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5/08 KzlProleocsPresICIRCIDateDue.indd

THE FARMER'S NEWSPAPER AND AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION

"The farmer's newspaper is, in our country, al-
most the sole guide of the farmer's labor. It has thus
far performed the part of college and teacher. It con-
stitutes a large portion of the literature of that pro-
fession which all men love, and upon which all men de-
pend, directly or indirectly, for their subsistence.
There is in its pages a common ground where all conflict
ends; a platform upon which all can stand; a creed.which
all can believe. And.who does not know the inward peace
and satisfaction with which the unhappy voyager across
the stormy surface of a partisan press finds repose in
these columns, which remind him of the calm and steady
and luxuriant promises of nature, of growing crops, and
of animals devoted to the 'service of man'? And more:
Who does not know that whatever progress has been made
in agriculture has received its stimulus and direction
from these same columns? By suggestions, by investi-
gation, by records of egperiments, by statements of suc-
- cesses, has the angE tura newspaper press of our day
kept the agricultural mind stimulated and informed. Wham
larger and more ambitious designs accomplish in a more
imposing manner what the agricultural editor is quietly
doing every*week, we shall be sure that something posi-
tive is done in the way of agricultural education."

(A portion of the remarks of Dr. George B.
Loring, of Salem, Massachusetts, in presenting
a farewell gift to the Hon. Sanford Howard,
editor of the Boston Cultivator, on April 30,
186A. The latter was a50ut to Ieave for Lansing,
Michigan, to become Secretary of the Michigan
State Board of Agriculture. - Annual Re ort of
o 5 T-

the Secretar of0 the Michi an Sfl ate 2_
Agricfilture, 1W msing: 18 p. g5.)

Frontispiece

/ .
/ THE MICHIGAN FARMER:
A CENTURY OF AGRICULTURAL JOURNALISM

1843-1943
/

BY

Joseph George Bungan

A THESIS
Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies of Michigan
State College of Agriculture and Applied Science
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
MASTER OF ARTS

Department of History
1950

 

 

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PREFACE

Michigan agriculture in the last years of the
l9h0's was an enterprise with a cash income of approxi-
mately three-quarters of a billion dollars. Although
only about a third of the state's land area was devoted '
to crop raising, Michigan ranked tenth or better in the
production of the nation's major craps. In some sections
of the state, land had been under cultivation for more
than a century and a quarter. It would seem that the time
was ripe for a comprehensive history of Michigan agricul-
ture, similar to what has been done elsewhere.

It seems-logical to believe that anyone attempt-
ing such an undertaking would, at an early date, need to
familiarize himself with the state's leading agricultural
publication, the w Jim. That this paper has its
roots in the early part of the leO's is of great value
to the future historian of Michigan agriculture. Fortu-
nately, also, virtually a complete run of the paper is
available in the combined holdings of the Michigan State
Library and the Michigan State College Library.

The author of this thesis has attempted to do a
little of the spadework that confronts the future chroni-
cler of Michigan's agricultural history. he has sought

ii

4‘. g"? 1"" {"k‘ ‘.
r§~~y* 1t

to trace the history of the Michigan Egggg; from.the time
of its founding in 1843 through its first century of
existence. Realizing that an involved recital of the
comings and goings of publishers and editors would make
for monotonous reading and be of doubtful value, he has
confined the body of the thesis mainly to a narration of
the policies advocated and the role the paper played in
the changing agricultural scene. In the Appendix will be
found a detailed listing of these staff members whose
names could be gleaned from the mastheads of various
issues and by other means.

It is fitting and a pleasure at this time to ac-
knowledge the contributions of several persons who aided
the writer. To them he is most grateful. Foremost among
these individuals is Dr. Madison Kuhn, Associate Professor
of History, under whose guidance the project was planned
and carried out. His frank criticism and stimulating
counsel are greatly appreciated. Members of the present
staff of the W F er, who aided the author, are
Mr. Miles Grinnell, EditOr, and Mr. J. v. Jordan, Circula-
tion Manager. Mr. Burt Wermuth, who served in various ca-
pacities including that of Editor and General Manager before
his retirement in l9hl, and his wife, Mrs. Ila.Leonard
wermuth, a former Household Editor, helped prepare the
list of staff members since 1900. Michigan State Library
staff members were cooperative in making available their
holdings, and the author especially desires to thank Miss

iii

Gail Curtis, Reference Librarian, Mrs. Althea L. Hogan,
Head of the Circulation Section, and Mr. Joseph.Cherwin-
ski, Head of the Shipping Department, for their aid. Pho-
tography was done by Mr. Dale Bulock.

Although it may seem a bit unusual, the author
would like to pay tribute to John Clough Holmes, who col-
lected and bound into volumes the early issues of the
Mgghiggg F or, which form.the nucleus of the Michigan
State Library's holdings of the paper. Holmes, a pioneer
Michigan horticulturist who lived from 1809 to 1887, had
a keen appreciation of historial materials. He is best
known, however, for his leadership in the establishment
of Michigan Agriculturalt(now State) College in 1855.

J. G. D.

East Lansing, Michigan
March-13, 1950

iv

CONTENTS

Page

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . 1
Chapter

’ I. PLANTING TIME, 18h3-64 . . . . 5

II. CULTIVATING, 1869-1908 . . . . 1.7
III. JMATURITY, 1908-43. . . . . . 127
EPILOGUE . . . . . . . . . . 213
APPENDIX . . . . . . . . . . 214
BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . 228

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Following
Page
Title page of volume I, the‘Western Farmer,
181*]. e e e e e e e . e e 5
Page 1 of second issue of the‘Western Farmer,
February 2, 18hl . . . . . . 5
Daniel Darius Tompkins MOore (1820-1892),
founder of the Michigan Farmer. . . 6

Title page of volume I the Michigan Farmer
lglfB-ulv e - z e e e e e ’ e 7

Page 1 of first issue of the Michigan Farmer
February 15, 18h3.. . . . . ’ . 7

INTRODUCTION

One of the most significant factors in the tre-
mendous advance of American agriculture during the past
century has been the general far-.periodical. As a dis-
seminator of information on craps, animals, machines and
processes-- and as a constant agitator for recognition of
the farmer's place in our national economy--- the agri-
cultural periodical has had no superior.

In Michigan that periodical has been the Mdchiggg
Eggggg, now well into its second century of service to
those who Operate the state's 175,000 farms.1 Indicative of
the high esteem.enjoyed by the paper in.Mflehigan is the
statement of a national circulation audit fins that of the
‘Egggggfs lh2,000 subscribers, more than 95 percent of them
reside within the state.2 It is highly fitting that the
story of the m be told in order that its contribution
to the development of Michigan agriculture and the improve-

 

1U. 8. Bureau of the Census, UniEedSt tes Cenggg
%£,Agricg;tg;e, St tistics 21.60 ties, 9A5 Was ington:
overnment Pr ting fice, 19A , o . I, Part 6, p. 2.
The 1950 census is expected to reveal a decrease in number
of farms. ‘

2

Audit Bureau of Circulations, Report for Si;
Month Ending December ll, 3:252, Michigan Farmer (Chicago:
Audit Bureau of Circulations, 165 West Wacker Drive, March,

1950), p. 1.

2
ment of rural living may be made known.

Like other venerable institutions, now Operating
on a sound financial basis, the Michigan Eggmgg,experi-
enced its share of difficulties in the early years. Having
been feunded in 18h3, at a time when farming in the state
was relatively primitive and agriculture in general was
depressed, the paper's first two decades were character-
ized by financial insecurity and frequent.change of pub-
lishers and editors. Nevertheless, a beginning was made in
the long record of service to farming. Not only did the
paper point out the importance of systematic practices
relating to the growing of crepe, but it stressed the need
for improved breeds of livestock. As an important part of
its program, the paper gave hearty encouragement to the for-
nation of agricultural societies and the founding of Michi-
gan Agricultural College.

The Civil War proved a disrupting influence upon
the continuity of the m ML- At the end of the
war decade, the paper's old editor, Robert F. Johnstone,
and his partner, Robert Gibbons, re-established the‘Eggmg;
on a much firmer basis than it had ever experienced.
Throughout the remainder of the nineteenth century and into
the new century, the paper became more and more the voice
of Michigan agriculture. Alert to develOpments that promised
improved craps and better livestock, the Eggggg ledd in
urging the growing of more corn with which to expand the
state's livestock industry. The importance of dairying as a

3

source of steady income was stressed, fully two decades
before the state's rapid urbanization brought a vast in-
crease in dairy products consumption. During the period
which ended in 1908, the £ggggg_helped to promote the

R. F. D., the building of better country roads, and the
extension of rural telephone systems. In addition, the
paper steadily improved its offerings for the homemaker
and other members of the farmer's family.

By the end of the first decade of the new century,
it was foreseen by the paper that the long-held supremacy
of the horse-powered machine would soon be challenged by
the internal combustion engine on wheels. Not only did the
m report faithfully the fast-changing picture of agri-
cultural mechanization, but it was alert to the accompany-
ing increase in crOp specialization. As crap yields and
livestock production continued to rise, the fertility of
the state's soils faced steady and ruinous depletion.
Again, the mm voice was heard--- this time, in urging
the growing of more legumes and in promoting soil conserva-
tion. Though it avoided offering glibly phrased panaceas,
the paper in the 1920's and 1930's devoted much space to
the problems of agricultural marketing and taxation. Less
spectacular, perhaps, but a project of great potentialities
was the Egggggfs promotion of agricultural courses in the
public schools and the encouragement it gave to the agri-

cultural extension movement.
The appearance of the‘Michigan Farmer has always

h
compared favorably with that of its sister state farm pub-
lications. In 1939. new rotogravure equipment was installed
which enabled the paper to appear on a par with many of
the leading national farm and general periodicals.
In the chapters that follow is presented a de-
tailed account of the history and accomplishments of the

Michiggg Eggggg during its first century of existence.

CHAPTER I
PLANTING TIME, 1813-64

The ground was broken for the establishment of
theIMichiggg Igggg;_when Josiah Snow began his short-lived
152322.133; m in Detroit in January, 181.1. By December
of the following year, the Western Egggg; had seen two
publishers come and go, and the third had announced the
sale of the office fixtures and subscription list to a
fourth party. The latter preposed to change the name of
the ill-fated paper and to begin anew.1

Seemingly fullof confidence and undismayed by the
bad fortune that had dogged his predecessors was this
fourth party, Daniel Darius Tompkins Moore. A native of
.Marcellus, New York, Meore spoke of himself as having been
reared in the country and having had practical experience
gin farming.2 It was said that his early life was "full of
vicissitudes,5 which.may have occurred during his farming
days or when he was learning the printer's trade in Ro-
chester, New York, under Luther Tucker, who later became
famous through publishing" the w m. He was

T
ngtern F or, Dec. 31, 1842, p. 163.

gMichigggF Fggmer (hereafter referred to as Fagger),
marCh 1,1f3, pe 2e

5

 

TH-

WESTERN FARMER,

CONTAINING

@fl!“afl& a EQIQOWIa AfiQRCIBIg

IILATIVI T0

  

«11L- \

NIINLNN Nu ‘ ‘j IIIIMESTIII mm,

mm, various Statistics tactic: to mirhigan.

 

JOSIAH SNOW, Editor.

 

VOLUME 1.

IDEHTKHTE
wnusnsb BY 3. P. ARMSTRONG.

Title page of volume I, the Western Farmer, 181,1.

wmsrmnn :-

 

ARMS!-

 

lair;

.__

--.—J

wwahuu‘mmuwmmwo

 

 

 

 

 

vet. 1.
url Rim; slim" nor.

Printed by Wu. Hanna.

1'. r n l .—fl.\lt‘. DOLLAR run you. in a lam. or me
“turning-Ive. anl l! nut pail waldo arr-e mun-Ir;
.0 dollar and flfiy rents r nu: put-l unnl ria- I'lpir.lurn if.“
”0'; one «20".! .w-l snooty-flun- rcnll if not [an I Iznul nlnc
mafiarl‘wrlhc lLrur m" Iu'---n'un;. MJ two dollars if not
”M soul the drum of llll‘ ya-r r.

A" persun end-mug I-‘ivr Dsrzlars ln Mun-91 wln be mu-
llel to Ill tor-ins, w In em: nr 13,-ng to «or done.

All letters mun: Il' p-Iel p... l. an! mil-hurl a, i! Ila-N to
"If l'ostll Hf‘r. -:ur it emu {w- n! |Ilr!'_..‘t‘,

The to cap:- (or rumor, mu be: acknowledged though the
"P"-
' " . . T I M" k . .

anguin. slimmnunucnone.

MM

“in—......“- -‘—L——- .

 

Alunhgsa of Ara-[cultural Papers.
[A urns nun seam: one urn, or Atrium, IICII.]
Friend Snmv.—'l'iiuu will find cuclu-zcd
£3. 00 l' r which lhou may plousc u-nd lhrm-
capig; of [he \Vt‘mll‘rll Filim- r. I shall (-11-
d--1vor to user! win-it iiulc illflll'd‘lm' I may
have in trying in induce. lurmv's to au'm‘rd):
fort-1y p;ip.:r; hnvin; lint 5-! the exempla-
myocli'. ulhough I now lulu: two nlhcrugri‘
cultural papers. I feel vr-ry willing lo do
all that l reasonably can For the (‘ncvurag'r-
mom of those who are domg so much for the
goo-.1 ol' the community, for however unper-
.,i. :: i':"1:.:' 1243' b: by l'i':;;‘.' A". or! ‘ ‘.
cially those who neither lulm not read agri-
cultural papers. yell believe ll is nevertheless
true, that many such farmers have been
benefitind to several times the amount ol'n
your. subscription for such a lilimr‘ by 11...“.
publication. without knowing l'mm win-lic- the
benefit was d‘JfH'Cd. This may seem samu-
w'm‘. plruduximl. but [Hunk lhou vviil bu at
no Ion lo pcrccivre l'uc pru‘itthLily of its truth.
I should grimly r juice, il‘ mouthing could he
said that Would induce farmers g--ucrally in
this Stale :0 take- lho \Vcslcrn Fu rnr: r. Or some
other good agriculzural [upon The incrum-d
interest and rcspvct il1~y vvozild l'--cl for their
occupation. WOUltl. nlouu. I should lliink,am-
ply compensate lhou) for tho i-xpv-usr', but in
Iddilion to this. they might I'rr-qm-nlly (lcrivv
COIlSld-Jff'bll‘ p' cuninry ndmnlzigv m vnrmm
ways. Is 11 l’t-rmor'o luvs-n or has ox. ltis cow,
his sheep or swirl". nlivclcd wuh (llsv'thfl. h:
has but to turn In his paper to find a (Jr-scrip-
lion of the (lisvnsc. and 1h". most approvrd
and successful rmm (i_.'. Duos ho Wlllll lo
procure any vailunhln: kind of l'ruil or wood,
bu knows vvlv'r.‘ it in lo b'~ lmrl. ll' impruvvd
b' ' 1'. ol' :l-uk. nr-w vurir'u-a nl‘ Cl'alll. (so.
or new rvtzd us-l'ul lltl;‘i‘l;li'ril1 ul' lliI-lmmlrv
In: infirm-mid. ii: is Iiiimr‘.ii.il”ly 'r.l'nrmr~il
of I! and lmmre v.'lwr(- m pun-“,1: mum; "m1

"h”r? ducli thing: nn-ufilqa-rl p-Jmnnm .1” l... i

vaiuablm liscuu llllll to I‘m: r-_\p«-r;r~n-.-: of
others anl stun n:-c--rl;:iu wit. liu-r they pruw
to be pmclitnl'y uv-l'ul or not.
amount org-sin or o'fwr pro'lziru on hand.
I I pope-r pill inform in II! wi.'.: lilt‘ p-rwp c:
d supply and dun

r
....u
an»: I“

DETROIT, FEBRUARY

ll" lu. lii: on f

and be may thu. b" 1 r2.

