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Alabama State Agricultural College.
The Alabama Agricultural and Me
chanical College, an institution under
the supervision of the State, is situated
at Auburn. The State allows each
county to send one student to the Col
lege, such county depositing in the
treasury one hundred dollars per year,
for three years. This amount covers
all expenses, tuition fees, board, books,
two suits of clothes per annum, etc.
In addition to the one scholar alluded
to, each county is allowed to send two
scholars who receive their tuition free.
In sopite of these inducements, and the
facilities to be enjoyed, the farmers of
Alabama neglect the Agricultural Col
lege, and fail to let their sons take ad
vantage of systematic training in the
science of agricultural, and the mechanic
arts. Only twelve or fifteen counties
are represented in the College, and the
total number of students at present in
attendance is seventy.
This does not speak very encourag
ingly for the interests of progressive
agriculture and mechanical arts in
Alabama.
Something About Breadstuff's.
The ingenuity of speculative theorists
is taxed to prognosticate the quantity
of breadstuffs which the world will
need, and the quantity which the world
has grown this year, in order to ascer
tain whether the demand and the sup
ply will balance.
From all we can learn, it seems that
the current supply of breadstuffs in
Europe will be less than usual, and its
people look to the American surplus of
the “staff of life,” to make good their
deficiency. England, France, and other
European sections will require, in the
aggregate, about two hundred million
bushels of wheat.
Where this enormous bulk is to
come from is not clearly discernible,
and, even if it is available, it will require,
as the British Economist truly says,
“ all the rolling stock of the railroads
in the world, and all the inland ocean
tonnage of the nations,” to move and
distribute it.
The most plausible reasons given by
good authorities, as to the uncommon
deficiency in breadstuffs in Europe, are
partial failures of the rye and Indian
corn crops, the potato disease in Eng
land, and also the fact that of late years
wheaten-bread is more generally used
by the laboring classes of Europe than
formerly. The late French and Ger
man war has also contributed to the
demoralization of the European bread
stuffs market. The Baltic and Black
Sea provinces of Russia, it is said, will
also fail to furnish their usual surplus
of grain, and therefore affect the mark
ets of Northern Europe.
All indications point to a good wheat
crop in the United States and Canada.
Winter wheat in California, and spring
wheat in the Northwestern States, will
yield large surplus. The Atlantic States,
however, show scarcely an average crop
of winter wheat, although the market
is stocked with a fine quantity of spring
wheat.
Upon the whole, we believe that the
unusual European deficiency cannot be
met by an increased surplus in the
American States, and that this fact,
and the want of adequate means of
transportation, will cause a considerable
advance in the prices of breadstuffs.
The Georgia Gazetteer.
Editors Georgia Grange: Determined
to make The Georgia Gazetteer the
most perfect work ever issued in the
South, an extensive and complicated
plan was essential. Statistical returns
from every county are being received,
but owing to the large scope of terri
tory embraced, the voluminous work of
compilation, the recent financial diffi
culties, etc., the publisher in justice to
the public and himself, is compelled to
solicit the favor of a short extension of
time of his subscribers and patrons, in
order to perfect the publication of the
work. It is being pushed forward with
energy and success, and the publisher
and compiler will soon be enabled to
announce the definite time of its pub
lication.
Jas. P. Harrison.
Atlanta, Jan. 8, 1874.
e
Hemcmber.
Let our friends and brethren in the
cause remember that the associate of
Justice is Wisdom. By their com
bined action equal laws are formed.
They alone can decide for us every
measure of right. They enable us to
correct the abuses of power, protect .
the weak, and make us feel that the
general welfare is the common interest
of all.
GRANGE,®-
Northern Cotton Gamblers.
One of the significant facts devel
oped by the late panic, and whose les
son it would be well for Southern
planters to ponder, was this : The mo
ment the stock gamblers and money
speculators of New York, and their
allies throughout the country, found
themselves in hot water, owing to their
insane work, they began to cajole the
usually depised farmers and cotton
planters of the South. In order to
keep themselves from financial destruc
tion, and to make good their losses,
they flooded the press with “appeals
for relief from the present stringency.”
How did they propose to accomplish
this “ relief?” Their argument ran in
this wise : the people down South have
three million bales of cotton for export
ation ; they must let us have it at
twelve cents per pound; this, shipped
to Liverpool will readily command nine
teen cents per pound; thus we will
become “ masters of the situation ”
again, and the very good margin of
profit we shall make out of the differ
ence between the price paid to the
planter, and that which we will demand
of the consumer, will fill our empty pock
ets, and put an end to our financial
trouble.
