The Georgia grange. (Atlanta, Ga.) 18??-1882, January 01, 1875, Image 1

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The Georgia grange., January 01, 1875, Image 1

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Newspaper Page Textr ■ . - . *l* H R _ < •“/~ '■■ ■ -=■”- - ■ «O »a —’sr ••• , iqff Jfyrwwpy. 1 7 r ’■ r> » . > -^‘dßk~ ' ifeggagfe-/ 4 ® -...uggw filPMsi ■■awq'Ai < jrnuAfe w ’ O i Wjs *-A aßtte *UW ><» fcW a^Wat^^. ‘Jara? ..■--->, rraa^WßSaa--Z? ,; wlgu ' C, •• " ■ VOLUME 2. THE r~i fgtlfftlllitfi Official Organ of the Patrons of Husbandry. finest grapes bare sold at three cents per pound in California. Every farmer should preserve in a scrap hook all valuable receipts and suggestions for future use. Imposters, collecting money ostensibly for the Kansas sufferers, are reported in the field- They should be arrested and punished. Every farmer should,be provided with sealed measuresand scales. They will prove a great convenience and save much trouble and time. The next annual meeting cf the Western New York Horticultural Society will be held in Rochester, the 6th and 7th of January, i 875. _ Since January 1, 1874, 22,765,671 pounds of wool have been received at Chicago, being a considerable increase over the receipts of last year. • ■ - - *■ o ' ■* The National Agrit ultural Laborer’s Union of England, contemplates shipping 500,000 emigrant laborers to the valley of the Mis sissippi. It is estimated that the Grange organization has saved to the farmers of lowa, during the last twelve months, the handsome sum of $1,500,000. >,—•— The next annual convention of the North Carolina State Grange will he opened with an address by John S. Long, Esq., the State lec turer, on the progress and achievements of the Patrons of Husbandry. —- -> - -< The Kentucky State Grange has invited the National Grange to h Id its next annual meet ing at Louisville, but the invitation could not be accepted without revoking the decision fix ing Charleston, S. C , as the place. The bee raisers of lowa complain that the last season was an unprofitable one for honey. They have generally managed to keep their bees in good condition and to increase their stands, but a very small surplus of honey has been gathered. ■.. —.»>■» ■ . South Carolina phosphate, in its crude, unpulverized state, is worth $8 per ton and sl3 when ground. It is a source of great revenue to the proprietors and of great value to the country as a fertilizer. *» ♦ —« ——— English sporlsiuen have imported large muni ers of the American prairie hen lor the purpose of increiising their opportunities for sport. The English grouse has become very scarce, and it is thought the prairie hen will supply a demand for wild fowl which has o! late years great!}- increased. .. Thousands of emigrants from Kansas east ward, are lining from the desolation that the grasshoppers have wrought in Kansas. Relief is h‘ing sent from every portion of the Repub lic to the sufferers, but the ngeeisities are so great that many will feel the effects of the misfortune most intensely. FhekK are in the United States six million l»ersons prosecuting agricultural pursuits. To gether with their wives and children, they compose more than one-half of our entire population of 40,000,000. So it appears that one-half of the population of this country de pend upon the other halt for the food which they consume. " ■ - ■ »■ Thk cotton crop of Texas will be handled by Patrons fur one-third less than last year, by realms of the establismcnt of the Grange system. Here and there throughout the State, weak Granges are consolidating with neighboring and stronger ones. This is frequently a good idea But first try to make your weak Grange strong by increasing your membership. A c’a'if i.-r.i.i Gi »uge thiuks the State Grange Executive Committee should nuke arm- e<n ent- !>.- which fctu le help n tv I < Io id. Orchards. There is, perhaps, nothing which is capable of contributing more to the convenience and enjoyment of a home than a well selected and healthy orchard. Fruit is both a luxury and an essential to good living and good health. It is within the reach of every owner of a homestead, and may be provided at a very trifling cost of money and labor. Notwith standing the facility with which this desirable object may be secured, the subject is sadly neglected in the South. We desire to urge our readers to awake to the importance of planting select fruit of such descriptions as are prized most for home con sumption and for market; to look after the trees regularly each year, pruning when neces sary ; protecting from worms, rabbits, etc.; keeping down all foreign vegetation that would rob the orchard of its legitimate nutriment, and what is of great importance, planting young trees to take the place of such as perish srom disease or old age. A writer in an exchange, endeavoring to combat the idea that large capital is essential to success in the culture of fish, gives the following account of an individual enterprise and its results: A gentleman with no capital rented one half an acre of swamp land, which he ditched and supplied with trout. For four years he made sales amounting to a suffi ciency to purchase five acres ot land; to build him a nice residence thereon, and to tit up his fish pond. He also, during this period supported himselt from sales of fish. A short time since he moved his fish to their new home, and found on hand four thousand dol lars \yorth. 