_. m-——_——.———-—— —.

 

cneblo-d to form a correct conclusion whether
he had better dispose ol‘ his crop at once or
‘ rcscrvu it for better pricus. There, too. he
‘ may lr-nrn lhu history and habits of his nu-
! menu“ Cll('llll"l nmung lhc lllsvcl kiln. and
l llm maul .-: moussful lime and manner of mn-

lung “ill' Uptll lllt'm. ln nlmrl. il is ill". object
i of but‘ll paper In furnish the l‘nrnu-r wlmlvvcr
.Ium fill or inlenwling knovvla-rlgo or inl'nrmn-

llu-rc is in lhr: country rclnliug In his micron!
is or plt-zi.-.urr-; wlmllu'i‘ it In in llm licld, Iliv:

r .
‘2' g'mli n. the burn. lhr: dmry or the house. And -
,. ll. ht: lms‘ son-i and daughters. it may have. no :

i'lbll'h'lll iullm-ncu in forming lhcir character for
h :ulurc im-l'uliinss und ri-ept-clnhih'y. by giving
'; Iii-'m :I CAN." cl view ol‘ llu: Iiuly iiupmlunl and
l lmumu'h- occurmlion they anP rugng d in.
‘ and cr- uting u Ins-to for useful and pleasing
knou'la-Ug- lll relation lulho wonderlul opera-

lung'lume.

lfut of ..II thi: and much more, lhou art well
aware. without no; hint from me. There-
lurr‘. as the mail claws in a few minutes, I
l-wrll only add the expression of my sincere
': desires for the aurmss ol' the “Western Far-
mar.” As ever, lliy friend.

1. GIBBONS.
Adrian. Intmonth let. 18“.
A [setter of Encouragement.
[non eomn seamen, or usun.]

M r. Shown—Your letter is received. in which
i you any: "Now. the cacilomcnt of the Presi-
l. dcnual lilccuon is over, let us turn our ntlcn-
l lion to try to conl'crsomc benefit upon the Agri-
l'CJl-Ul‘lt‘lfl of the great North-Word.” Sir, l
l ll 'urlily reciprocate that acniimr nl.--l con-
" gratulnlo you on the undertaking to establish

r-::.:=-——. . ,-- --

 

 

l‘i‘rlll‘: pvninsuln ol' the northern lulu-s. And
you certainly would receive :1 warm support
from all Chic 0‘, il‘ this great truth could be
impressed upon them. that “Every thing that
rr-nds to improve the Agricultural Community.
improves every other clue-i.” For. so
‘- lung as the "Gaunt West" is composed of n
,i s nil Hrich m garden moulv'.“ so long will u
;_ lzng: porlion ol' the culin- p-iplllulllm. rr-muin
l; cummmrs. And nearly all of lhcentirc muss
's of all other classes, spring from this. How
_ vvry important then that all oIhr-r. odd as so-
,rivty is at present constituted. more. favored
iclnsscs. should ll’lld llu-irnid to enlighten and
r.

I

3971':

improve the agricultural community For

r yum-3 l have lnnl my r‘nr‘rgii-s l0 lhis darling _
hij‘t‘l oi my hr-nrl. and now I begin to fuel ~

my rcmum-ruziun. I are some ol‘ the older
uml well known Agriculturnl journals receiv-
. llll! a support \v‘urllzy oi' llll! gr: at, gOnd cause
.lliny urn: «lcvou d lo. I see new Agricultural
“ papers elmlinl- innlmosl cvury principal town
.- h- riiinlnkirn. The condition of the n ricultu-
cozuzuuuily is Upon the rising see

..i .

e, 1841.

hum of nature in the vegetable and animal "

u. paper in the capitol city of the great and;

in lllo‘. Uniiud mules. This indication cannot vcrc.

__——. A

NO. I.

 

it ran. rr lm'l', IT SHALL. lie-till m
clcvslcd. The decree has gone slim-du-
Ameriusn farmers cannot be induced to re.
main in ignorance. Publish papers dovotcd
entirely to lha-ir duily pursuits, and my word
for it they wul he read. and they will add to the
wealth, unil what is of far more consequence.
lo the lmppinc-s of those who mud. leérf'
ii :1 growing nudity in community for Agn-
cullurnl know-lung». And in no plan or pur-
suit. is llml lrui~m lhnt ”knowlctlgvis power."
m l'orcihly ilimlrniul as with the farmer.—
Tlu- pullliC'iiion 0|. such a pnpnr It you pro-
l pose, \vlll mlrl \vfi-nillr lo llic Slate 0|. Michi—
j,g:in. All chums should support II. Lrgc
i‘ upon pruclcnl men to communicate to it.»
lil‘iullziug gives gn-nxcr interest in such a po-
l pvr thriu lhr' lt-in-n ol'corruspondenls. Look
5: at the "Cullivnlur,” lhnsr- nm lhc first articles
road. The reader first looks for names lho'
he has become familiar with. And if helm
new idem advanced over the name of some
person whose respulnliun he knows and the:
he may depend upon the corrcclncee of what
he advances, hols ready at once to adopt the
improvement.

am willing to put my reputation upon
one assertion in regard to the ndvan'ngo to
derived from Agricultural papers it was
by mans oflln Cultivator. that the Dork-
shire hogs were introduced to the knowledge
of the farmers of the U. 8. And I now as-
sert lhnt 1hr.- bt-nr'lit to lhc country arising
from the introduction ofthcsc hogs, is ofmorc
value than all the nub<crlpliaml ever paid to
that widoly circul-vlo-d paper.

And such are the lund of bcnnfils coolin-
unfly arming. Lcl no mm any that "the pa-
pr~r can't learn him any lhing”—-ho thus be-
lrnys his own ignorant-u ‘

 

-__ -.—

llul in spite of all olvjr‘clinns, let no porn--

vcrc. l/‘t us coalinu“ lo nll'v-r (-vory ind-'co- .
muul lo the farmer to loam lemon-l. nlgo. Ll!
us urge lhosu who have shown i'i- mwlv. . s.
talented in adv-rating 13:: ir political :r'n' 's,
to now use lip-m in (iissvzuin'a .ug \qrrcull ;—.
nl inl‘urrnnlion. You ask lire nil n. my: p 1
for your paper. l qurc you of my ri Thu as
to do all I (ion in lh~ gm.» t‘flil:!:—-'I‘t¢l lnlm
assure you that :lu'rc uw l:.“':‘i:‘.!
more iinmcdiu'o vicinity. ul-izilly or mine (#1-
pnhlo ol' conlrihuluig in your nirl. iz'yuu CU'I';
only rouse llu-ir l'lf-“L'l onvnzlv :zzrrl 'H 'hc
bust advice of one whom lh-Cnl i ‘tlr' “ti? H~il-
vcrcd o‘er.” let me urg: upuu l‘: - slul‘fi oi
farmers whose menus ol uh: -:;' livi.i~
:od, 10 prusovvrv. study. rvud—rvrl n xv -;
l] pcrs. pnrliculurly thus: «3 -l. (l l') :ig'v i~-:'::ir~'.
'. nnd through your own lili.’lltl"(l (‘3' Hum -. 3.: oz;
Lmay rise ulmvn lll" I'lll'! rminlx ‘ that
i“ soli-lnughl" lrin-nrl lhnl nmv nth. E?” c you,
:, has olcvntrd liiinsv ll' to. I pray you pcrso~
1 I am rcsprv' Tilly. (”vol

SULUN lzu

. l'l vovir

.- n...
"‘r. r

 

l'M.

“l

.-l

NEON.

and Lake Co., In. Dec. In, 1910,

Page 1 of second issue of the Western Farmer,

February 2, l8hl.

6
apprenticed to Tucker in 1835, at the age of f1fteen.3His
contact with Tucker may have been a factor in Moore's
decision to start a farm paper.

While yet a minor, Mbore came to Jackson,M1chigan,
with a relative, and the latter formed a partnership and
established the M1chlggg,§§g§g Gazette, a weekly Whig news-
paper, ln August, 18h0. After the death of this relative,
Moore assumed his role in the business, in January, 1841,
and retained an interest in the Gazette for at least two
more years.

At the age of twenty-two, this "young man of indus-
try and talent," as he was described by the editor of the
St. Clair (Michigan) Eggggg, closed a deal to take over the
assets of the dying-Western‘figgggg.5 These he loved to
Jackson, which be deemed a better location for a farm paper,

as Detroit was ”entirely out of the main Agricultural dis-

triCt o "6

i Jackson at that time was the western terminus of

the Central Railroad, and was described by a clergyman as

 

3 1d., June 18, 1892, p. A; Rggal Ne ~Yorker,
Jun. 18, 92, p. [[010

#F er, July 15, 18h}, p. 8h; Douglas C. McEnr-
trie, Ear Printing 1n.Mdch1gan (Chicago: John Calhoun
Club, 1931 , p. 28h; Michael Shoemaker, ”Historical Sketch
of the City of Jackson, M1ch.,' Report g§,§§g,P;ongeg

Societ 2;.tge Stgte‘g§_M1ch;ggp Pioneer Collections)
l2d. ed.; Lansing: 1901), Vol. 2, p. 32h. -

SFermer, Feb. 15, 1843, p. 8.

6191a., p. 2.

 

Daniel Darius Tompkins Mbore (1820~1892),

founder of the Michigan Farmer.

7

"one of the most forbidding mud holes of a town that
enterprise ever undertook to make hospitable. . . .
a dismal place apparently just fit for a penitentiary
. . . . .‘7 Moore set up his office in the "brick block
adjoining the American Hotel, on the main street."
The first issue of the new publication had
been scheduled for February l,.l8h3, but unforeseen
circumstances delayed it until the fifteenth. MOore
apologized for the delay and promised his readers that,
henceforth, the periodical would be "punctually and
regularly published on the first and fifteenth of every
month during the year-- provided that a lack of suppan;
or something else equally extraordinary and unexpected,
(the fulfillment of Parson Miller's prophecy, for in-
stance) does not interrupet our labors."9
Moore's initial production consisted of eight
pages, each approximately 9 by 11% inches and contain-
ing three columns of reading matter. The full title

was the Michigan Farmer anngestern Agriculturist. Under
the title was this Jeffersonian quotation, "Agriculture is

f

7M. Fitch, "Reminiscences of Detroit, ' Report_ of

the Pioneer Societ of the hState onMichi an W(Pioneer
CallccticnsY-Trafig¥ng:m , p. 533.
8 ,
Farmer, April 1, l8;3, p. 32.

91b1do, Feb. 15, 18A3, po 1}. Miller was an i-
tinerant preacher who had aroused considerable notice
because of his prediction that the world would soon be
destroyed because of the sins of its inhabitants.

mm WWW ”W9

A ND WESTERN AGRICULTURA LIST.

A It'll-MONTHLY PUILIOATION.

unmnammummmmmmmm.

AND DESIGNED TO ELEVATE THE

CHARACTER 0F THE WESTERN FARMER.

 

ooubuo'reo BY 0. o. 1'. moose.

 

“VIII.

0—- -rme - - - -....- -—-
...—......“— ... ..

JACKSON. MICHIGAN.
punusnsn n was pnonxs'ron;

l.‘."e

Title page of volume I, the Michigan Farmer,
MAB-M.

 
   

RICbLT

   

 

 

TPB llCfllGAN PABIBI,
. nM-awesnusv

[Itmfltenalhslltnm

flls'flr

Osahsflpsrmaflshalvaass.
Til—Inflammafinhmu
~*Mh., Erin’s-‘1'}, I'm-snags.
huff-flyw-hm-dnnyt‘qhhm
Imus-mes at hmalkMH-aa‘
u‘wvhsswalhmhhhsnssnsth.

mm“~~.u. unknown-nus.
Wm.lflhem—.-bm

if. .sdu-u‘wht‘dhr.lm'

n-MPuIa—sa-sm-nde-flsl-

finiflw-uwbu-whum.

\
l

 

.__

‘5; r. insane—ti rm} " “Tritium—‘7

hen la mum:

In preeentingto you the first .nherof

the has! Yams, not only a custom
which has been in vogue from time ‘ whereof
the manage! men runneth not to the con-
tm’.’ Ha I. ofduty and justice induces
“* the flu and objects which we
' pl “-0”. 8 well as the manner in which

I Vi.“ guided aldeontinued.
And“ we, III endeavnrlng to do this,
M of Wag—by making an awkward
intend of a MM how—we shall still
have the auction If knowing that our
.fissu were good, and motives pure, although
~ “on” in which they are imparted
h set eithu elected or refined. It is
one of the most di‘rult of m: in re mundane

e erases... isiv‘sl-l a. metre . pleasant

ad agreeable airlines—particulary upon
m—hot, believing the cause in which we
“enlisted to he a worthy and laudahle one.
asdthst those herein addressed will chea-
fllyseeondeare‘srts for inadveneernent.
wet-ll 'proer-ed to he'll-ed without addi.
“all prefarabry marks.

‘13 prinry objects to which the columns

a dlhhmwiflhdstobdmtointro-

“fife! Improvements in the Prsetieeund
Ideas- of Agriculture In all its vario-
W improve the cultivation of
thesflasdfsrtileesltelthest—asdte
buqssdeswbletheeherscter

‘ “new Portia-easin-
offline-Interehssstt’a.

he. Pmspectm. we fill u all proper
...“wflevesdllaatfisdutryend
mumps-unite“

 

 

Mly wowed. ._ And, with the aid and advice
of a corpse! ("TLlrihutors whose experience
and ability wil 0" nahle them to furnish articles
d neordinsry‘ merit we hope to make the
Farmer interesting to all, and particularly
awful to thrlnc for whose benefit it is chiefly
intended-41s nausea or Mlculcax.