This is a very good argument for the
wolf, but a poor one for the sheep.
If Northern operators get entanged in
their own mischief, and hang them
selves, what business is it of ours ?
Is the planter a scape-goat for the sins
of Wall street gamblers?
These very appeals for “ help,” which
came so frequently from this source, is
an endorsement, however unwillingly
given, of the power the South can con
trol, but which she has wasted, or par
alyzed, in allowing herself to be bam
boozled by the numerous leeches who
thrive by sucking her life-blood.
The arrogance of the Northern money
kings is superb ! and the stupidity, or
willful chicanery, of their co-adjutors
at the South, who played into their
hands, and attempted to advise our
planters to immolate themselves for the
benefit of their enemies, is no less
conspicuous !
We are glad that our planters, as a
general thing, were equal to the oc
casion, and after paying their legiti
mate debts, and covering their obliga
tions to home merchants out of their
crops, refused to part "with the meagre
balance of their cotton at “ panic
prices,” but waited for a time when
business should have somewhat regained
its usual channels, and a better price
be secured for the results of their labor.
Os course, considerable trouble was
caused, and is still being felt, by the
sudden stagnation in commerce, forced
upon the money market by designing
men, and numbers of our fellow
creatures have suffered, but the fanner
can be independent—let him remain so.
There is no reason why he should
make a vicarious martyr of himself.
Let every man suffer the penalty of his
own transgressions.
Press Points.
The January number of the Rural
Carolinian is at hand. It maintains its
superior rank as one of the finest and
most valuable agricultural monthlies
in the United States.
The Rural Southerner, published in
Atlanta, by J. Ben Wilson & Co., is
one of our most welcome exchanges.
The January number looks as fresh as
a daisy. We are glad this valuable
home publication is meeting with the
fine patronage it so well deserves.
Moore's Rural New Yorker is a splen
did farm and home journal. It opens
the new year with the choicest number
yet issued..
The Plantation, published in Atlanta,
C. R. Hauleitei proprietor, is one of
the chief ornaments of Georgia’s peri
odical literature devoted to the farm
and planting interests of the State. It
is rich as cream in its original and
selected matter, and unexcelled by any
similar publication in its typography
and “ make up.” Terms, $1 50 per
year.
IFood’s Household Magazine for Jan
uary maintains its high reputation as
a first-rate family literary monthly. I
Its table of contents is varied and :
interesting.
Moore's Bee World, a monthly peri
odical devoted to bee culture, and pub
lished by A. F. Moore A Co., Rome,
Ga., is a publication of fine merit,
filling a valuable niche in the press,
devoted to the development of our
home interests. It is tilled with timely
and interesting reading matter.
Co-Operation.
A few of the leading Southern papers,
among them the Mobile Register and
the Savannah News, have, from time to
time, expressed the opinion that the
Granges intend to abolish commerce
by taking its legitimate elements out
of the hands of merchants and manu
facturers, and placing them under the
control of monopolizing Grange agen
cies and commission houses.
On this head, the Register, some time
ago said: “Is it not a necessity of
civilized society that, by the division of
labor and the proper sphere assigned
to each member, commerce becomes the
true bond of nations ? Who does not
remember the signal and disastrous
failure of the ‘ co-operative stores ’ and
the sad lessons they taught to their
unsophisticated victims ? If the return
to, or the inauguration of, such system
is the best the ‘Granges’ can do in the
way of reform, we advise them to sell
out their stock of Pagan divinities and
return to the realities of life, as made
by society Christianized and civilized.”
This, at the time, was endorsed by
our usually very correct and liberal
minded contemporary, the Savannah
News, which said: “ Such a co-opera
tive feature is in direct opposition to
all the laws of trade and comity be
tween all classes and communities ; it
is not the policy of the Granges to
strike at legitimate commerce, which
must flourish with agriculture, manu
factures, the mechanic arts, and the
general enterprise and industry of the
country. Conducted upon just, recip
rocal principles, each is important to
the other, and are essential to the
general prosperity. The farmer can
not dispense with the merchant, nor
can the merchant do without the
planter—neither can prosper without
the railroad and the steamship, and the
surest way to defeat the good w T hich
the Granges seek to accomplish would
be for them to attempt to-establish the
very system of monopoly for the over
throw of which they have been organ
ized. ‘ Live and let live ’ should be
their motto.”
It is evident from these extracts that
some of our leading Southern journals
still fail to comprehend fully the spirit
and principles of the Order of Patrons
of Husbandry, and (by implication, at
least) assume that the Patrons harbor
the absurd notion that the only way to
abolish one monopoly is to substitute
one of their own in its place.