1 his statement certainly contains enough to encourage such as desire to engage in this pursuit. I he writer says the person whose experi ence is related was only careful to supyly ph nty of fresh water and f od to Ids fish. Representatives <,l the District Council No. 1, who meet in Raleigh, N. C., on the lOih IXcembtT, decided to organize a banking insti tution on the plan of the National Ranks, and appointed a committee of five to open books ol subscription at once, with power to appoint sub-comuiittees for a like purpose in each county of the district. Shares will be SSO each, and the capital stock, $500,000. The Council, also, appointed a committee to inquire into the character of the commercial manures offered for sale in that State, with in struction to report at the special meeting on the 2d Thursday in this month. An English traveller, by name Anderson, while exhuming an Egyptian mummy, discov ered in the sarcophagus, a few peas supposed to have remained there for over two thousand years. He took them home and planted them carefully. They germinated and prove to be a species resembling in m ny particulars the common garden peanut of greatly superior flavor, lhe first year’s product was sufficient to plant quite a large spot of ground. 1 he Hub, a paper devoted to the carriage trade, advises against the common practice of keeping carriages in stable sheds or con tiguous barns, lhe ammonia arising from the manure ot the stable, readily combines With the varnish, forming a soapy film which is removed when the carriage is washed, leaving a new surface subject to a repetition of the same aetiicn- The last quarterly report of the Secretary ot the State Grange of Kansas, shows an in crease of membership during the last three months of 3,679, and represents the total membership, in good standing, at 39>50. The National Association of Short-born Breeders of Illinois, have appointed Alexan der Cbatles, of Cedar Rapids, lowa, to pre pare a complete list or record of all Short horns now in lhe United States. Persons engaged in raising pure breeds of this stock are requested to report to the gentleman men tioned. I’he Patrons of Xenia, (.thio, have pur chased rooms tor a Patrons Exchange, for winch they p mi s'i,()<tO. rm . . . . Stat Grange of Indi it. . ■'!. bl '.i .-c .ftvr 'it t’.e FRANKLIN PRINTING HOUSE, ATLANTA. GEORGIA, JANUARY, 1575. For the Georgia Grange.] Plain Talk to Georgia Farmers, A TV T> ESS Delivered before the Monroe County Council, by Dr. J. S. Lawton, Chaplain of the State Grange. PRINTEEJ HECAISE OF ITS ?2EItIT. Fellow-Citizens and Patrons oj' Husbandry : Immediately after the war, in our almost helpless and ruined condition as agriculturists of the South, as tillers of the Southern soil, we, by every possible means at our command, attempted to make Southern farming success ful, but all to no effect. Year by year out values were dwarfed—our lands growing poorer, our hearts sickening under the depression caused by either failures in crops or prices ; and. not unfrequer.tly, many of our people be coming demoralized by ghost-like apprehen sions of starvation staring them in the face, concealed a part of the little they possessed ere the high sheriff of the county should seize upon it to satisfy the hungry creditors. Fellow-citizens, this is not an overdrawn pic ture; it is the everyday occurrence in the midst of a once noble, generous, high-minded and honest people ; but when ghastly starva tion threatened their wives and little ones, what soul so dead to love of offspring can re sist the temptation to lay aside a part of their hard earnings to satisfy the cravings of the hungry appetite or the wailings of a distressed family? Our people arc not dishonest—they at e not theires—they are not unwilling to pay their honest debts The simple, unvarni.