We shall endeavor so to conduct the paper
as to make it a welcome visitor in every
farm-house and cottage where it may be per-
mitted to catch—that it may be useful in the
Kitchen and the (iardcn-and no intruder in
parlor. We shall strive to make it, to some
extent, the companion of the llouscnift' and
Horticulturist, as well as of the Former.—
In the langungc of a cotcmporary on a similar
occasion, we promise “that the mold dt'llt‘fllu
hands shall not he soiled by its tong, nor the
hardest hand find occasion to c '
disdain. “'hrrvver there are 1
flowers, there We shall try to bring our lmsltt'll
full. decorated with the fairest wreaths we can
cuts-inc. “'0 will siwuk of the plants of thr-
field. from the cedar that waves his proud ll‘l
upon Hount Lebanon to the hyssOp that
climbs upon the wall. ‘Our tall: will likewise
be of cattle.‘ “'0 will gather around us the
lowing herds and spread out the fleeces of
gold. “'t‘. will go forth in the spring to sow
the precious so: (is; and rejoice uith Illa-
fsrmer at harvest time, when, by the blooming
of the Lord of the Harvest, he returns in
triumph, bringing his sheaves with him ;-—
nnd if, in doing this we can new the infinitely
more precious sit-eds of truth and virtue, and
show the dignity of honest labor, oftentimes
far outshining even in the shade the Imperial
purple, and inspire and quit-ken the love for
rural pursuits and rural plvasurus; and open
men's eyes and hearts to the beauties and
glories of God's visible creation, to the abund.
once, the variety and the console-lea of his
bounty, we shall be but too bppy la the
delicious eorneiousness thst we have not
labored altogether in vain.”

To the ladies-especially the Young La-
dies and Hotnswivee—we devote a certain
pow our columns, ad tru tht they will
tied something vswssu sad rs-rssssnu
tassel sfibsr of“ Partner. Wehsps
thb will reosfi their
..a W

in
mi

dose-d

URALIST.

 

«~— -afi=-r---r1‘ ,
s—..._.J:==§B‘

Those, if any there he, who either for
or was! that the Farmer will take sides with
any political party or fiction, will undoubtofly.
be disappointed. Having the Agricultllil
interests of the entire State prominently in
View, it will be e free from local preju-
dice or politic nd every thing tending
to fat-or plow party will be new
from its columns.

We ask every farmer and friend to the
Agricultural Interests of the State to aid In in
this suanho permanently establish a journal
mainly designed to promote these important
interests. There are thotnands of our fallow-
ciiim-ns who ought, we 'hinlt, to patronize
such a paper—and whose interest and llppi-
nt‘ss, we confidently believe, would beguntly
promoted by the information with which the
columns of the Farmer will he filled. or
lllt'll’ ability to pay One Dollar a year, no one
will qu-Jallul‘l ; for it is a sum which any farlnsr
may wally save for such an appropriate the.
' ‘ “gammy agricultural journals pohlleh-
r vim-whens, which are better than we can
furnish; but we respectfully no“ the
Farmers of Michigan to " Encourage their
Own," if found worthy—one published Upon
lhl ir own soil, and more esolusively devoted
to tlu-ir into-rests. In order to extend its unv-
l'ulnt'an, and make it what it ought to he, I
pope. of this character should have a large
virunlnlon; as it must depend entirely upon
its subscriptions for support. Th" pmpl
payment of sulpcriptions on the part of our
l‘um-ns, is then-fore indispensahly neceuary
to m-u-uro punctuality and sneetass on the part
of tho Pulilisht'r' We request our friends to
n-mrmlmt’ this, and forward the amount of
their nulmriptions as early as comm».—
Pmtmagtnwrs will kindly frank letters cat.
mining ..mmnnees. To Posters-tors, Clubs
and Agents, we who the m lihfll’ll ‘3”,
as will ls: sm‘n hy reference toour Terms. kc.
published on this page.

Every assistance, either in extending the
cirrumtiun of the Partner, at ahllltclfl' “I
ill “All!” by contributions to its cola-ass, ls
warmly solicited, and will he pately W
and properly achmwled.

'7.
D. D. 1'. noose.
Jansen, Man. ”II.

   
  
 

Page 1 of first issue of the Michigan Farmer,

February 15, 18h3. On the following in-

serts are the remaining seven pages of

the first issue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                      
       

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8 iv

the noblest, as it is the most natural pursuit of Man."
The first page was devoted to a statement by Moore, setting
forth his purpose for establising the Eggmgg and stating
what he hoped to accomplish. This verbose address, phrased
in the traditional and ornate manner adOpted when launch-
new enterprises, was directed, ”To the Farmers and Friends
of an Agricultural Press in Michigan." Disclaiming any po-
litical bias or design, the editor stated that his purpose
for starting the Farmer was to introduce ideas that would
improve the practice cf farming and elevate the status of
the farmer. In addition, he promised to make the paper use-
ful to the farmer's wife and to the horticulturist.10

The remainder of the issue, with the exception of
two letters to the editor from a person calling himself
"Agricola," consisted of short articles gleaned from other
agricultural publications. "Agricola" extolled the virtues
of agricultural Journalism and advocated the establishment,
in a central location, of an agricultural warehouse. From
this warehouse, he stated, farmers could purchase labor-
saving machinery and supplies which at that time were
difficult to obtain in Michigan. 0n the last page were the
latest bank note quotations, an indication of the unsettled
nature of western finances, and a half column of meteor-
logical observations made at Jackson during the preceding

month. There was no advertising. The typographical

 

101219... Feb. 15, 131.3, p. 1.

 

 

9
arrangement was similar to that of the suspended Western
11
Eases:-

The first issue of the Michigan Eggmgg was mailed
to 2,500 persons, of whom 600 were said to have received
the western Eggggr.12 Though the subscription rate was'
stated to be $1 a year "in advance," Moore sought to at-
tract subscribers through "clubs' whereby several persons
ordered the paper at the same time and from the same post
office. By such means they could effect a saving; thus six
could get the paper for $5, ten for $7, fourteen for $10,
twenty for 815, and thirty for 320. At that time post-
masters were penmitted to “frank” letters which contained
remittances for periodicals, and-Moore urged them to act
as his agent.13 In the second issue he listed the names of
nineteen agents, in various towns and villages from Detroit
to Grand Rapids.1 1

_During the first two decades of the Egggggfs ex-
istence, its publication frequency varied from semidmonth-
ly to monthly, with the exception of the period, 1859-61,
when the paper was issued weekly. The rather erratic manner

in which issues were published is illustrated by the policy

 

illbido, pp. 2‘8.
2.
lBlhiés. po 8; April 1, 1843, p. 29.

lbid., Feb. 15, 1843, p. 1; Albert L. Demaree,
The American Agricultural Press 81 ~1860 (New York:
Ealumbia University Press, l9hl,, p. 2 . -

1h .
F er, March 1, l9h3, p. 16.

10
followed in 18h7. Though the new volume began in April,
the editor announced that twelve issues would appear
during the following nine months, as the Eggmg; was a
“monthly paper.“ Thus, two issues would be published
some months, at ”seasons most interesting to farmers,”

in order that the volume might end with the close of the

15

calendar year. The subscription rate also varied, from

$1 to 50 cents in the earlier years to as high as $2 a
year in 1861. In that year, the publisher stated that
‘because he paid agents 50 cents for each subscription,
“whoever pays us $1.50 will be considered as obtaining a

subscriber, whether it be for himself or some other per-

16

son.”

moors stated, in his first issue, that the Farmer
would be supported solely by its subscribers, yet he soon
modified his policy. Two months later, he announced:

As it is customary with other agricultural Journ-
als, we shall hereafter devote a limited portion of
our paper-- not to exceed one page--- to advertising.
To manufacturers, or agents for the sale of Agricul-
tural Implements &c., proprietors of Nurseries, and
other business men, the Farmer is the best medium of
advertising in.Michigan;.for we believe it already has
a.much greater circulation than any other country paper
in the state,and its subscription list is increasing.17

 

15
Ibid., Feb., 18u7, p. 183.

16-
Ibide, Sept. 21, 1861, p0' 2960

1 .
7Ibid., April 1, 18h3, p. 29. Two years previous,
Solon Robinson, Indiana agricultural writer, had advised

the editor of the Western Farmer to ”do not be tempted by
present gain to occupy your columns with advertisements,but

rely upon the generous support of your subscribers. . . . ."
Western Eggggg, April 16, 8&1, pp. 55-56.

ll

The first advertisements appeared in the next
issue and were inserted by nurseries at Jackson and
Detroit, announcing for sale mulberry trees and silk-
worm eggs.18 Silkworm culture was an agricultural ”craze"
that flourished in the 'forties. It required more than an
announced change of policy, however, to induce advertis-
ers to patronize the columns of the F er, and during 1
the early years the amount of advertising was negligible.
After 1850, the amount increased and included a wide range
of articles. In the issue for January, 1853, the adver-
tisements totaled about one and one-fourth pages.19 In
1855, one issue had a total of seven pages of advertise-
ments, including those for plows, reapers, wagons, mis-
cellaneous agricultural tools, seeds, fruit tree cions,
limestone, livestock, stallion service, ”fancy” fowls,
"lop-cared" rabbits, Suffolk and Essex,pigs, imported
British cattle, Maltese jacks, dry goods, and patent medi-
cine guaranteed to cure "four-fifths of all diseases that
people the church-yards."20

The W My; seemingly had no stated policy
ltliting the amount of patent medicine advertising during
this period. Yet, that type of advertising did not become
an important source of revenue until in the 'seventies

and 'eighties. One issue in the late 'fifties contained a

 

18%., APril 15, 18h3, p0 “Ge

1 -_
9Ib1dg, Jane, 1853, pp. 31‘32.

zonide, April, 1855. ppe 122-128e

12 .
full-page announcement that undoubtedly must have had an
appeal to those farmers who suffered from chills and fever
associated with tilling the many acres of swamp land in
southern and eastern Michigan. This medicine, known as
“Rhodes Fever and Ague Cure," was intended ”For the Pre-
vention and Cure of Fever and Ague, or Chill Fever, Dumb
Ague and other Intermittent and Remittent Fevers, also for
Bilious Fevers, Ship and Jail Fever, General Debility,
Night Sweats, and all other forms of Diseases, which have
a common origin in MALARIA or MIASMA.‘ The testimonials
included one from a Clayton, Alabama, man who related how
"twenty-eight Negroes were Cured and a Cotton Crap Saved"
by use of the medicine.21 *
By the end of the second year, Moore concluded,

that his talents might be more profitably used elsewhere,
and he sold the paper to W. F. Storey and R. S. Cheney.His
stated reason for leaving Michigan was that of ”impaired
health,“ but one deduces that lack of revenue may have been
the real reason. In his benediction, for the benefit of
the new owners, he wished that ”the Farmer had--- as it ’

ought to have-- from three to five thousand substantial
patrons."

2121411.. June. 1856. p. 192.

22Ibid., Nov. 1, 18th, p. 2. After leaving Michi-
gan, Mbore.became publisher of the Genesee Farmer, in
Rochester, New York. In 1850, he brought out the first
'number of§Moore's Rural New-Yorker, which became one of

the most widely-known and quoted farm papers of its time.
It was noted especially for its (continued on page 13)

13

During the next twenty years three series of the
Egggg; were published and publishers and editors came and-
went like actors upon a vaudeville stage. Changes occurred
on an average of every seven months until Warren Isham
assumed control in December, 181.7.23 Isham and his suc-
cessor, Robert F. Johnstone, together with Moore, were
the outstanding men during the first period of the Eggggg's
history. (See Appendix for a detailed listing of publishers,
editors, and others associated with the paper.)

His predecessor, Henry Hurlbut, in introducing
Isham, stated that the latter ”had long experience in this
department of labor. . . . (and) a considerable portion of
his life has been devoted topractical husbandry."2h Isham,
of New England origin, had started the first newspaper in
Eaton County, Michigan, the G zette, in l8h3. It existed

25
for only a year.

 

22(continued from page 12) miscellaneous material ,
designed to appeal to all members of the family. In 1868, ‘
he moved the publication from Rochester to New York City.
Because of some unfortunate speculation, he lost financial
control of his paper in 1876. He made several unsuccessful
attempts to re-enter the farm periodical field and, for a
short time, syndicated agricultural articles to a group of
newspapers, a pioneer venture of its kind. Later, he was
, asspciated with two minor, general periodicals. He died

from aralysis in New York City, on June h, 1892. Ibig.,
June 8, 1892, p.h; Rggg1,New-Yorker, June 18, 1892, p.

#01; Demaree, 9p, g;§., pp. - 5.
23;bi§.,Dec. 6, 18b7, p. 176.
25%” Dec. 25, 1847, p. 177.
25Ibid., Jan. 15, Dec. 1, 18h7. pp. 27, 360; Tom

8. Applegate, I'A History of the Press of Michigan," Report
of the Pioneer Society of the State of Michigan (Pioneer

abllections) [Lansingi‘188ETr VI, p.—80. —

1h
Isham.conducted the affairs of the Egggg; with

considerable vigor and became well known throughout the
southern part of the state because of his frequent trips
to visit with farmers. He possessed an interest in Liebig's
work in agricultural chemistry and gave several lectures .
on that subject during the course of his tours.26 In
addition, he served as corresponding secretary of the
Detroit Horticultural Society from 18h9 to 1850.27 It is
possible that he was overly ambitious and that he sought
to advance the development of the Eggggg faster than
current agricultural conditions warranted. One of his
announced intentions, which apparently was not carried out,
was to publish the Eggggg_simultaneously in Niles and
-Detroit. His predecessor, Hurlbut, had moved the paper
from Jackson to Detroit in 181.7.28

6 In 1851, Isham went to EurOpe to attend the World's
Fair in London; from there he made an excursion on the cone
tinent and elsewhere. The first his "Notes from.England,”
giving his reactions to EuroPean agriculture, appeared in
the Eggggg.in July, 1851, and the series continued until

after he had returned to Michigan in the fall of 1852. In

26%, Dec.l, 18h8, p. 362.