The knowledge of the theory of com
merce, and the existant necessity for
reciprocity of interests between the
agricultural, manufacturing, mechan
ical and mercantile classes, displayed
by these journals, is essentially true;
but these facts are certainly as well
understood by intelligent Patrons, as
by the conductors of these papers.
As the Patrons of Husbandry have
no desire to establish a monopoly of
any kind, or to do anything which
would cause injury to their fellow
citizens, we can conceive no reasonable
ground for editorial disquisitions on
this subject, nor the necessity’ for
mentorial reproof of the Order.
An official circular recently issued by
authority of the Georgia State Grange
addressed : “ To the merchants, manu
facturers, and to whomsoever it may
concern,” throws all the light upon this
“feature” which any reasonable man
can desire. It is a plain, honest, prac
tical document. It simply requests the
parties addressed to “ do unto others
as they would wish others to do unto
them.” It shows that our Georgia
farmers, organized as Patrons, seek
mutual protection and mutual benefit
by all legitimate and honorable means.
There is no antagonism on the part of
Patrons with the rights of any class of
our fellow-citizens; no crusades, no
exactions for selfish purposes. Patrons
simply intend to manage their own
business themselves, and a little better
than it has been managed heretofore
for them by others, who have not dis
played an unselfish interest and regard
for the prosperity of the individual
farmer.
Organized reformatory means are
required by the necessities of the times.
An honest demand is made upon
classes dependent upon each other for
mutual recognition and equality of
rights, and this demand takes a prac
tical “ dollar and cents ” shape in the
propositions made to manufacturers,
merchants, etc., in the circular alluded
to above, namely, to “ share commis
sions for mutual benefit.”
The classes addressed are requested,
in terms of perfect equality, to corres
pond and deal with the Grange organi-
zation, because they will share (to
quote the language of the circular),
“ a quid pro quo in the influence and
cash patronage of associated members.”
Why, then, should this be compared
to “ co-operative stores, and their un
sophisticated victims ? ” Is this to
necessitate the Patrons to “ sell out
their stock of Pagan divinities, and
return to the realities of life, as made
by society, christianized and civilized?”
We fail to comprehend the meaning of
honest purposes and common sense, if
this be treason to the true and common
interests of our people !
We feel assured that a more tho
rough and unprejudiced investigation,
and study of the principles and actions
of the Patrons of Husbandry, will con
vince every fair-minded man in the
world, that all that has yet been done
by the organization, especially in the
South, has been laudable, and that the
progressive tendency of its principles
and acts will be in the direction of the
general public welfare.
Carnival Day in Atlanta.
Not in any of our sister cities South, since
the “late unpleasantness,” has there been wit
nessed a grander Carnival Day than that of the
Sixth, in Atlanta. In obedience to the com
mands of His Royal Highness, Rex, all the
people, notwithstanding the inclemency of the
weather, like true and faithful subjects, gave
up business pursuits, and devoted themselves to
welcoming and doing honor to the King. The
procession was one of the largest, and the dis
play the most gorgeous; all industries of the
city being represented. Some splendidly, ap
propriately, and without regard to expense.
We wish space would admit of a notice in ex
tenso. Since this can not be, we will mention
one or two, at the risk of being considered
somewhat invidious. We begin with, we think
properly, The Franklin Steam Printing
House, the management and attaches of
which did honor to that magnificent establish
ment by the cordiality in which they joined in
the general welcome. They were seated in a
beautiful coach, drawn by four splendid grays,
decorated with banners and other appropriate
designs. From an improved power press
mounted in the wagon, and presided over by
the printer’s devil, who, by the way, was the
observed of a 1 observers, was issued the follow
ing proclamation:
TOE HIS majesty’s “tROOLY LOIL” SUBJECTS
—GREETING:
Know’ ye that puissant Rex has, in his most
excellent wisdom, appointed, and so heralded
to every quarter of his royal domain, The
Franklin Steam Printing House the
Printer to His Majesty, and his loyal sub
jects are commanded, by virtue of his successful
reign as Rex of Momus, to have their cards,
bill heads, and all other printing, carried to
The Franklin, where a courteous wel
come and a schedule of very low prices await
them. By order of Rex, *
Boss of the Realm.
Hijimmy,
Royal Chambermaid.
Besides The Franklin, only one other
printing house attended the profession. Our
valued cotemporary, the Herald, the “people’s
paper,” made a capital display, doing it in an
original and recherche manner. The Herald,
likewise, had a press running throughout the
parade, and published the latest intelligence
from the head of the column. Our neighbor,
the Constitution, prepared for the occasion, but
abandoned the privilege of appearing in the
procession, perhaps because it could not appear
without playing the imitator in the way of lo
comotive power. It affirms, however, it will
never do so again, but with the next visit of
Rex, will lave four grays and four mules, with
an Acton as master of the reins.