-hed truth is, that they .ire net able; they Lave not the means, and they cumol obta’n tiu ni, and the hungry cormorants are u< t willing to wait a few years that lhe honest, uiifiatupate fi.rmtu may solve this question of free labor on South ern farms, and once more glide smoothly upon the Southern sea of prosperity. I know that there are exceptions to this rule- Some take advantage of the fact that all are, more or less, under the iron hand of debt to screen themselves from public obloquy, but it applies to only a few, and not the many. With an extended credit upon the debts now due by farmers all over the State of Georgia, and an interest of from six to eight per cent, per annmi, nine-tenths of all these claims would be liquidated, and slill leave the honest and industrious farmer with a sufficiency for the wants of his family. I know this doctrine is unpopular amongst certain classes of our peo ple. 1 know I throw myself whJe open for criticism, i>ut when I see ray country bleeding from every vein, to be sucked up by a few blood hounds, I cannot, I will not, permit the many to shrink away to mere skeletons that the few may fatten and bloat themselves upon the hard earnings of the many without lifting my voice, so that I may be heard from the moun tains to the seaboard of this great Empire State of the South. We must have reform, or distrust, want of confidence, dishonor, deg radation will take possession of the whole farming interest of the State. Talk about turning our sons out upon the poor hills of Middle Georgia to make a living by tollowing the plow-handles, when, to make ten bushels of corn, he will have to use at least three dollars worth of guano ; and if not paid for at time ot purchase, to pay forty or fifty per cent, interest on the deferred payment; or to make one-third or one-half bale Cotton per acre to pay six dollars per acre for commercial fertilizers. This is such a poor showing for our young men that they shrink back from the csntemplation of entering the farm with sue < dull prospects ahead that many who ought to be engaged in agricultural pursuits are either found in some other employment or else are lounging about the streets of our towns and villages, frequenting bar-rooms and billiard tables, and spending their youthful strength in idleness and profligacy. These young men r. ’ not, have «<en ,the utter failure of their fathers and friend- In their fr.ii-.less attempts t > luild up a fortune, or even sustaining themselves by agricultural e:r--’ ymcr.’-. .mJ whfn they look this matter squarely in ti e face, and see the distress upon tl.e country in the foreclosure of lien mortgages, the deprive in. of the poor farmer of the last grain of corn, and the last cow or horse on bis place, they turn from the farm with utter disgust to find sob’.v other employment. Thus all of our towns and cities are filled with young men who are willing to work for a mere pittance rather than risk the uncertainties attendant upon farming life. Many of us have fully realized this condition of affairs so apparent al; over our sunny South. We feel and know tiUt lhe prosperity of the whole country del pJi ds upon the success of the farming interest- I that coilapse, and our last peg to hang a h peupon is gone, and gone forever ! But who of us are willing to drag out a m serable clod-hopper existence to build up a few capitalists, who have nothing to do but count over their two and a half and three per C‘ -. interest ? Fellow-citizens, these are dark clouds which hl ve enveloped us, almost as thick as Egypt ia i darkness. Some of our more fortunate farmer*, either from a foresight into the future, or from the fact that the war left them in better condition, or from the fact that they had more wisdom than the majority, have not felt this cL'‘ , ‘.td so oppressive. But what man with ia soul as big as a turnip seed, can, in the midst of his abundance, see his neighbors distressed, oppressed, and cast down, and then enjoy what he possesses? Can he enjoy it when all around him is poverty and want? If he does enjoy it insensible to the surrounding objects, be js unworthy the name of neighbor, philanthro phist or patriot. To obviate these difficulties, ag ricultural neigiiborhrod and county clubs have been formed all over lheState, and agricuituri.l commissioners appointed by the State Society ’ to visit every county in th.- Slate to stir up the people to the great importance of more th i:- cugh orgai:iz;ttion am ;ng the. farmeis. S .ui aniiml Conventions have been he'd Sa vannah to R< inc. and from Auigusta tv ‘hioi- I Splendid and magnificent faits have been held yearly under the auspices of the State Agricultural Society, and this S<.- ciety has been conducted by earnest and able men, and presided over for the past four yeajrs by one of Georgia's noblest and proud est sons, General A. 11. Colquitt, whose name is synonym for all that is virtuous and good. County fairs and district fairs have, in many instances, developed the industries of their particular section, and done great credit to those energetic farmers who have been fore most in proving to the public that Georgia could produce anything necessary for the comfort and luxury of its people. All these applian -1 ces did good—did a great good to many, but not to the whole. The process was too slow. It is one of the means, one of almost vital im portance. and should be encouraged by every ■ fanner in Georgia. Let ns not neglect it. Send your delegates from every county to these semi annual meetings, let each county be fully repre sented, let them learn all they can that they may impart it to their neighbors. Let all the docu ments so carefully prepared by the efficient Secretary be read, and read understanding!