27.1. 8. Holmes, "The Early History of Horticulture
indMich nan,“ Collections and Researches Made by the Pioneer

fiistor c Society St te .of Michigan (Historical
fiections) éL Lansing: 2888§2‘1,p

“Farmer Feb. 181.7 p. 175 April, 181.7 p. 1-
Dec. 1, 18‘8“”. , p.’360. ' ' ' ’ 1'

 

 

 

15
these notes, Isham described his voyage to England and
his travels through Ireland, Egypt, Sardinia, Italy, France
and Germany. In addition to giving a detailed account of
rural living and agricultural techniques observed in those
countries, Isham revealed his impatience at certain condi-
tions he saw and pointed out how much better similar
things were being done in the United States.29 This atti-
tude was typical of the nationalistic spirit reflected in
the writings of many Americans of that day.

Readers of the Eggggg expressed a liking for the
”Notes,“ but Isham found that the management of the paper
during his absence had not been up to his standards. Also,
the publication had suffered severe financial loss. In
apologising for the numerous typographical errors that had
crept into his "Notes," while the type was being set, he
announced plans for a book which would give him an oppor-
tunity to correct the errors. He planned, also, to use
the book as a subscription-getting premium.3

Isham in the spring of 1853 sold the Eggggg to
Robert F. Johnstone and William.S. Duncklee, but was re-
tained for a short time as ”corresponding editor." When
he finally severed his connection with the Eggggg,

”several hundred” letters, expressing regret, were said to

 

29The series appeared in virtually every issue
from.Ju1y, 1851, through October, 1852.

39§g£ggr, Oct., Dec., 1852, pp. 30h, 331, 368.

 

16
have been received from readers.31

Robert F. Johnstone, when he became editor and co-
publisher of the Egggggon April 15, 1853, began a connec-
tion with that publication which was to continue, with the
exception of a few years in the 'sixties, until his death
in 1880. He was to be influential in helping to establish ’
the m finally on a firm basis, and he was to become
closely identified with the Michigan agriculture of the
post-Civil War period.

Johnstone was a native of Ireland, having been hnn
there in 1816. Coming to this country in 1833, he learned
the printer's trade and worked for a time in Albany, New
York. After a brief period of Whig politics, he was elected
clerk of the New York House of Representatives. Here he
made the acquaintence of Horace Greeley; the famous editor,
according to Johnstone's friend, James Scripps, advised
the young Irishman to seek his fortune in Detroit. Greeley,
it was said, secured for Johnstone the position of com-
mercial editor of the Detroit Dailz‘ggzggtiggg. After John-
stone became editor of the M_i_c;_l_i_,g_ag F er, he was engaged
in several newspaper deals in Detroit, which culminated in
his becoming publisher for a short time of the Qgilyugd:
‘zggggggg,‘which had become the organ of the newly organ-
ized Republican party. The last venture was financially
unsuccessful, and in 1856 Johnstone began devoting his

 

3111-119." June. 1853. p. 176.

l7

entire attention to the Eggggg.32

In 1860 he was induced to become superintendent
of the farm of the newly organized Michigan Agricultural
College near Lansing. His labors in directing the clear-
ing and draining of wild land brought him little praise,
but took him away from the active management of the paper.
After a year, Johnstone, who was also secretary of the
Michigan State Agricultural Society, was glad to be rid
of the grief connected with the college farm. During his
many absences from Detroit, the bulk of the editorial work
devolved to Mrs. L. B. Adams, a woman of considerable
literary ability. She had contributed to the £3522; for
several years, and in the late 'fifties she had assumed
the role of woman's editor. More important than that, in
1858 she bought an interest in the publication.33

Becoming discouraged with carrying the financial
burdens of the Eggggg after the war began, when "the
interest in agricultural papers declined to so low an
ebb,” Johnstone and Mrs. Adams sold their interests in
September, 1861. The new publisher, W1111am.n. Doty, of
Kalamazoo, retained them as assistants for a few months,

but during the following June he also gave up the struggle.
Subsequently, Doty became a staff member of the American

 

321bid., Oct. 26, 1880, p. a; Anon., ”Robert F.
Johnstone," {reprinted from Detroit Evening News, Oct.25,

1880) Re ort g§.the Pioneer Societ ggbthe State 9;.
MichiganIfifioneer‘53llectiofisY_Tisnsing:mT§8§TT'TV, p. A36.

33Ibid.

l8
Agriculturist in New York City, taking with him the sub-
scription list oftheI_1§'__a_;_‘_1_n_e__x;_.3lt Within a month, the
Eggggg'was revived by William S. Bond and George Snyder,
who engaged Johnstone as editor and Mrs. Adams as ”edi-
tress.” This venture was equally unsuccessful, and the
last issue appeared in June, l86h. A month later the
assets of the firm were purchased by H. N. F. Lewis,
who changed the name of the publication to the Western
fig;gl_and soon began issuing it on a weekly basis.35
Mrs. Adams moved to Washington, D. C., where she obtained
a clerkship and died in 1870.36 Johnstone kept busy for a
part of the time with his duties as secretary of the State
Agricultural Society and also did some proof-reading for
Detroit newspapers. For a short time he was commercial
editor of the Egggflggg§§_and for a year he was manager of
the Kalamazoo Telegrgph. In 1869, as it will be noted
later, he formed a partnership with Robert Gibbons to re-

vive the M Farmer.37

 

“was mass. M. June. 1862. p.163-n.

35W 32831.3» Sept- 3. 1861.. p. h.

36A. Do Po VanBuren, "MemOir Of L018 B. Adams---

Poet, Editor and Author,“ Collections gag Researches Mgde
b the Michi an Pioneer and Historical Society (Pioneer

olIectIons, (Lansing: 1892), X I , pp. 312-318. The body
of’Mrs. Adams was returned to Michigan for burial at Con-
stantine. Ibid.

37Famer, Get. 26, 1880, p. he

 

19

Editorial content of the early issues of the
Michigaalzaggag ran rather heavily to farm craps, of which
articles on wheat predominated. As was typical throughout
the history of the American frontier, Michigan farmers
during the 'forties and ‘fifties grew wheat in ever-
increasing amounts. In 1839, the production was estimated
to have exceeded 2,150,000 bushels; that amount was
doubled by 1850 and almost quadrupled by 1860.38

Though many articles on wheat growing appeared
in the F or, the editors during the first two decades
of the paper's existence favored crap diversification and
sought to combat the ”habit of raising wheat."39 In l8h9,
Warren Isham.criticized farmers for their "blind devotion
to wheat husbandry" and urged the raising of more live-
stock to prevent soil fertility depletion.“O These edi-
torial admonitions were in line with the sentiments of
many correspondents who urged diversification of crops and
who believed more attention should be given livestock, es-
pecially sheep.hl Many farmers may have agreed in principle
with the advice of the editors on wheat growing, but the
statistics show that they continued to grow large quanti-

 

38St tistics of the State of Michigaa Compiled
tha Gene 3 o: I Lansing: Secretary of State of

fr1m

Wichita. l . pp. 312, 326, 336.
39m. July 1. 181.9. p. 201..

”mm” Dec. 1. 18w, p. 361.

hlIbido, Marc}! 15, 18“, p. 17; Feb. 1, 1811-5, p.
161.; July 1'", 181.9, p. 20h.

20

ties of wheat.

The Eagaag very early began painting gloomy
pictures of the results of abusing the soil, even though
much good land remained to be occupied. Moore stated em-
phatically that the words of a visiting New York journal-
ist, who.criticized Michigan farming methods, were ”true
to the letter. The evils alluded to ought not to exist.“
Stated the Journalist:

There is perhaps no wooded country to be found
that can be more easily reclaimed than the oak Open-
ings of’Mflchigan. The usual custom of the first
settlers of these lands is to girdle, plow and sow
the first year; and unpromising as it may appear, I
mm told the first and second cro s are generally .
reckoned among the best. The 501 is of a sandy nature,
generally level, and easily broke up and cultivated.
But the course pursued in the management of land is
essentially an exhaustive one, and should it be con-
tinued it is easy to see that at no distant day these
fertile plains will be hardly worth possessing. Per-
haps I came here expecting too much--- eXpecting to
see the agriculturist convinced (perhaps by experimce
at the east) of the bad policy of the exhausting
system, endeavering by all means in his power to
collect materials to keep the fertility of the soil;
but such is not the case, and perhaps will not be,
until the inhabitants feel themselves more perman-
ently settled. This is truly, and em hatically a
moving peeple, and mid-summer as wel as mid-winter,
forms no obstacle to'selling out'; a few days only are
necessary to find the settler established and 'staying'
in another place. While such a state of things exist,
and the owner or occupant of a farm feels that the
present ore is the last he will gather, it is proba-
blehghe singing system will not be abandoned. . .

Having been established soon after Liebig's work
stimulated widespread interest in soil chemistry, the

 

“2.1M" Ju'ly15, 18h3, p. 81*.

21

F er, as one might surmise, devoted considerable space
to the merits of liming and fertilization. Moore was inter-
ested in Liebig's experiments and printed a series of
twelve articles on agricultural chemistry, written by a
Jackson ”professor." Neither Moore nor his successors
displayed, however, the extravagant enthusiasm for
chemical analysis of plants and soil as was shown by some
of their contemporaries.

The perennial argument of deep versus shallow
plowing brought many letters from correspondents and an
occasional statement of policy by Eaaaaa editors. It must
be remembered that for many years farmers had neither the
power nor the equipment to do what is today regarded as
deep plowing. Consequently, perhaps a three- to four-inch
depth was the maximum to be done easily. The famous Michi-
gan Sub-soil or Trench Plow, which came on the market in
the 'forties,was immediately taken up by the preponents
for deep plowing. As described in the F e , the device
consisted of two plows fastened to a beam. The forward
one was the smaller and cut a slice from three to five
inches thick, which was turned over at the bottom.of a
ten-inch furrow. The moldboard of the rear plow was made
to raise another slice of about five inches in thickness
and to roll it upon the tap of the furrow. Several corre-

spondents reported increased yields of wheat through use

 

kBIbid.,March 1, Sept. 1, l8k3, pp. 10, 105; Jan.
1, 15, 18h8, pp. A, 26. The "professor's" articles appear-

ed throughout the first yeareof the Pagaer.

 

 

22

of the Michigan Sub-soil Plow. To the reports that the
plow had increased wheat yields from ten to twentyefive
bushels an acre and would prevent drought damage, Editor
Hurlbut remained calm. He suggested that farmers experi-
ment with deep plowing on a limited scale, as substances
contained in the sub-soil might be harmful to plants. In
words that are strangely similar to those used in the
twentieth century by the agricultural extension service
pioneer, Dr. Seaman Knapp, Hurlbut stated that the farmer
should ”trust to nothing but his own experience.”hh

Michigan's fruit crop in the 'forties was of
little consequence, and most of it was consumed on the
farm where it was produced. Articles on horticulture were,
however, of interest to many persons. Moore advocated the
planting of fruit trees, stating, ”Michigan is a great
country for fruit growing. we can, if we will, soon have
an abundance of the best varieties.'h5 His sentiments
were repeated by the person who was editor in 1850, and
the paper devoted an increasing amount of space to horti-
'culture.

Early in the Eagmag's history, material of a like
nature was grouped into departments or sections, and that

concerning horticulture was one of the first to be set up

 

“Ibid.,April Aug., 181.6, pp. 13-11., 80; March,
May, 13h8, pp. 7h, 136-137.

”gm” Oct. 16, 181.3, p. 132.

23

as a department. One of the early leaders in the history
of Michigan horticulture, John C. Holmes, lived in Detroit
at that time, and he was prevailed upon to take charge of
the department. His first material appeared in January,
18h9, but he resigned the position before the year ended
"for lack of time."46 The Eagaa; took a leading part in
helping to organize a state society to promote horti-
culture},7 Such an organization was formed at Jackson in
September, 1857, but lasted for only a yearfi8 A fore-
runner had been a local society, organized in Detroit in
18h6 and which continued until 1853.“9

As previously mentioned, editors of the Eaaaa;
advocated expansion in the number of livestock, especially
that of sheep. Isham.h0ped that"the day is not far dis-
tant when the wool crop, instead of being a.mere incident
as it is now, shall become the great staple of our state,
and the wheat crop shall the incident. . . . ."50

Apparently, farmers found sheep raising to their
liking, for the number of Animals increased phenomenally
during the two decades before the Civil War. From an esti-

 

“6Ibid., Jan. 1, 15, 1849, pp. 6, 24; Nov. 1,
18159, p. 3260 '

h71b1de, July, 1857, PP- 209‘2100

hglhidp. Oct., 1857, pp. 305-306. The state horti-
cultural society of the present day had its origin in 1871.

Homes, 920 Sit-e, pp. 75-790

L9H0hes, 9-20 22520, p. 790
50Farmer, July 1, 18h9, p. 20h.

24

mated total of slightly fewer than 100,000 in 1839, sheep
numbers reached 750,000 in 1850 and more than 1,250,000
in 1860.51 Most of them were in the three southern tiers
of counties, with the best fine wools being concentrated
in the region south of a line running from Detroit to
Jackson. With the beginning of the war, the wool business
in that part of the state boomed, and many high-priced
Vermont Merinos were shipped in to build up flocks. In-
dicstive of Michigan's position in the sheep industry
during this period was the award of the first patent for
a shearing machine, which went to Palmer Lancaster, of
Burr Oak, in 1855.52

Along with the promotion of more livestock by the
Em; went an admonition to improve the quality of the
animal. ”Good stock. . . . is almost indispensible,’ '
wrote Moore in 181.3,53 and his words were echoed by his
successors who reprinted articles on the importation of
breeding animalsg.which they gleaned from other papers.
Occasionally, drawings of the animals were reproduced.5h
Moore favored improvement of swine by.raising more Berk-
shires, saying, ”We wish to see this excellent breed of

 

”We; W. 11869.. 9.2. 211.. pp.
311. 325. 335.

52E.N.Wentworth, Ame ica's Sheep Trails (Ames:
Iowa State College Press, 1958’, pp. 152-154.

53m, septO 15, 18h3, p. 1160

1+5 62 Ski—bids“: Jan., 1851» PP. 1-3} Feb., 1855, pp. 1,1,...

25
hogs take the place of the long, lean, slab-sided Pointers
and others, which are so unprofitable to those farmers
who raise them.”55 Johnstone, in 1858, advocated the im-
portation of Herefords for those breeders who wished to
specialize in beef production.56 Purebred Shorthorn and
Devon animals had been brought into Michigan soon after
.18h0, to be used to improve the progeny of native cattle,
many of which had some Shorthorn or Devon strains in their
ancestry. -

Though many farmers believed the ox to be superior
to the horse as a source of power, the latter began to
exceed his rival in numbers by 1850, and by 1860 there
were 137,000 horses as compared with 62,000 oxen.58 The
paper took nO' side in the controversy conducted by readers

over the respective merits of Morgan and Messenger horses.

