasing the amount of money per capita necessarily made price higher. Oats were worth doubl what they were last year. Had th money per capita itcreased? H. D. Platt said barley was wort more this year than last becaus Canada didn't have half a erop. Oats a year ago were very cheap. A drouth all over the country raised the price this year. Thesupplyand demand made the price, not the money per capita in the country. W. E. Stocking thought the law of supply and demand' applied as well to money as anything elsc. He spoke strongly in favor qf the two per cent loan act. The discussion lasted until six o'clock. After supper the institute resumed its interesting session. The Business Men's Quartette rendered thres selections during the evening which were well received. Mrs. Mayo, of Battle Creek, read a paper on "Agriculture from a Woman's Standpoint." Space permits only a brief stract of a very interesting paper There are other tests to be applie to agricultural methods beside the number of bushels raised. Farm life is our ideal of happiness Do we find our homes with ricket gates, are the pig sties too near th house, Is the cellar clean, what i the character of the farmer himself does he resort to vulgar innuendoes does he maintain a bearing o tyranny towards his wife and chile ren? She bore down on the ten dency of some farmers to requir incessant work of their wives anc children. Ceaseless drudging com bined with poor methods of doin work tend to warp the best intellect No wonder the sons and daughter find farm life degrading. Lookin after mere wealth is putting a fals value on life. Farmers in the past have culti vated their farms at the expense o their children. Farm yourself a you do your farm, and farm you children in the same way. Th great want of the American peopleto day is men, great, pure,strong, clean men, that the spoils of office can' buy and whojwon'ttake from women that which is more precious than life. The best and purest and wises statesmen come from the farms How shall we get them? Rea them. She protested against the tendency to gauge a man's worth by his wealth or the cut of his clothes. Manhood is not held as sacred as it should be. She believed in bringing out the young men. Stand by the boys and girls, not only your own, but the boys and girls of the neighborhood. An appreciative discussion and music were followed bya paper from Prof. Steere, on "Observations on the Habits of animáis.