VOL. XXHI.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., SATURDAY, NOV, 3,1888.
NO. 44
FARM LIFE IN RUSSIA.
How would our readers like to exchange
places with the farmers of the great Rus-
iian empire, as. they are described by an
Indiana boy, Perry S. Heath, in the book
we noticed some weeks ago, "A Hoosier
in Russia?" He says more than three-
fourths of the entire population are found
in the country. Only about two per cent
of them can read and write, and [few have
the ordinary instincts of man or woman.
They are superstitious, ignorant and stupid. They were freed only about 25 years
igo.
"They were not slaves in the sense of
being owned, body and soul, by their
landlords. The land which they occupied
fas the property of the nobility, and none
Tere permitted, when once located on a
(arm, to leave it permanently or to go beyond a certain distance, even temporarily.
"No schools were provided for the peasants during the time of slavery; none are
provided now, and then, as at the present
time, the design of  the  Tsar, influenced
j the nobles, was to keep them in the
most dense condition of servitude and g-
notance. Their earnings on the farms are
gauged by the landlords,so they have just
raough on which to live. As no means
fere provided for the elevation of the
slaves when they became free, they have
remained exactly where they were found,
and for all practical purposes they might
iustas well have remained slaves. It is
generally believed that the Tsar's act in
emancipating them was to gain diplomatic
lavor abroad.
"A peasant's home is a very rude struc-
tae and contains none of the elements of
"mfort, healthf alness or cleanliness. His
allowance of furniture, food and clothing
being fixed by the landlord,he lives scant-
•J- The building is usually of pine or
cedar logs about 10 inches in diameter,
barked and set neatly together. It is one
""ry in hight, with one room, generally
»>s three or four windows, with one sash
"> each, and they are protected from the
wtBlde by rude board shutters, which,
*h8n closed at night, make complete
darkness within, and ventilation miser-
wle. The floors are of logs or earth, and
th beds are on the floor.
'There are no stoves in a peasant's
™«se. A stick-and-clay chimney fire-
P*>esufficts.   Here  warmth   is secured,
•"a the food is cooked in kettles. The
"•ally meal is spread on the iHor and the
tyast eaten while sitting on folded legs,
*"« style.   In  front of  many of these
onses, which  are covered with hay and
Mes-a rough sort of thatch—the traveler
T gently sees a drosky from the city, the
•«cle of the landlord,  who pays  daily
"s.  The peasant has very crude agri-
.)i^ral Implements. He generally makes
&t his own furnace  and gives them
Eaish
and polish on his grindstone. Axes,
»6s*Sharea' waS<>n-tires, portions of har
'■ horse shoes, and everything used
ot a farm or stable, are finished on the
^dstone.
dtrj CrUde llttle furnace heated with peat
5,j ne chiPa and the grindstone comprise
H^^'acturing appliances of the peas-
l»odl Pl0W Is a slmPle P°le wIth
*kich °n 8deaalevel with the tongue,
"lUnh *n  offjhoot   downward,  on
i) ctl the share is nailed or tied.
ro„ .pl°wing scene in Kossia, with the
iiam °ld frame. the crude, triaDgular or
^ond-shaped share, and the tiny little
Mp;*^806" would be disgusting as well
Th, j a, to the American farmer's eyes.
'"cflv f M wel8h* of the Plow comes di-
!jtend the Ugh bowed hames, which
104 ,> . °feet above the horse's neck
kauea e 'wtened to the collar. Instead of
It* j, e ,0ngue or shafts do the pulling.
^J188,1*11 In no walk of life has yet
Sift Philosophy  of  direct  draft
»re (WC0Uar of the horse.   AU vehicles
Wn by the shafts or tongues, and
these are fastened to the high hames or
bow, which in turn are fastened to the
collar. There are no such things as trace-
straps or chains. Eren carriages are
drawn without them.
"The women in Russia do two-thirds of
the work in the country. There are immense wheat, oat and hay fields everywhere, and in August there is great'ac-
tivity in the country. The large majority
of persons at work are women. They
wear short dresses, plain and straight, and
a long piece of cloth over their heads, like
Arabs. The wheat is sown broadcast, and
if not cut by the women with sickles, is
harvested with the old-fashioned scythe,
which has a 10 pound snead and a broad,
short blade. From the snead up to the
handle there is a wooden bow, in appearance resembllug half of a heavy barrel
hoop. This bow keeps the wheat from
falling back over the scythe handle and
scattering.