 

55M’! May 15, 18103, P0 Soe

56%.! Jan‘s 18589 PP. 5'6e
57

I. H. Butterfield, Tao Introduction.a£ Improved

Bgaeda o Livestock in Michigan (East Lane. : Muchigan
State Co lege, Animal-Husban ry Departmentfn§926) (pamph-

1.t) , pp. 241..

58

St tistics 9;.Michi , 1860, o . cit., pp. 323,
338. In 185 , there were 57,858 horses, h m es, and
56,200 oxen. Ibid. Possibly one reason why oxen at first
were favored in Michigan is that the settlers had used such
animals in the states from.whence they had migrated. Before
the Civil War, the only important heavy draft horse was
the Conestoga, and the average horse was a light, trotting
or Thoroughbred type. During the time when strength and
stamina alone were needed, such as in clearing and breaking
land, oxen supplied the want. When more speed in traveling
was desired, the horse gained in popularity. Statement by
Professor R. S. Hudson, Head, Department of Farm and Horse,
Michigan State College, March 1, l9h7, personal interview.

26
Johnstone attended a horse show in Kalamazoo in 1858 and
described in considerable detail the stallions exhibited.
He was Optimistic about the possibilities of the “horse
stock of the state“ being improved through use of such

sires.59
The lack of material on dairying in the early
issues of thelaiahigan,Farmer may reflect the unprofitable

nature of that type of agriculture during the 'forties.
Few, if any, dairy-type cattle were in the state until
during the 'sixties, and the feeding and care given the
dual-purpose animals were not conducive to either sustain-
ed or high milk production.60 Butter was produced for sale
but its quality was poor. Editors of the F er, in urging
that more attention be paid butter-making, stated the
situation bluntly but perhaps truthfully. Said the editor
in l8h8, 'Mbst of the butter brought to market is utterly
unfit for table use, and much of it is absolutely loath-
some, both for the sight and the taste, scarcely fit to

be set before a decent litter of pigs."61 Five years later
it was stated that ”of the great mass of butter sent to
market, fully two-thirds at least will not pass inspec-
tion as first quality, and a very large prOportion is sold
unknrthe denomination of 'cooking butter' which is gener-
ally an unctous, yellow, ring-streaked and speckled sub-

ng9 NOV's 18589 Pp. 330“338e

6OButterfield, 21. 93-2., pp. 1-6.
61%! Get. 1! 1816‘8' pe 298s

27
stance, with a very perceptible and not very pleasant
odor,yhich may be easily perceived by persons whose
smelling organs are in reasonable order; and it is un-
certain whether the firkin in which it is packed contains
the most butter or the most salt."62

Isham was constructive in his criticism Of dairy-
ing, suggesting that farmers were overlooking the use of
some good feeds that they had in abundance, such as corn
husks, oat chaff and undersized potatoes. To these, he
said, should be added cornmeal and bran with linseed oil
cake meal.63 His advocacy Of the last-named material, a
protein concentrate, is in line with the recommendations
of present-day feeding specialists.

The early editors of the Eagaag were receptive to
news concerning the invention of labor-saving devices and
gave considerable space not only for descriptions but for
drawings of new machines. It would seem.that they frequent-
ly printed glowing accounts of a machine before waiting to
learn whether it was practical. Evidently, they were not

immune to promotional schemes of the manufacturers. In

addition, some of the stories on the Operation of farm

 

62Ibig., Nov., 1853, pp. 321-323. Directions for
treating butter and lard to take away "the sour smell" were
given in one issue. Ibid., Jan. 1, 18h9, p. 1A. A corre-
spondent in a rather lengthy article, "The Science of Bad
Butter,“ described fifteen types of bad butter and told
show each resulted. Ibid., Nov., 18h6, p. 126.

63.1119... Nov., 1853. p. 323.

28

machinery, written ostensibly by farmers, were actually
from.the pens of machinery salesmen.

In one of the first issues, Moore printed an
account Of the.successful Operation in Virginia of a
"Reaping Machine, invented by Mr. McCormick," Three years
later, Hurlbut described the Operation of a harvester, in-
vented by Hiram.Moore, of Climax, Michigan. This machine
‘was drawn by sixteen horses and cut a ten-foot swath. Not
only did it cut wheat at the rate of twenty acres a day,
but threshed and bagged the grain. Unfortunately, Michi-
gan conditions were not conducive to the practical use
of the Moore harvester.66

Other machines mentioned in the,§a§aa; include
harrows, cultivators, horse rakes, stump pullers, ”sowing”
machines, headers, mowers, milking machines that ”imitate.
the action of the calf,” sheep-shearing machines, steam
plows, and devices for making drain tile.67 Seemingly,

 

6“Richard Bardolph, “Agricultural Literature and
the Early Illinois Farmer,” Illinois Studies ;a the S cial
Sciences (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1538 ,
, es. 1 and 2, p. 138. . -

65E§£E§Er JU1Y 15. 13h3. p. 85.

66Ibide, Septe, 18106, pe 91; NOVe 1, 1849, De 329e
The editor observed the McCormick-Hussey reaper trials
near Kalamazoo in the spring of 18h9. He favored the Mc-

Cormick machine. Ibid., May 1, 18h9, p. 130.

67 b ., March 1, May 1, 18hh, pp. 13, A8; May,
181115, pe ; 8y, Aug, 181;;6, pp. 28 OCte, 18,-}7, pe
a

3
1&3; April 1, June 1, l8t9, p 97, 169; Aug., 1853,
pp. 225-229; April, July, 185 pp. 109, 196; Nov., 1857,
pp. 330-331; June 18, Sept. 3, 1859, pp. 193, 281; July 21,
1860, [De 225e

29
Michigan farmers in the ‘forties had difficulty in ob-
taining machinery because there were few dealers in the
state. The Eagaa; several times urged the establishment
of an agricultural warehouse in Detroit to supply imple-
ments, seed and other needed articles.68 A little later,
Johnstone complained that several agricultural implement
makers were “negligent about advertising what they manu-
facture.” He stated that he had some letters in which
farmers inquired from whom they could buy fanning mills.
He did not deem it correct for manufacturers to expect
him to expend time and postage in notifying farmers about
matters from which machinery companies might reap pro-
fits.69 This subtle bid for more advertising failed to
stimulate any noticeable increase in machinery advertise-
ments.

The increasing importance of agricultural produc-
tion in the 'forties was accompanied by the organization
of county agricultural societies, to be followed in l8h9
by the formation of the Michigan State Agricultural So-

 

68Ibid., May, 18h6, p. 28; Jan. 15, 1818, p. 21.
Moore praiiEH'the "Mechanics of our State” for their
efforts to "perfect the various implements of husbandry.’I
He also sought to encourage local mechanical work and
Opposed the importation of "foreign" farm machinery. He
was active in forming the Mechanics Literary Association
of Jackson and served as corresponding secretary. He comp
pared that group with the Junto Club made famous by Frank-

line Ibige, Feb. 15, May 1, 18M, ppe 1, 6, h5'lr6e
69Ihid., March, 1855, p. 91.

30

ciety.70 In the agitation for such societies, the paper
was active, and in the third issue Moore urged the organi-
zation of both state and county societies as ”an essen-
tial means of Agricultural Improvement.” Said he, the
”low'price of produce requires that the very perfection
6f art should be brought to aid of science, sagacity and
experience. . . . to insure profit and success in agricul-
ture . 71

At first favorable to the holding of fairs, the
£a;aag_1ater became critical of the State Fair, saying
in 1852 that the State Agricultural Society might better
sponsor experiments on the raising of animals or craps.
Such work would be of more lasting benefit than a fair
"which not a third of our farmers attend and from which
but few derive a direct and immediate benefit."72

As for the establishment Of an agricultural

college, the Fagaer declared itself in favor of an insti-

 

70
Tr sections a; the (Michigan) State Agricul-
393.1,Sggietz {1349, (Lansing: 1850), p. 1.

71Farmer, May 15, 18h3, p. 52. Meore and his suc-
cessors regarded their paper as a textbook on farming, as
is revealed by their frequent mention of the desirability
of readers having complete sets of the issues and the many
references to previously published material. Hurlbut pub-
lished a ”dictionary” or glossary containing definitions
for about 160 terms used in agricultural literature. This
was done, he said, "for the benefit of young readers and
all others to whom the terms used in scientific agricul-
ture are not familiar."- id., April, 1846, pp. 9- 12.
Indexes were published annually.

721hid., August, 1852, p. 248.

31
tution separate from.the university. In the course of
this debate, feelings were ruffled, and Isham accused
the university Of attempting to ”blot out” the EAEEAEEE.
Fagaag.73 The efforts of the infant agricultural college
to establish itself were greeted with sympathy by the
Eagaa; editors, despite some unfortunate blunders made
by the officials in the early years. Johnstone stated
in 1857: "The institution . . . . should be fostered
by the Agricultural Community, not as a pet project,
or a.mere play thing, but as a useful establishment,
from which.is to be obtained the results of a combina-
tion of science with practice, which no single farmer
has either the time or the means to work out for him-
eelr.~7“

A After Johnstone assumed his duties as superin-
tendent of the College Farm in 1859, the amount of
material concerning the institution increased greatly.

The Eagaa; supported the first Merrill Bill for
the endowment of agricultural colleges. This bill, passed
by Congress, despite western Opposition because of its
land grant provisions, was subsequently vetoed by Presi-

dent Buchanan.75

 

73M“! ‘prils 1853, pe 112e
7llbido. June. 1857, p. 184.
75219.» March 5, 1859. p. 77.

32

Established as it had been in 18A3, the Eagaa;
was deeply conscious of the economic status of agricul-
ture as a result of the Panic of 1837. It was indeed
precarious, and in 18L3 wholesale farm prices were at
their lowest point in the history of the United States.
Particularly was the distress acute in the West where
there had been widespread land speculation, loose bank-
ing practices, and the creation of a large public debt
to finance internal improvements. A correspondent for
the m, in describing conditions near Kalamazoo in
l8h3 or 18Ah, stated that farmers were forced to mortgage
their wheat crap to the local merchants long before the
grain was nature. As soon as it was out, they had to
thresh immediately and sell to the mortgagor. wrote the
correspondent, ”it was a pitiable sight to see the for-
lorn creatures upon the tsp of their load, making their
dismal way into market." 6

To help improve its readers' financial plights,'
the Eagaar gave frequent counsel on such subjects as the
dire results of attempting to farm too much land, the
value of farm account books, the preparation of wool to
increase its market value, selection of markets, and the

value ofco0perative marketing.77

7§l§i§99 Jan. 1. 13h9, p. 9: U. S. Department of

Agriculture, Bureau of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural

Oatlook Ch ts, l9h7, Book 11 (Washington: Government Print-
ing 0 fice, 1946), p. A; Dan E. Clark, The West in American

History (New York: Thomas I. Crowell Oo., 1937ij57'330-337.

77Farm r, Agril 1, 1843, p.26; June, July, 1847,
pp. hh-AS, 1, 5-6 ; July 15, 1848, p. 220.

33

Isham and Johnstone gave particular attention to
ways by which farmers might increase their returns from
wheat and wool. They advised farmers to market wool through
a cooperative set-up and mentioned the profit that had
come to farmers who had pooled their wheat, had it ground
into flour, and had marketed the flour.78 A Detroit "wool
depot. was established in 1848, possibly as the result of
the Eagaag's agitation, but it does not seem to have con-
tinued Operations for more than one year.79 Johnstone in
1858-59 asserted boldly that eastern interests were at-
tempting to depress the wool market by spreading rumors
of a large clip, whereas he believed the reverse to be
true. He urged Michigan farmers to withhold their wool
from the 1858 market and predicted higher prices in 1859,
a prediction which came true. In gloating over some
eastern agricultural paper editors who had Opposed his
views, he stated that his admonition had brought from
$20,000 to 30,000 additional revenue to Michigan wool mango

As in all periods of agricultural distress, rail-
road rates were said to be too high. Moore in 1843.urged
lower charges for transporting wheat. He believed the
rate of 15 cents a bushel for hauling wheat from Jackson
to be 'exhorbitant' and ”materially retards the prosperity

 

78%., July, 1847, pp. 61-62; April 1, 1848, p.

79%‘9 April 1. 1814-8, Pe 112e

80%" June, July, 1858, pp. 182, 213-215; Jan. 8,

1859, pe 13e

106.

3h

of the central and other parts of the state.”81

Better country roads as a means of improving farm
prices through additional market Opportunities was a favor-
ite tOpic for Eagaag editors. Isham in 18A9 advocated the
building of plank roads, pointing out that the amount of
power needed to prepel one ton of produce in a common
lumber wagon over level earth roads would be sufficient to
move four times that weight over a level wood surface.
Plank roads, he said, were ”destined to become a great pub-
lic benefit,” especially to farmers who could then be more
selective of markets and more independent of country deale
ers by whom they had been cheated in years past.82

Lest it be construed that Michigaa Eagaag editors
were always correct in their reasoning and did not succumb
to current “cranes," it must be stated that occasionally
they erred as did their fellow men. Especially did Isham
express views on the chess controversy that were erroneous.
In several issues in l8h9, Isham expounded his convictions
that wheat might be transmuted into a form of a winter-p:
annual known as chess.83 Because of the ease by which wheat
seed could become contaminated by chess seed and the simi-
larity of the two life cycles, it is not surprising that

many farmers were prone to give credence to the erroneous

81
Ibid., Oct. 1, 1849, p. 312.

821bid., March 1, 1844, p. 12; April 1, Dec. 15,
18169, Ppe 93, 3720

83Ihid.,:Mny 1, June 1, July 1, 15, Aug. 1, Sept.

1, 1849, pp. 154, 171, 195, 209-212, 233, 264, 265.

 

35

theory that wheat degenerates.81+ One of Isham's statements
on the chess argument is a masterpiece of verbiage, ”The
thing is quite probable, from the nature of the case, and
also from analogy, and in the next place, that it is cer-
tain from fact.“ 85 General Cass once discussed chess with
Isham while the two were enroute “in the cars" to Pontiac,
but the General was too cagey a pelitician to express any
Opinion that Isham could quote.86

Isham did not approve of wire fences. He thought
them to be ugly and not practical. Because of their ”want
of appearance," he said, cattle would not be conscious of
their presence until greeted with 'a.most uncermonious
rebuff."87 It must be remembered that smooth, or barbless,
wire was the only kind available at that time. Isham.pre-
ferred the use of thorn plants for fencing in the sections
where timber for rail-making was scarce.88

As previously mentioned, the first editor, Moore,

displayed considerable enthusiasm over Liebig's writings

 

8“Hubert M} Brown, "Chess or Cheat,” Michigan Agri-

cultural Experiment Station Quarterly Bulletin (East Lansing,
. Feb., 19h0), Vol. 22, pp. 162-163. The chess debate began
in the eastern farm periodicals about 1820, reached its
greatest fury in the 'forties and.fifties and continued
until after 1870. Bardolph, pp. pig” p. 5.14.