}’. Let them know that they have been paying two or three prices for their fertilizers ; that they can purchase chemicals which, with but little trouble, can be converted into as good, if not better, manures at one-third the price de manded for the prepared commercial manures. And. fellow-citizens, allow me just here to state that I speak advisedly. I speak not from theory, but from actual experience. I can show the result on my .arm, to-day, in this county. I have been using my.own compos* for three years, and my land is growing better every year under its use, and this cost not mere than one-fourth or one-third of what I formerly paid for fertilizers. The State Agricultural Society has bad from Dr. Pendleton some of the most interest, ing experiments on farm crop-. By carefully studying these results much valuable informa tion can be obtained, which would cost a farmer i rears to work out on h s own farn. I have I had the pleasure of visiting this experimental j farm, and can say truthfully that Dr. Pendlc- I ton :'s conducting it with all the care and i prevision that it is p --ible for experiments j to make. There con d not have been * - , Jected a better man fur th’- purpose ir. th.- ■ whole State than Dr. Pendleton, and the re sults of this farm will give information to the people which will be worth thousands. We should not only study carefully all these written documents, and profit by them, but we should impart all of our practical operations to our neighbors; we should encourage county fairs, district fairs, and the State fairs. All these things have been, to a greater or less extent, carried out by the farming community since the war. Still, our people find themselves growing poorer every year; heavy burdens— too heavy to be borne—were upon them ; and these things were good ; but it did not solve Hie vexed question, the farmers were stilj in unorganized condition—every man had not been enrolled; all trades and professions; all classes of the people had their special organ ized system, whereby they could control their destinies and work together advantageously- But the farmer remained almost isolated—every man for himself, and every man pegging away after his own idea, and still growing less everv year in point of prosperity and material worth. The question forced itself upon the’thought ful : What can be done to ameliorate the con dition of the farmer, and more fully organize them so that some decided step could be taken to give rnoie efficiency to their united action ? Many of us in our agricultural clubs urged upon the farmer more union in thought and action. But how to get about it was the question. Plans of relief were proposed by soin j of our members. They urged the necessity of mortgaging the lands to raise money at a low per cent, of interest. These men were urged to carry out this idea, still nothing was d< ne until February of last yca'r, and du ring one of these semi-annual .A^llLultuifal Conventions, in the city of Augusta, Colonel D. Wyajt Akin, of South Carolina,. waS head'd I before that body on die subject of the Grange j movement which was agitating the mindslof I many farmers, not only in Sbuth Carolina but ir. many of the Westetui States. Afewofius timid as we were, felt willing to embark upon the uncertain sea of a new movement. I will say in this connection that our fellow-citizen, Mr. Meek, had informed himself somewhat on this subject a year or two before this, and had spoken to several of us on the subject. One or two charters had been granted before this meeting. One, I think, in Laurens county, one in Calhoun, one in Dooly, but they had never held a meeting. So that it may be truly said this was the beginning of this great move ment in the State of Georgia. There were at that meeting some seven or eight more Granges organized, and although Forsyth Grange was numbered five, with your humble speaker as Master, yet it was indeed the first Grange which was fully organized and worked within the bounds of the State. So if there can be any honor in that fact, that honor belongs to Monroe county —the honor of having first com menced the active operation of the Patrons movement in this great State. But it was but a I few months ere the number necessary to form I a Slate Grange was organized, and on the 20th i of April of last year, in the city of Macon, ■ the Masters of fifteen Granges met, and formed themselves into a State organization. From i this small nucleus “the little one has become a thousand.” The enemits of this movement have attempted, in every possible way, by ridicule and attributing false motives to our Order, to biing down