"I have never yet seen a man who would
deign to gather up, bind and stack the
wheat or oats when once it was felled.
The women must do this while the men
do the easier work, although I have seen
many women cutting grain with the
scythe. The neighbors club together in
harvest and help one another.
"A Russian harvesting rendezvous is
quite lively, and is the scene of a motley
crowd. The old men and young boys and
girls, with their mothers, grandmothers
and other aged women, assemble at daybreak—about 2 o'clock. There are a number of horses, on which are carried water,
food and extra implements. The horses
the boys and men ride, while the old
women walk. They always carry the
scythes, forks and rakes back and forth
every day, and work as long as there is
daylight; and since it is daybreak at be
tween 2 and 3 in the morning and not
dark till 10 o'clock at night, the hours of
labor are long.
"The forks used in the fields are made
of the prongs of trees. A limb is selected
which has at least three offshoots, and
from this a hay or wheat fork is made.
The wheat is stacked at first very like in
America, except in the matter of cap-
sheaves. Instead of three or four top
sheaves, just one is placed. It is turned
heads down and spread so as to cover the
entire stack. The heads of Russian wheat
are long and slender and the grain small
and red. It would be graded at Duluth or
Chicago as No. 2. The straw is lank and
slender, and the yield a little more pro-
lifts than in America. It is harvested and
sown in the same month—August. When
the wheat is sufficiently matured it is
hauled on long, slender, one horse wagons
to tho windmill on the farm and threshed.
'•The windmill which furnishes the flail
power for the threshing is of the same design as those found throughout Holland
and Germany. It is double armed—the
same as the one Don Quixote set out to
conquer. These mills are very common
around Warsaw, and are used for every
conceivable work, the women even grinding their coffee, churning and washing
with them. The slightest breeze sets them
going, as their faces are turned against the
wind so as to catch its full force. This
appears to be the only labor saving institution found in Russia.
"I asked a landlord why he did not introduce modern implements on his farms,
and was informed that labor was too
cheap; besides,it was found advantageous
to give as many people work in the country as possible, because if they go to the
towns or cities they become troublesome.
It will not be till the serfs leave the farms
that Russia will have modern improvements; and not till then will she compete
to any great extent with the United States
in supplying the wheat markets of Europe.
"Although ignorant   and kept   away
from general communication, the peasants in Russia are becoming greatly dissatisfied with the way they are treated by
the Government and the land ownerB.
They look upon the edict issued in August, 1887, upon the subject of education,
as aimed at them more especially than at
any other class. The Minister of Public
Education declared that he would stop
the last avenue possible to the education
of the poor classes. His proclamation will
not permit them to enter even the private
universities, and closed the door of tbe
public ones by a circular to the curators of
the scholastic circulars, announcing that
"the gymnasia and progymnasia will
henceforth refuse to receive as pupils the
children of domestic servants, cooks,
washer women, small shop keepers and
others ot like condition, whose children,
with the exception perhaps of those gifted
with extraordinary capacities, should hot
bo raised from the circle in which they
belong and thereby led, as long experience has shown, to despise their parents
to become discontented with their lot and
irritated against the inevitable inequali
ties of existing social positions."
"The real reason why this extraordinary
proclamation was issued was the growth
of Nihilism. This the officials freely and
frankly admit. They say that as soon as
the child of a peasant gets into school and
begins to read and think he ot she becomes a Nihilist and goes into the community from whence the pupil came and
spreads the infection. So the last channel
to intelligence was thus closed. The edict
was issued at the instance of the nobility
and was intended to check the emigration
from farms to the cities."
quarters of  wheat only,  against  317,750
quarters last year.
GRAIN MOVEMENT AND OUTLOOK
ABROAD.
The IiOndonMiller, quoted authority on
grain movements and markets, says;
The wheat trade has shown an increase
of activity during the past week, the chief
stimulus coming from the United States,
but the Indian and Russian shipping ports
also being firm. The weather has been dry,
and the condition of English wheat samples has shown a general improvement.