83m, June: 18‘9, Pe 17]»

8611219... Oct. 15. 1849, p. 312.
8711233., Feb. 15, 1849, p. 57.

88%.! April 159 18A8, DO 12‘}.

36
and believed many of the soil's ills could be cured solely
by chemical analysis. In 185k, Johnstone based his argu-
' ments for adding salt to orchard-Soils"0n the fact that
traces of sodium chloride were present in apples.

Moore foresaw great possibilities for growing to-
bacco in Michigan and also for silk culture in the state.
In June, 18h3, he advocated legislative aid to encourage
the growing of silk worms. He gave much space to corres-l
pondents who discussed silkworm raising and to material of
a similar nature from contemporary journals.9 Hurlbut
believed that putting a post into the ground upside down,
or in reverse to the way it had been when a part of a tree,
would tend to prevent decay of the wood. The water in the
soil could not penetrate the wood of the post "because the
valves in the ducts or pores" would be reversed.91

Isham, though be correctly predicted a great future
for fruit growing in Michigan, expounded a theory regarding
climate which has been rather thoroughly discredited. Al-
though for several years before 1850 severe winters and
late frosts had destroyed fruit prospects, he felt that the
climate would be modified as settlement of the new country
progressed. According to him, ”Two causes seem to Operate

in adapting the country to fruit culture. In the first

 

v~

8?;2;Q,, April, June, 1854, pp. 108, 177.

901b ., April 15, June 1, 15, Nov. 1, Dec. 15,
1843, pp. 3 , 37, 62, 65, 68, 141, 161.

91.1119... Feb.. 1846, p. 161.

37

place, the climate undergoes a modification as it (the
land) becomes cleared and cultivated, and in the next
place, the trees undergo a process of acclimation, and
the climate and the trees thus become mutually adapted
to each other."92

It must be statedlthat the editors, to their
credit, were skeptical about the influence of the moon
on the growth of plants, and opposed the "hen fever.
of the 'fifties, Chinese sugar cane raising and the groWb
ing of flax on a large scale. Johnstone believed that
his readers might experiment some with sugar cane, but
he "would not advise any of our readers to run away with
the notion that the time had come for them to turn their
wheat and wool growing fields into small sugar plantations."
He thought that the cr0p might be useful as a livestock
feed.93

The Fggmer, through Isham, left no doubt as to what
it thought of Michigan residents leaving the state to seek
their fortunes in the California gold fields. In advising

 

92Ibid., Feb., Dec., 1850, pp. 55, 376. A similar
type of reasoning prevailed in the 'seventies and 'eighties
as settlers pushed into western Kansas and Nebraska. When
many of these settlements were being made, the plains were
in the "wet” ortion of the rainfall cycle and the idea
seemed plausigle that stirring the soil would induce a change
in climate. Soon the cyclical droughts reappeared, and
within a few months many farmers were forced to sell their
livestock for lack of feed and return east.

93 ‘ ‘
Ibid. Se t. Dec. 18h3 pp. 108 165' Feb.,
1814, pp. 2, 5;,Ipr£1,,185h,,pp. 95-101; Feb., March, 1857,
PP- 36-33. 863 July 9, 1359. P- 217-

38
then to stay home, the paper stated:
listen, no, not for a moment, to the syrean song. Far
better will it be for you, to dig for gold in your own
prolific fields, than to compass half the globe in its

pursuit, for in the one case ygx are certain of your
ingots, but in the other, not.

The editors evidently felt that their readers
needed more than a straight diet of agricultural material,
for they included a considerable quantity of non-agricul-
tural articles and material in almost every issue. A portion
of this consisted of general news, literary clippings,
puzzles and enigmas, taken for the most part from Detroit
and eastern papers. Before the advent of the rural free
delivery, few farmers read daily newspapers and, so,
country weeklies and farm papers performed a useful ser-
vice to their subscribers by printing general news.

‘Much of the literary material consisted of di-
dactic verse and poems which extolled the beauty of
nature and the joys of farm life. An occasional bit of
fiction was used. 95.Much of the poetry may have been com-
posed by readers of the paper, and perhaps the editors may
have felt duty-bound to print the poems to preserve friend-

ly relations. Moore, however, seems to have defied possible

 

9thide, Jane 1, 1814-9, p. 110

9SSuch titles as these reveal the nature of much of
the material: "Song for the Seasons," "The Farmer," "Wood-
lands for Me,” "Spring--- A Practical Song," “In Praise of
the Good Old Plow," ”Song of the Soil,” ”The World Is a
Farm," ”The Farmer's Harvest Song," ”The Farmer's Boy,"
and “Our Home." - , ' v -

fl

 

L

39
criticism when, in one issue, he rejected two poems, one
of which was entitled, "The Farmer's Daughter," by ”H.
C. H.“ Said Moore, I
- We have too much reapect for our fair readers, the
farmer's daughters, to disgust them with such silly
trash. . . . . we may exercise an independence which
will perhaps seem at variance with our interests; but
23.313213§O§203f03°3232r333§£2.5?” Whatever
Perhaps the most important of the non-agricul-
tural material was that which was directed principally to
the farmer's wife. Moore realized that he must make his
publication appeal to women as well as men, for he seems
to have tried to include some home economics material in
each issue.97Some of the early contributions were well
written and in a style that made them very readable. For
example, an imaginary dialogue between two housewives was
used in presenting recipes for cake, cookies and ginger-
bread.98Unfortunately, the person who prepared the article
failed to write any more. In addition to recipes and "house-
hold hints," the early homemaker articles took the form of
didactic admonitions to young girls and women on how to
guard their character and improve their appearance and
health. 'Sarah,"who may have been Mrs. Lucinda Foster,

whose death from consumption at the age of 26 was recorded

in the summer of 18hb, advocated that farm women pay more

96%, April 15, 181+3, pe 360
973.42.. March 15. 181.3, p. 22.
98—12%" July 19 1843, po 76.

no
attention to their appearance in order to make their hus-
bands happier. Said she:
The success of a farmer depends very much on the
preper management of his wife. How can a farmer thrive
when his wife crawls out of bed after the sun has been
some time shining, jerks on a dirty dress, jumps into
her shoes slipshod, which shows (sic) the holes in the
heels of her stockings to advantage, and then starts
in a hurry to get breakfast with her night-gap on and
her bed left in the way she got out of it?9
Writing under her real name, Mrs. Foster attacked
the reading of novels, which she said, ”was a wicked waste
of time” as it “perverts the taste, enervates the mind and
00

unfits it for solid and constructive reading.'l Moore
also Opposed novels and said that they ”excite the passions,
' 101
by administering a sweet but subtle poison.“

The editor of the Fggmer in 1855 criticized the
extremes in feminine dress and ridiculed those “wasp-waisted
women dragging a half-yard in length of dress skirts

' 102

through kitdhen slaps and suds. . . .' That same year,
he printed the matrimonial plea of a *young man, 22 years
old, a farmer who never drank nor smoked, nor used tobacco,
tea or coffee, a tolerable singer and who played the melo-

deon.‘ The wife-seeker also said:

 

991p11,, July 1, 1843, p. 79. In praising one con-
tribution, Moore stated that he was a bachelor and "greatly
in need of such a wifeas the fair author." Ibid., p. 76.

10°Ib1d., May 1, 1844, p. 47.
1°11b1d., March 15, 1843, p. 24.

02
1 132—12" June! 18559 P0 182.

#1

Said young lady must possess a good knowledge of
the various branches of housewifery; especially must
she be able to make good bread and butter; in short,
I want one who will in all reSpects be a good wife for
a farmer. . . . . As I consider a good, industrious,
frugal wife of more consequence than many thousands of
dollars, I do not know that I care whether my wife be
rich or poor. If she possesses a kind heart, an amiable
disposition, and the before gamed qualifications, money
wil be of no consequence. 0

After Moore left the editorship and before Mrs.
L.B. Adams joined the staff in 1856, the amount of women's
material was small and the quality mediocre. Under the '
direction of Mrs. Adams, the recipes and other home eco-
nomics material were gathered into one section, called
"The Household.“ Her work in editing this section is said
to have been outstanding among the farm periodicals of

10k
that day.

Improvement of rural living through better edu-
cational Opportunities, improved health and housing, and
more attractive surroundings all came in for occasional
editorial treatment.105 Isham started a short-lived ”Edu-
cational Department,” which contained arguments for better

- 106
rural education and more local libraries. He was es-

 

1°3Ibid., June, 1855. po 131;
lothidn Feb., 1856, pp. 55. 59: Demaree. 22° 213-"

p. 384. 105,

_ e , July 1, Oct. 16, 1843, pp. 76, 131; Feb.,
1848, p. 47; an. 1, 1849, p. 13; Oct., 1856, pp. 309, 318;
May, 1857, pp. lh8-lh9; March, 1858, p. 111; Oct. 6, 1860,
p. 31h.

106%., Jane, 1850, pp. 12"].[40

#2
pecially critical of the school system and advocated the
establishment of free schools.107

As one may infer from the frequent changes in pub-
lisher and editor, the Mighigan Eggmg; in the early years
was a.poor financial investment. Advertising was yet to be
develOped as the principal means of supporting a periodical
and it is conceivable that the publishers never received
payment for many of the advertisements that were printed.

As a result, the income from subscriptions was eXpected
to sustain the publication.

At that time and for many years later, a paid-in-
advance circulation policy was not observed by the Eggmgg.
Many subscribers, as a result, received the paper and chose
to pay nothing. The first publisher, D. D. T. Mbore,
mailed his maiden issue to 600 persons whose names had been

on the circulation list of the suspended W m.

In all, he sent out about 2,500 copies. Four months later,
he stated that on his books were the names of ”several
hundred persons from whom we have received nothing,” and
that he would be glad to accept homespun cloth in lieu of
money.108The following November, he announced that his paper

10
henceforth would operate on a non-credit basis. This

seems to have been only a temporary policy, for he stated

 

107Ibide, marCh, 1.850, pp. 78-790

108Ibid., July 1, l8h3, pp. 76-77. \

1°91bld., Feb., 1844, p. 188.

.

#3

in the following summer that $1,000 was owed him by sub-
scribers in arrears.110

The State Legislature's action in ordered a capy
of the Eggmg; for each member during the 1844 session
gave the publisher some encouragement but not much finan-
cial aid.lllFrom the mass of generalizations made by the
editors, it is very difficult to ascertain the Farmer's
true circulation. The list of persons receiving the pub-
lication seems to have grown from about 1,000 in 1847,
to about 12,000 in 1856.112 Some persons who had been in
'arrears for five or six years settled their accounts in
the early summer of 1858.113 Nevertheless, Johnstone re--
ported in November of that year that in ten western coun-
ties past due accounts totaled ”nearly 82,000" and in
twenty-three eastern counties the amount has him was near-
ly double that amount.llh In May, 1858, Johnstone said
that he was about to lose his home because of a $1,300
mortgage that was due. In six counties alone, he said,

there were enough subscribers in arrears to pay the debt

115
"twice over."

IIQIhlipn June 1, Aug. 15, 18kt, pp. 60, 92.
1181219., Feb. 1, 1844, p. 188.

ll?l§;d., Jan., 1856, p. 1.

ll3;p;g., June, 1858, p. 179.

1112334., Nov., 1858, p. 354.

llSIbid., May, 1858, p. 179.

L

Ah

Adding to the grief of the publishers was the pro-
crastination of postmasters and agents in remitting sub-
scription money. An occasional agent was dishonest and
vanished after collecting money from several subscribe%;?'

Other things that interfered with the success of
the Eggmgg,included delays in getting paper, fires, loss
of type and engravings while in transit, "too much Job
printing” which left too little time for work on the
paper, and various illnesses.117 It is of interest to
observe how many of the changes in personnel were said
to have occurred because of ill health. Moore sold out to
Storey and Cheney because of ”impaired health8: 118Wood-
hull ended his partnership with Hurlbut because of “ill _
healthY¥119Hurlbut had "a protracted disease of the eye;:?

and Isham stated, "For a great number of years we have

labored under a bilary derangement, which well nigh inca-

pacitated us for all employment. . . . ..121

Johnstone in December, 185k, apologized for various
tardy issues of the past year, saying that type hadbeen de-o

 

116Ibid., Sept., 1850, p. 274.

1171bld., July 15, Aug, 15, 1843, pp. 84, 100;
A r11 1, 18h5, p. 1; April, 1 #7, p. 15; June, 1851, pp.

1 3, 180.
11§;Q;Q., Nov. 1, 1844. p. 124.
llglhééfiv Dec., 1846, p. 144.
:Zigpgg., Feb.15, 1845, p. 172; Oct-. 1857: P- 154°
2

Ibid., Jan., 1853, p. 16.

45

layed in shipment, a stream had dried up and the paper
mill had been forced to close down temporarily, the steam
engine to turn the wheels of the press had been out of
fix for twelve days, and "the hands in our employ. . . .
nearly all go visiting to escape the cholera."122

Typographical errors occasionally reared their
ugly heads to amuse the readers and frustrate the editors.
Isham once apologized for the word 'Juleps* appearing in-
stead of ”Tulips.“ Said he, ”It was enough to make the very
flowers blush and hang their heads.'123

That some readers did not regard the editors as
the final authorities on agricultural matters is indicated
by the letter Isham received in 1850 from a Mr. Henry, of
Lansing. The latter thought that the plans proposed in the
Egghig§g_§§;mgg were too costly for adoption, and said,
"half the tales are lies." He demanded proof of the large
increases in crop yields that were said to have resulted
from practices mentioned by correspondents.12h

Fellow editors occasionally were thorns in the
flesh of Eggmgg editors. Soon after establishment, the
Egg; felt under the necessity of lambasting the m

Farmer for calling itself the ”Michigan Farmer's own Paper"

 

1221b18., Dec., 1854, p. 374.

123Ibade' June 15, 18h3, p. 1920

~12klbid., Sept., 1850, p. 296.

1+6

in a prospectus sent to a large mailing list in Michigafig5
Later, attacks were directed against eastern farm papers
whose articles "were not adapted to the soil of the
west."126 Readers were admonished not to misjudge the
Farmer's lack of “affected display of agricultural
science. . . . that some of our eastern agricultural
papers have. . . . (but) to appreciate the unostenta-
tions, but more useful method we have adapted."127

The age-old matter of crediting the source of
material taken from exchange publications also plagued
the Fggmer editors, and inspired charges and counter-
charges of plagiarism. The Geneseelzggmgg, under the
proprietorship of Moore, a few years after he left the
Michiggn Eggmgg, accused Isham of plagiarism}28 The
latter when he severed his connection with the W
{Eggmg;, two months later, referred to the charges made
by Moore when he introduced his successor. Johnstone,
he stated, ”being well posted in the agriculture of the
day,. . . . will be under no necessity of cabbaging any-

thing from the Genesee Farmer.'129

 

1251bid.,IMay 15, 1844, p. 20.