The day closed with a brilliant masquerade
ball at DeGive’s Opera House, where the elite,
the fashion and beauty of Atlanta, and neigh
boring cities and towns, was represented.
This “Revelry of Rex,” outside of the pleas
ure given, gave great assistance to the trades
people and retail commerce of the city, and
has given additional proof that Atlanta is
among the most public-spirited and progressive
cities in the United States.
The Principle of Small Farms.
Ihe Demopolis News-Journal says:
In the southern part of Mhrengo, where
very little colored labor is employed,
every farmer is his own manager, and
the result is, that they are making all
the necessaries of life, and a surplus
besides. Those planting moderately
on upland farms that lie well, are doing
particularly well. They are living in
comfort, and gradually getting ahead
in the world. Those landed proprietors
who have paid any attention to stock
raising, are prospering beyond any
others. This proves that a diversity
of agricultural pursuits is advantageous,
and t hat small farms with the personal
attention of owners, pay better than
the old style. Indeed, the plantation
and overseer system are played out.
Owing to the difference of the svstem
pursued, the rich canebrake portion of
the county is becoming poorer, while :
the poorer section is becoming richer
every year.
The Savannah A'eirs, universal!v ac
knowledged to be one of the verv best
newspapers in the country, and whose
opinion in this respect is .“good au
thority.” says:
“The Georgia Grange, published
in Atlanta, is one of the finest week
lies in the South.”
PRIZE essay.
Diversified Farmins.
Farming, to be successful, must pay,
and he who gets the best return from
his capital invested, without exhausting
the fertility of his land, is the most
successful farmer. How this can be
done has puzzled the brains of farmers,
no doubt, since the world began, but
more particularly has this question
been pondered upon since the fertility
of the soil has been so much reduced
that to make farming pay at all is quite
a serious matter.
Show me a farmer who makes money
by planting turnips alone, and who
claims that in A specialty alone can
farming be made to pay, and I will
grant you that either his theory is cor
rect, or that he is an excellent mana
ger and -worker. But the latter of the
two admissions may be correct; then
how can we decide this matter ? It is
not at the isolated few that we must
look who may be successful at raising a
specialty by their superior tact or man
agement—for such men would succeed
at almost anything they undertake—
but we must turn to the farming com
munity as a whole, and find out by what
course of farming the majority of them
are most successful. Were the above
question left for my decision —and I
believe it is a correct one —I should un
hesitatingly answer that the majority of
successful farmers' are found among
those -who diversify their farming. And
the reason why must be obvious to all
after a moment’s thought. A farmer
to succeed in raising a single crop must
have his laborers well in hand so that
he can make a “brush” at the most
trying season. At that season he ex
pects that every hand should not only
do his duty, but a little more than his
duty, till the victory is won and the
crop is as safe as human science and
art and muscle can make it. If his
hands fail him at this time, or if he has
not so disciplined them so as to be able
to count with almost certainty upon
this extra effort, then the majority of
his crop suffers while he is working the
rest.
With diversified farming it is very
different. Here crop follows crop with
such regularity that no crop suffers
while the others are being worked. The
question then naturally follows, what
system of diversified farming is best
adapted to our section with the labor
we have? Undoubtedly that in which
no two crops will demand work at the
same time; where they follow each other
as naturally as water dropping from the
eaves of the house. Those crops are
corn, cotton and wheat with the minor
crops, such as potatoes, peas and clover,
to fill up the interstices if any should
occur.
We commence planting corn, if the
weather is favorable, the last of Febru
ary, and while it is swelling and strug
gling to the light, we bed our cotton
lands. As soon as the corn is fairly
out of the ground we turn back to it
and give it its first ploughing, which
should be done thoroughly with a long
bull-tongue or scooter. The hoes fol
low the plows, bringing the corn to a
“ stand” and replanting missing places.
While the corn is being ploughed the
season for cotton planting draws near,
and by the time the first ploughing of
corn is over our cotton seed should be
put in the ground. While we are wait
ing for the cotton to sprout we turn
back to the corn and give it a second
ploughing with a sweep, after which,
with the same plow we enter the cot
ton field and sweep it so that the at
mosphere warmed by the Spring sun
may find its way to the tender roots.