Under these circumstances wheat may be
quoted Is. dearer on the week for both English and foreign descriptions. The flour
market has not only been the scene of a
good retail demand, but there has also
been a lively speculative enquiry for
American "patents," and a general tendency to secure American flour both on
spot and on passage. The spring corn
trade has not been very active, owing to
the general abundance of keep. But the
tone of the market has remained firm,and
here and there a slight advantage in prices
has accrued to sellers.
During the past week details of the
granary stocks have been coming gradually to light, and while they show some increase from last July, they are so materially reduced from Michaelmas, 1887, that
the net effect of their publication has been
to strengthen the market.
The disordered and impoverished finances of Russia have recently been upheld
and improved by two singularly fortunate events, the consecutive line harvest
of 1887 and 1888 and the appreciation of
silver. It is a good thing to note that the
Government seem determined to make the
best of their chance, great efforts being
male to develop the Black Sea ports
and the railways by which grain is conveyed to them. A decree was published
on October 5, for facilitating the exportation of corn and flour from the ports of the
Btltic, Black Sea, and the Sea of Azof!, by
admitting free of duty the foreign sacks
required for the same. The Black Sea
trade is now very aotive, but that of the
Baltic is langnid. For the five months of
May, June, July, August and September
Cronstadt wheat shipments were  164,430
AMERICAN AGRICULTURE  AT THE PARIS
EXPOSITION.
The Congress of the United States having accepted, on the part of this Government, the invitation of the French Republic to take part in an International Exposition to be held in Paris in 1889 directed
the Commissioner of Agriculture by joint
resolution approved May 10th last, to collect and prepare suitable specimens of the
agricultural productions of the several
States and Territories of the Union for exhibition at said exposition.
A special division has been organized
accordingly by Hon. X. J. Colman, Commissioner and anumbero'f special agents
have been appointedby him to collect suit
able specimens for exhibition.
Statistics support the assertion that
agriculture furnishes four-fifths of our
exports, and it is to the interest of ail our
States and Territories that the United
States should be creditably represented in
this department at the great exposition in
Paris, and which will attract countless
visitors from all countries of the world.
All who are interested are cordially invited to co-operate in the special work assigned to the agents appointed by the Department in this important duty.
The Fat Stock Show.of Chicago.
"The coming fat stock, horses, and poultry shows to be held at the Exposition
Building, Nov. 13 to 24, will certainly be
larger and more attractive than any stock
show held here in previous years," said a
member of the IllinoisStateBoardof Agriculture. Oae of the members of the State
Board of Agriculture has been studying the
plan of the Madison Square Garden of New
York, and it is proposed to adopt some of
the features of that celebrated show-ring,
making the amphitheater to be built in
the Exposition Building very much larger
than it has been in former years. There
will be a number of boxes for the accommodation of families.
A special attraction for the evening
shows will be the exhibit of horses, both
blooded and draft stock. A number of
horses will be driven in the ring, attached
to stylish vehicles, such as the tally-ho
coach, etc.
There will also be an exciting contest in
making horse shoes against time.
The mammoth show of cattle, more especially during the day, will be a more
than usually interesting feature of the
ring.
The gallery will be. filled with all kinds
of poultry. The fowl exhibit alone will
be a great show, and in connection therewith an incubator contest will make it additionally lively.
In another department dairy exhibits
will show what the world can accomplish
The entire show will demonstrate what
Americans can do in raising fine stock,for
while the com petition is open to the world,
and England, Scotland and Canada have
made entries, the majority of the entries
show that there will be a mammoth exhibit of domestic stock.
Daniel Hand, an aged and wealthy resident of Guilford, near New Haven Conn.,
has given to the American Missionary
Association of New York City, the sum of
?1,000,000, to be held in trust by the Association and the interest to be devoted to
education of colored people in the old
slave States of the South.
At the U. S. Mint, a large bar purporting to be gold was received from the West
on the 25 ult. In shape and size it resembled the ordinary bars of that precious
metal, but the assayer pronounced it
spurious. A bar of gold of that size
would be worth ?35,000.