126Ibid., June 15. 1848. ppo 187-1333 May: 1850'
127Ibid., May, 1850. po 149°
128Ibid., March, 1853. PP- 65‘69°

129Ibid., May, 1853, p. 144. Later when Moore was

publishing his oore's Rural New-Yorker, he exchanged
bitter words with Johnstonenbecause the latter had stated
‘Moore knew no more about western farming "than so manylnul
frogs.“ Moore's Rural New-Yorkeg, March 12, 1859, p. 86.

pe 1,121}.

CHAPTER II
CULTIVATING, 1869-1908

It will be recalled that the Michiggg Eggmgg was
sold to H. N. F. Lewis in July, 1864. Lewis then merged
the figgmgg with his new publication, the We§tern figggl,
which first appeared in September of that year. This
publication aspired to more extensive circulation than
could be reasonably realized by a state farm paper, and
it was claimed that both a Detroit and a Chicago edition
were issued each week.1 Years later, a writer in the
{Eggggg stated that the Western 323g; was not a success in
Michigan because, "widely differing methods of agricul-
turists in the western corn states and those of Michigan
rendered the attempt to suit both abortive and soon the
farmers of the state began to demand an agricultural
Journal that would fittingly represent its particular

interests."2

In January, 1868, it was announced that both edi-
tions of the paper would henceforth be published in Chicago?

 

1Western Raggl, Sept. 3, 1866, p. l.

gzégmgg, Sept. 16, 1899, p. 197.

3Western M, Jan. 4, 1868, p. 8.
#7

#8

That announcement may have been an important factor in the
revival of the Michigan Eggmgg a year later by Robert F.
Johnstone and Robert Gibbons.

0f the many persons connected with the Eggmgg
during its first century of existence, none was more
sanguine as to the paper's future than was Johnstone.
Although he had been associated with the paper at the time
of three forced sales from 1861 to 186A, and likely had
experienced some personal financial losses, yet he remained
Optimistic. After the Civil War he had "ambition to re-
vive” the Eggggg, and seemingly he considered 1869 a good
year for the venture.

Johnstone's Optimism is all the more remarkable
when one realizes that he was past fifty at that time. A
man of that age is not prone to assume a new undertaking
lightly. Yet, Johnstone, who had been making a living
principally from his work as a proof-reader on the Detroit
Qgilziggg§_since 1867, became convinced that a state
farm paper would now be successful. He was able to induce
a printer from the same newspaper to be his partner. The
latter was thirty-year-old Robert Gibbons.

The Johnstone-Gibbons-combination was to influence
Egggg; policies throughout the rest of the nineteenth
century, though the senior partner was to die in 1880 and

 

“rapper, Oct. 26, 1880, p. 4; Aug. 24, 1895, pp.
113, 120.

5Ibid.,

49

Gibbons was to sell his interest in 1893. The previous
chapter depicted the Eggmgg's role in the emergence of
Michigan agriculture from a pioneer, self-sufficing status.
This chapter, in telling the story of Johnstone and
Gibbons in establishing the Eggmgg for the first time
on a firm, enduring basis, is concerned with the con-
tribution of the {gaggg in the commercialization of
Michigan's agriculture from the posteCivil War era to
1908. 1
Selection of 1908 as the year in which to end this
chapter was the result of the author's desire to seek a
convenient and logical point of separation between the
period of horse-power agriculture and the highly mechan-
ized, internal-combustion-engine type of the twentieth
century. Also, in 1908, the management of the paper
decided to revert to the original series (that started
by Moore in 1843) in designating issues, and thus end
the series started by Johnstone and Gibbons in 1869.
Undoubtedly a part of Johnstone's Optimism about
the future success of a state farm paper must be traced
to his observance of the phenomenal growth of Michigan
agriculture during the war years. Anyone who was as close-
ly identified with farming as was Johnstone could not have
failed to be impressed by the ever-expanding production,
the increase in population, rapid settlement of good agri-

cultural lands, and the vastly improved transportation

situation in Michigan.

50

From 1860 to 1870, Michigan had increased over
one-half in pOpulation and over one-third in number of
farms and acreage of improved farm land. In crOp pro-
duction, the figures were equally impressive: Wheat and
potato yields had almost doubled and that of corn was
up by about a fourth. Tame hay tonnage had increased by
more than a half. Indicative of the sweeping changes in
agricultural methods was the more than doubled valuation
of farm.machinery. The livestock industry also expanded
greatly during the decade. The total valuation of all
animals more than doubled, while in numbers the increases
were Just under one-third more for beef, milch and work
cattle; about two-thirds more for sheep, and more than a
two-thirds increase for horses and swine.

Interest in better agriculture was shown by the

fiéln 1860: pOpulation 749,000, number of farms
62,400, improved land 3,476,000 acres, wheat i8,336,000
bushels, corn 12,445,000 bushels, potatoes 5,261,000 bu-
shels,tame hay 768,000 tons, farm machinery $5,819,000,
all livestock $23,715,000, number of cattle 479,800, sheep
1,271,000, horses 137,000, swine 372,000. U. S. Bureau
of the Census, Eighth Qgg§g§_g§_thg United St tes: 1860,
Agriculture 9; m United States 11;; 1860'" “VoLl. '1 (Wash-
ington: Government Printing Office, 1864), pp. 76-78,

204; Po ul tion, Vol. III, p. 598. -

In 1870: pOpulation 1,184,000, number of farms
98,400, improved land 5,097,000 acres, wheat 16,265,000
bushels, corn 14,086,000 bushels,potatoes 10,318,000 bu-
shels, tame ha 1,291,000 tons, farm machinery $13,712,000,
all livestock 849,809,000, number of cattle 548,000, sheep
1,986,000, horses 228,000, swine 417,800. U. S. Bureau
of the Census, Ninth Census of thg United States: 1820,

St tistics g; the Wealth and—Industry g; the United States,
Vol. III (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1872),

pp. 81-84 354° The t tistics g; the, Pepulation 9;: 153;;
Ugited sta'tcg,'Vo'-"l. ILL—8", p. 3 .

 

 

 

51

expanded number of entries at the Michigan State Fair,
during the war decade. The fair was sponsored by the
State Agricultural Society, of which Johnstone was secre-
tary. The number increased from 1,262 in 1862 to 2,530
in 1869. In implements, the total increased from 173 in
1862 to more than 500.7

Prices of Michigan farm products by 1869, however,
had fallen considerably from the inflationary peaks of the
war years and were to recover only slightly by 1871 before
going into the long period of general agricultural de-
pression, which ended in the late 'nineties. The severest
price drOps in crOps occurred in wheat and potatoes; the
prices per bushel of those crOps declined about 50 percent
from 1867 to 1869. With the exception of sheep, livestock
prices declined only moderately during the latter part of
the 'sixties. As for sheep, the average value per head in
1867 was 82.55, and by 1869 it was $1.40, a decline of
over 45 percent. The so-called wool boom ended in 1868, and
during the next year or two, thousands of sheep were slaugh-
tered for their pelts and soap grease.

Such was the agricultural picture when Johnstone

and Gibbons brought forth the first issue of the revived

Michigan Farmer, on May 15, 1869.

7
E1 th Annugl Refiort g; the Stgte Board 2; Agri-
m: 9 Lanai-n3: 9 a Psi-58°

8Office of Agricultural Statistician, Michigan
Co-Operative CrOp Reporting Service, Lansing, mimeographed
statistics, n. d.; Wentworth, 22. citt, pp. 152-154.:

 

.t -c

52
The revived Farmer was an eight-page publication,

each page of the first issue being approximately 13% by
20% inches, with five columns of reading matter to the
page. The pages were surrounded by a decorative border
having very ornate cornerpieces. The full title of the
paper was 1h_e_ Michigag W agd _S_t_a_t_e_ Jomal g; A ri-
ggltggg. Under the title appeared a statement that the
paper was published weekly and was "the only journal of
its kind in Michigan." The last phrase was intended to
discourage any possible inroads into Michigan by the

Western Rural, Prairie Farmer, or eastern farm papers.

 

The page dimensions (13% by 20% inches) chosen
by Johnstone and Gibbons were similar to those of com-
peting journals and newspapers of that day. The page
size was increased in 1876, becoming 17 by 22 inches,
with seven columns of reading matter to the page. Such a
page was in contrast to the 68- by lO-inch page printed
during the first part of the"sixties and the 9- by 11%-
inch page of D. D. T. Moore's paper of 1843. After the
'eighties, however, the page dimensions decreased until
in 1943 they were 105 by 144 inches.

In addition to a miscellaneous collection of
articles on crOps, livestock and farm machinery, the first

issue of the new [games contained approximately two pages

of literary material clipped from various sources. Adver-

tising in this number totaled slightly less than five

columns,

53

Before proceeding to a discussion of the Eggggg's
editorial policies and its contributions to Michigan agri-
culture during the last half of the nineteenth century,
it is desirable to examine the business structure as
represented by the circulation and advertising. With-
out adequate circulation and advertising revenue, the
publication would never have succeeded.

One can only estimate the number of cOpies of
the first issue published by Johnstone and Gibbons. Four
years later, Johnstone stated that they had only one paid-
9

in-advance subscriber for their first issue. It seems

rather certain that the Farmer did not become very pro-
fitable until in the late 'nineties or after the turn of
the century. Certainly the paper did not pay its way for
the first three or four years. In a frank statement of
the situation, Johnstone said:
unfaithful agents and their drunkenness, bad debts
and inadequate support, capecially for the first
three years absorbed all its (the Farmer's) income
and all that both of us gained from outside employ-
ment and from other sources. We had sunk $10,000 or
its equivalent. . . . (but) on the first day of lastlo
April (1873) the Michigan Farmer did not owe a dollar.

During the years that Johnstone and Gibbons, and
Gibbons and his brother published the Fggger, the circula-

 

9WD May 69 1873, p0 121+.

loIbid.; "Old Genesee” (Enos Goodrich), writing in
1890, stated that ”the agricultural press of Michigan has
had a hard road to travel and the patriarch of them all,
the Michigan Farmer, has .nearly always been conducted under
croumstances of pecuniary loss. . . . ." Ibid., June 21,
1890, p. 4, w- ""—

54

seems not to have exceeded 12,000 or 13,000. In 1894,
a year after the Lawrence brothers purchased the paper,
the circulation was said to be 13,000.11 In that year,
the circulation was increasing, as was revealed in a
notice announcing a change of publication day from Fri-
day to Thursday, "the old system was practical with a
circulation of 10 to 12,000 and with subscribers mostly
within a reasonable distance from Detroit, but our pre-
sent circulation and much extended territory covered
have absolutely outgrown this system."12

In 1898, nearly a ton of type metal was requinui
for setting the names and addresses of subscribers, in-
dicating a fairly large number. Campaigns in the late
'nineties and after 1900 continued to boost the total,
even though “a crook," employed to solicit new sub-
scriptions, once "neglected to send in the orders" and
the:money.1h In 1905, one solidtor is said to have ob-
tained 2,800 new subscribers during a year's work.15 In
April, 1907, the publishers boasted that the 255223 had
80,000 paid-in-advance subscribers, setting a record.16

 

‘11 .

29, State Ththzlgthirdj-grmgaleljepfirt fingecretg’ 15:239.
12Farmer, Feb. 2, 1895, p. 72. '
13;§id., June 18, 1898, p. 480.
1‘1h18., Feb. 22, 1902, p. 156.
1 gpgg., Jan. 14. 1905, p. 35.
lé;§;g., April 13, 1907. p. 412.

55

Some of the increased circulation was the result
of the absorption of two other farm publications, the
W Emit firm; §p_d_ Practical 3.2.1.122!» and the Leg
m 11.1.19. §_t_o_<_:_k_ Journal. The first, which had been pub-
lished in Grand Rapids, was purchased in 1899.17 The
other paper, which had been owned by the Detroit 2539
nggg,‘was bought in 1905. As a result ofthe latter
acquisition, the name of the £35235 was changed to the
£2918!!! Fame; _a_n_d_ Li}; M Journg.18 Possibly some
additional circulation also may have been picked up when
the Qggggg Visitor suspended publication in 1896 and it
was announced that Grange news, edited by Kenyon L.
Butterfield, would henceforth appear in the Eggmg§.19

Advertising rates during the period 1869 to
1908 reflected the rising circulation. In the first issue,
an inch of space was priced at $1, and the total realized
from.the advertising in that issue probably did not exceed
$60. By 1896, the rates had been increased to $3.50 a
column-inch, and in 1901 to $4.20 a column-inch. 20

After the first year or so, the volume of adver-

tising increased, and this undoubtedly was the most impor-

 

17Ibid., Dec. 9, 1899, pl 450.

18%., Aug. 19, 1905, p. 1220
lglhids. Nov. 7. 1896, p. 306.

291219., may 15, 1869, p. 4; Jan. 4, 1896, p. 8;
Oct. 5, 1901, p. 242.

56
tant factor in keeping the firm of Johnstone and Gibbons
solvent. Despite the depressed situation of agriculture
in general, many businesses sought farmers' dollars. One
of the most effective ways of accomplishing this was by
announcing their wares in publications read by farmers.

By 1875 a considerable portion of the advertising
consisted of display announcements of new agricultural
implements, in many instances unduly enthusiastic as to
the worth of the machine. During 1876 almost every issue
had a full-page advertisement of the Oliver chilled steel
plow. Similar advertisements included those of the Robbins
sulky cultivator (made in Hastings), the Kirby combination
reaper and mower, the Heckendorn plow (made in Ann Arbor),
tap and open buggies (manufactured in Jackson), plows
(made in Three Rivers), windmills, grain and fertilizer
drills, the Keller self-binder, Buckeye spring-tooth
barrow and cultivator, and Clark's cutaway harrow.

After 1870 there was an increasing amount of pro-
prietary or patent medicines advertised. Needing revenue
as they desperately did, JohnstOne and Gibbons deserve
praise for a crusade they conducted against some Of the

harmful remedies. 22 One advertiser, extolling the merits

 

211bid., Feb. 24, June 16, Aug. 4, 1874, pp. 57,
184, 241; July 3, 1877, p. 1; June 13, 1878, pp. 5-8; May
13, 1879, p. 5; Aug. 10, 1880, p. 1; April 11, 1882, p. 1;
July 21, 1888, 13050

22.1.9310. May 1. 1377, p. l. The crusade is described
in detail in another portion of this chapter.

57

of "H. T. Helmbold's Concentrated Fluid Extract," express-
ed the modest desire that "his remedies, from the fact of
being advertised, may not be classed as Patent Medicinesf?