the condemnation of the public upon us; but it has spread more rap idly tlian acy order ever before organized in j the State. In the short space of fourteen j months it has increased from the small num- . her of fifteen Granges, with not more than ' five hundred members, to the enormous amount cf seven hundred Grange, with thirty thous- : and members. And the tide is still flowing | on with all the rapidity of a flood, and will, ' ere long, embrace every farmer from the Sa- : vannah to the Chattahoochee and from the mountains to the seaboard. Let the organic law as to politics and reli- j gion be inviolate. Scout the man who would , dare urge his claims to political preferment , because he is a Patron of Husbandry. Keep ; the Order as pure as when it came from the < hands of its projectors, and our barque will , sail -,-ife'y into th p rt of j»eace and plenty. ; We hav much ‘j be thankfm for, from the t fact th; t the newspapers and journals of the € State have, with but few exceptions, given us their support and recommended the Order to the favorable consideration of the people. We are thankful that some good has already been accomplished. To-day in the State of Georgia there is a better prospect for ample supply of breadstuffs than has been since the war. And we have to go no farther than to the two Granges met on this occasion, to-day, at this harvest feast, for a practical demonstra tion of this fact. The Direct Trade movement promises suc cess. And this is a creature of the Patrons of Husbandry. This Grange movement is a great revolution in the farming community, and will require time and constant industry and perseverance to accomplish all it proposes to do. We must not be weary in well doing or faint by the way. If relief does not come’ at once, let us not despair. If warehouses and banks and direct trade and reduced transpor tation is not originated this year, let us not feel we have worked in vain ; but continue in unbroken line unitedly to march on to ulti mate success. Farmers, this is onr last hope. Let us hang on to it with the grip of a drown ing man. We are not to be enemies to men, or any class of men. We are to make war on nothing, but to be friendly to all. Our object is to cultivate social enjoyment among our equals, to inculcate moral and religious senti ments, and to advance the great agricultural interests of the whole country. THE HED OLD HILLS OF GEORGIA. The red old hills of Georgia ! So bald, anti bare, and bleak; Their ffiemory fills my spirit With thoughts f cauuot speak, They have no robe of verdure— Stripped naked to the blast—■ And yet of ail the varied earth, I love them at last. I love them for the pleasure With which my life was blest, When erst I lift, in boyhood, My footsteps on their breast. When in rain had perished Those steps on plain and knoll, Then vanished, with the storm of grief, Joy’s footprint from my soul. The red old hills of Georgia ! My heart is on them now, Where, fed from golden streamlets, Ocean’s waters flow. I love them with devotion, Though washed so bleak and bare ; Oh ! can my spirit e’er forget The warm hearts dwelling there ? I love them for the hying, The generous, kind and gay, And for the dead who slumber Within their breasts of clay. Hove them for the beauty That cheers the social hearth ; I love them for their rosy girls, The fairest on earth ! The red old hills of Georgia 1 Oil I where upon the face Os earth is Freedom’s spirit More bright in any race ? In Switzerland and Scotland Each patriot breast it fills ; But oh 1 it blazes brighter yet Among our Georgia hills 1 And where upon their surface, Is heart to feeling dead ? Oh I when has needy stranger Gone from those hills unfed ? There bravery and kindness For age go hand in hand, Upon your washed and barren hills, “My own, my native laud.” The red old hills of Georgia I neyer can forget J Amid life’s joys and sorrows, My heart is on them yet : And when my course is ended— When life her web has wove— Oh • may I then beneath those hills Lie close to them I love ! —Henry R. Jackr'm. - -> —>• j Mink Raising.—A gentleman at Ctaipee, j New Hampshire, is engaged in the novel pur t suit of mink raising. He writes to the Plough ' man on this subject, stating that after much , trouble, he has brought the business to a pav . ing condition, realizing about $145 per annum j from each pair. These animals are very pro lific, bearing from six to nine at every litter, and sometimes as many as fourteen. They seldom loose their young. He sells them at S4O per pair. The mink cannot be domestic ated, unless taken while very young, before his eyes are opened. Taking them thus youug and raising by hand, or with the assistance of a cat, has been the policy of this gentleman. He says, though engaged in the culture of trout and t- e raising of j >uhry, he makes more by the mink b and hi>s imt, up to the pres ent, sold any ms or fur. NUMBER 1.