The hoes having finished the corn are
now busy chopping out cotton and
bringing it to a stand; and in the cot
ton and potatoes they will be compelled
to remain till summer is farther ad
vanced, so that lucky is the farmer
whose land so lies that he can check
his corn, and sweeping it both ways, dis
pense with his hoes entirely. After
ploughing the cotton we again enter
the corn and give it the last ploughing,
planting peas at the same time. This
ploughing should be done thoroughly,
as from this time forth the com must
trust alone to that God, though He
sends His rain upon the just and the 1
unjust, yet allows a double benefit to
him whose lands are best prepared to
receive it. After bidding adieu to the
corn we enter the cotton field and po- 1
tato patch, which claim our attention ;
till the former lock in the rows, and
the hitter cover the ground. As soon
as this is the case the fodder-pulling
awaits us—which, by the by, should be i
abandoned in our section and clever
substituted in its place.
What rotation of crops is best for
the improvement of our soil is a very
pertinent question under this subject.
If we can succeed in growing clover
one year with another—and Col. Ham
mond says we can—the following ro
tation is, I think, decidedly the best,
and greatly blessed is the land which
will produce such a diversity of crops:
«n rn x hcat cloTOr . Clover Cotton.
Wheat Clover Clover Cotton Com.
Clover Clover Cotton Corn Wheat
Clover Cotton Corn Wheat Clover
Cotton Corn Wheat Clover Clover’.
With such a rotation, our lands that
are compelled to be stimulated to pro
duce ten bushels of corn would, with
greater certainty, yield fifty.
With these for our main crops, and
rye, oats, barley, millet, potatoes, wa
termelons, and the best of peaches and
apples for our patches, what more could
we ask ? And yet we are the greatest
grumblers, to-day, under the sun. As
Mrs. Partington would say, it looks like
flying into the face of Providence to
grumble under such circumstances. We
should lift up our hearts in gratitude
to Him who has placed our lot in such
pleasant places, and ask Him for wil
ling hearts and strong arms alone.
With this prayer I cast these few
thoughts upon the waters. B.
For the Georgia Grange.
The Labor Question.
Randolph County, Dec- 15, 1873.
Editors Grange: Among the many
difficulties that still encumber our
farming interests, I consider the pro
curing of proper labor one of the great
est.
Laborers are scarce, and they demand
higher wages and larger exactions in the
face of the present hard times than
they ever did before. It is not a deba
table question, but everything clearly
indicates and points out, that the farm
ers cannot give to the laborers what
they are now demanding.
This situation of affairs I consider
worse than the suspension of banks, the
scarcity of money, and all the hard
times that can be heaped up together;
for it is striking at the root that gives
vitality and prosperity to the country.
If the farmers of this country would
come up now and join the Patrons of
Husbandry, and co-operate with the
management of their agricultural af
fairs, labor would not be exacting as it
now is.
Increase the numbers of the Granges
and its Patrons, and I am well satisfied
it will do much for the farming inter
est of the country. As we now are,
divided among ourselves, each man act
ing for himself without mutual consul
tation and plans, we must continue to
be the victims of any organized class
that acts through co-operation.
But that, though, is a matter with
the farmers to decide for themselves,
whether they will in future unite and
act by co-operation, or remain isolated
and independent of each other. There
is one thing very certain : co-operation
cannot make matters worse than they
are, while there may be a chance of
bettering our situation through earnest
persevering co-operation. We have had
a trial by isolated action; let it be
seen now what can be done by united
action. Union.
Emigration from Europe being
steadily on the increase, the Government
of Canada is making strenuos efforts
to secure a share of it. It offers agri
cultural laborers, all over eight years
of age, passage from Liverpool to Que
bec for sll. The Ontario authorities
give to the emigrant on landing, or to
any person or association assisting em
igrants to the Canadas, $6. thus the
actual cost of the passage to each emi
grant is only $5.
Emigrants who are not agriculturists,
are required to pay $23; but even this
low rate is reduced by the Government
remitting five dollars, so that the actual
cost of passage to the Canadas, even of
emigrants not belonging to the agri
cultural class, is only $lB. This is a
practical way of inducing immigration
from Europe.
Columbus naturally grumbles about
her taxes. The Sun says: “The as
sessed value of taxable and real eatate
in Columbus is about $3,250,000. Last
year the city tax was two per cent. If
$16,250 worth of the commons can be
sold, the rate of taxation can be re
duced to one and a half per cent.”
Gwinnett county raised 22 1-4 bush
els of corn this year for every man,
woman and child in that county. Also,
5,561 bales of cotton, 31,058 bushels of
wheat, 36,058 bushels of oats and 9,420
pounds of tobacco.
5