Most of the patent medicine advertisements were
of the “sure-cure" type, and in one issue in the late
'nineties there was a rash of such announcements. Cures
were offered for the following ailments and symptoms:
deafness, catarrh, "female weakness,“ rheumatism, liver
and bladder troubles, kidney disorders, piles, neuralgia,
dyspepsia, nervousness, "heart weakness,” toothache, ear-
ache, backache, sciatica, hay fever, biliousness, and in-
somnia.”+ After 1900 the quantity of such advertising de-
clined. This may have been the result of a policy stated
on the editorial page that the Farmer would not accept
advertising from 'quacks” or those promoting swindles or
lotteries; neither would the paper take whiskey advertise-
ments nor those of "an immoral nature.'25

By 1904 the amount of advertising appearing in the
Fggger had become stable. The thirty columns or more of
display and classified advertising, which brought the
paper several thousands of dollars in revenue each week,
presented a great contrast to the six columns of ads that

had been printed in the maiden issue in 1869. Advertise-

 

23Ibid., Feb. 11, 1871, p. 45.
2“Ibid., Jan. 2, 1897, pp. 11-15.

68 251mm, Oct. 5, 1901, p. 242; Feb. 20, 1904. p.
1 . ""’

58

ments in the issue for August 6, 1904, includaithose
for the following products: feed crusher, manure spread-
er, corn husker, livestock scales, ensilage cutter, hay
lifter, six different kinds of cream separators, cider
press, gasoline engine, bicycles, grain drill, plows,
two-row corn cutter, clod roller, stoves, livestock
waterer, fencing, well drilling equipment, fanning mill,
hay baler, commercial fertilizer, ginseng roots, steel
roofing, bedbug remedy, kitchen cabinet, hair restorer,
electric door bell, a Lion brand coffee contest announce-
ment, newspaper subscription announcement, auctioneer
cards, fly spray, various kinds of seed, land, medicine,
gloves, dress goods, and classified advertisements of
a wide variety of livestock and poultry.26

Indicative of the coming of better times for the
Fggger after 1900 was the 590-page volume comprising the
issues for the first six months of 1904. This represented
an average of twenty-eight pages for each of the twenty-
one issues and was the largest volume published since the

series was begun in 1869. 27

During the period, 1869-1908, fires twice des—
troyed the offices of the Farmer, causing destruction or

great damage to equipment, account books, editorial li-

 

2611111.. 8118- 6. 1904. pp. 81-96.

27mm. June 25. 1904.18. 585.

59
brary, and mailing lists. The first one occurred on
April 13, 1873, and had its origin in an adjoining build-
ing which housed the pressroom of the Detroit Tribune.
Johnstone stated that the loss exceeded the amount of
fire insurance coverage by about 89,000. 28 The pub-
lishers were badly frightened on November 9, 1886, when
fire threatened them, but this time the damage was con-
fined to the nearby Eggg and Tribune building.29 On
June 18, 1898, a fire again destroyed the paper's office,
causing a loss that was only about half covered by in-
surance.30 Less than a year previous, the publication
had been moved into what Gibbons stated was the "finest
quarters in the history of the paper.'31 -

The program and policies ofhthe Egghiggg‘figgggg
during the period 1869 to 1908 might be said to embrace,
in general, everything that held promise of profit for
the farmers of the state. More specifically, the paper pre-
sented information and Opinion on a vast range of subjects.
dealing principally with agricultural production, with

major emphasis on crOp and livestock raising. In additiOn,.

the issues reveal that increasing attention was devoted

 

281bid., May 6, 13, 1873, pp. 124, 132.

291mg" Nov. 9. .1886. p. 4.
3°Ibld., June 18, 1898, p. 480.

311b1d., A113. 7, 1897’ p. 88.

32%., June 18, Allg. 13, 1898, pp. #73, 108.

60
to the farm family and its way of life.

In reading the more than 2,400 issues that came
from the Egggggfs presses during the thirty-nine years
constituting this period, one is impressed by the multi-
tude of subjects presented. The stability of manage-
ment, which characterized this period, in marked contrast
to the first, makes it possible for us to study the more
orderly evolution of the paper. 'Concomitant with the
paper's growth was the great drama of Michigan agricul-
ture and rural life during the last half of the nine-
teenth century and the beginning of the twentieth.

It is impossible to describe in detail more than
a representative sampling of the subjects presented. To
treat this material in an orderly manner, the author has
chosen to present the Eggmggfs program and policies thmngh
the following categories: agricultural production and
marketing, transportation and communication, agricultural
organizations, education, improvement of rural life, house-
hold material, and general material including literature.

In the first issue of the new series, Johnstone
laid down several points of policy which he felt the Eggmr
2; should advocate. Writing in somewhat the paternalistic
manner of the editors of the early years, he stated that
he hOped to make the Farmer a “true and trusty counsellor"
in helping to correct extremes in farmers' judgments, such

as had been shown in years past and particularly during

61

the recent ”hOp and sheep craizes.”33 He would endeaver
to inform farmers on the "results Of practices and experi-
ments immediately in their own vicinity.” The paper,
under his guidance, would be the voice of the State Agri-
cultural Society and the local agricultural societies.

He hOped to bring the Agricultural College into "closer
relations with the citizens of the State interested in
agricultural improvement, than it has heretofore enjoyed."
He advocated co-education as a means of solving "woman's
problem. . . . a present social problem,“ and believedthat
women should be given the same Opportunity as men for ac-
quiring higher education. He urged that aid be given
Michigan railroads because of their service in developing

the state. He disclaimed any desire to meddle in politics.

 

33Ibid., May 15, 1869, p. 4. Those who raised hOps
mad. money in 1865-66, as "war prices” still prevailed
for that crOp. Then the so-called hOp boom, promoted main-
ly by sellers of hOp roots, flourished. By 1867 roots were
selling for $5 a bushel, and three bushels were required
to plant an acre of vines. Within two years came trouble
from insects, frost, drought, and a drOp in hOp prices.
Then, as a writer in 1897 stated, ”Hap poles for firewood!
HOp sacks for horse blankets! HOps for stable bedding! . .
. . The Michigan climate is not adapted to hOp profits--
neither is the Michigan farmer's pocketbook. Maybe it will
be tried again but it will be when the memory of the last
hOp epidemic is in memory's sere and yellow leaf. . . ."
Ibid., Oct. 16, 1897, p. 270. The Michigan sheep industry
expanded greatly under the war-time demand for wool. The
wool boom burst in 1868, however, and thousands of sheep
were slaughtered. Bands of 500 to 1,000 head were butcher-
ed along the roadsides, and their skins hung on fences to
dry. Many sheep were sold for a dollar a head. Wentworth,

9.22. 2.9.1.: PP. 152-154.
”able... May 15. 1869. p. 4.

 

62

Early during this period, Johnstone began his
extensive visitations to farms and farm groups through-
out the state. These trips, and those later made by
Gibbons helped to make the partners widely and favorably
known in agricultural circles. The Agricultural College
was a favorite destination for Johnstone, and he con-
tinued to maintain a keen interest in the development of
that institution. On one occasion while visiting there,
he made an extended survey of the nearby marshland owned
by former Senator Zachariah Chandler, and discussed with
Chandler a project for draining the area and making it
productive.35 Another time he visited the D. M. Ferry
Seed Farm,near Dearborn, and described in the Farmer the
methods used in the commercial production of seed.36

The Fggmer's presentation of news and Opinion on
farm crOps reflected the changing picture in kinds of
crOps grown during the last half Of the nineteenth century.
Though many articles continued to feature wheat culture,
as was true in the 'forties and 'fifties, more and more
space was devoted to other crOps, such as corn and pota-
toes. At the turn of the century, two new crOps began to
claim attention, sugar beets and alfalfa.

As a part of its program to improve and expand the

 

35;Q;Q., Nov. 25, Dec. 9, 16, 1871, pp. 369, 385,
396; Oct. 13, 874, p. 321; July 31, 1877, p. 1.

36Ibid... May 27, 1871, p. 160.

63
Michigan livestock industry, the Eggmgg in 1876 urged the
growing and feeding of more corn. By feeding the corn at
home, the Operator kept the manure on the farm where it

was needed to help maintain soil fertility.37

The Eggmgg
has the distinction of being the first farm paper to print
an account of the work of Dr. William James Beal in corn
breeding. Beal is the first person of record to cross two
varieties of corn for the purpose of increasing yields.
In commenting,in an article published by the Farmer,on
his hybridization experiments, Beal stated that farmers
should ”breed corn with the same thought and care that
you would breed Shorthorns or Ayrshires."38 A. C. Glidden,
who wrote many articles for the Farmer during the late
'eighties and 'nineties, in 1886 correctly predicted the
coming importance of corn in Michigan agriculture.39

In the early years of the twentieth century,
Michigan joined the ranks of those states that held corn
shows. At the 1904 Round-up Institute, held at the Agri-
cultural College, the Michigan Corn Improvement Association

0
was formed,‘r which was the parent organization of the

present Michigan CrOp Improvement Association. The Farmer

 

37%., may 9, 1876, p0 110-5.
Belbid-s Jan. 3, 1882, p. l. Beal did not follow

up his pioneer corn breeding work.

391bid., Feb. 23, 1886, P. l.

“olbld., April 23, 1904, p. 400.

64
printed accounts of corn exhibits “overshadowing" all
others at the Kent County Farmers' Institute meeting in
Grand Rapids in February, 1905, and described the corn
exhibit at a similar meeting in Battle Creekfl1 In 1906,
the Eggggg induced the famous corn authority of that
day, Professor Perry G. Holden, to write a series of
articles on corn culture, including breeding and im-
provement of varieties, selecting and testing the seed,
preparing the ground, planting and cultivating.42 By
the end of the first decade Of the new century, Michigan
was growing three times the corn acreage it had grown
in 1869, and the production had more than quadrupled.
The value of the 1869 crOp was estimated to be slightly
less than $9 million, whereas that for 1909 was figured
at about 834 million."3

In 1869, when the Farmer was revived, potatoes

were grown on about 100,000 acres of Michigan's crOp land,

 

“llbld., Feb. 4, 1905, pp. 93, 128.

“zlbld., Feb. 17, April 28, 1906, pp. 145-147, 433.
Professor Holden is an alumnus of the Michigan Agricultural
College and a former student of Dr. Beal. He performed many
valuable services to corn growers for more than thirty
years after 1890. Results of his work were especially note-
worthy in Iowa. Staff of Iowa State College and the Iowa
Agricultural Experiment Station, A Centggy 2f Farmin g3,
Iowa, 1846-1246 (Iowa State College Press: Ames, 194%),

PP. 3h'370

h30ffice of Agricultural Statistician (Michigan),
930 Cit. ’

65

and the yield was slightly over 10 million bushels.hh
Little attention was given the crOp by the Eggggg during
the 'seventies, except for some articles on the use of
insecticides, but in 1885 the editor agreed with a corre-
spondent that potatoes had been neglected.“5 The follow-
ing year, the paper reprinted a bulletin, ”Potato Cul-
ture,” by Samuel Johnson, Professor of Agriculture at the
College. Other cultural suggestions followed."6
The subject of sugar production in Michigan was
a perennial tOpic for 23223; editors and writers for many
decades before the present sugar beet industry became es-
tablished. In the early days and for a time after the Civil
War, the plant from which it was hOped sugar might eventu~
ally be produced was the Chinese sugar cane or.sorghum.
This plant did lead to some production of syrup in a few
of the most southern counties. In 1881 legislation was
enacted which provided for a bounty of 2 cents a pound
for sugar made from.Michigan-grown cane or beets. Only

one person is said to have qualified for the award.

 

thbid.,By 1909, the acreage had increased to
365,000, on which more than 38 million bushels of potatoes
were grown, valued at more than $13 million. Ibid.

45F er July 25 Aug. 1 8 1872 pp. 233 241,
249; June 9751885, p. 4; Feb. 1, 1890, p. '. '

“6lbld., April 20, 1886, p. 1; May 11, 1886, p. 2;
Feb. 1, 18907‘p. 1.

“7lbld., Dec. 11, 1877, p. 4; March 6, May 22,
1883, pp. 1, 1; Aug. 1, 1887, p. 1. R. C. Kedzie, "Domes-

tic Supply of Sugar for Michigan," Collections and Rese ches
Made 21_the Michigan Pioneer gg§.- (continued on page 62)

66
Dr. R. C. Kedzie, Professor of Chemistry at the College,
proved that some Michigan soils were suited to sugar beet
growing. In 1890 the College began distribution of sugar
beet seed to farmers, and the commercial possibilities of
the new crOp were soon realized. The Farmer in 1897
praised the passage of a bounty bill for beet growing and
expressed the hOpe that Michigan might soon have sugar
factories in production.“8 The Farmer rejoiced when the
first one began Operation in October, 1898, near Bay City.
In that year the paper reported about 1,900 acres being

#9 The following year, more than

grown in Bay County alone.
40,000 acres of beets were grown in the state, and in
1909, 78,000 acres.50

Heralding the increasing importance of dairying
in Michigan were the articles and editorial admonitions on

better hay-making, improvement of permanent pastures, and

 

57(continued from page 65) Historical Society
(Historical Collections) (Lansing: 1901), XXIX, pp. 201-
204. R. C. Kedzie, ”Sugar Beet Reising in Michigan,”

Michi State Farmerg' Institutes Institute Bulletin 3
(Michigan State Board of Agriculture, Lansing, 1897), pp.

1&8-50 .
A8F mer, March 27, 1897, p. 246.

6 591818.. Dec. 11, 1897, pp. 442-443; Oct- 1. 1898.
p.21}.

500. 3. Bureau of the Census, Twelfth CensusIQQ

the United States: 1 00, A riculture, Vol. VI (Washington:

039ernment Printing ice, 1905), pp. 328-329; Thirteenth
Ce sus g§_thg United States: 1210, Agriculture, Vol. VI
Washington: Government Printing Office, 1913), p. 779.

67
the growing of more leguminous hay CPOpS.51 The Eggmgg
was cautious, however, in recommending alfalfa or
“lucerne' in the 'nineties, stating, ”The desire for
more complete infOrmation about this plant and its
adaptability to Michigan. . . . is quite widespread
among our farmers, largely as the result of poor suc-
cess with clover during the several years past in which
a season of drought has been experienced."52 The College,
also in the 'nineties, did not show much enthusiasm for
the new crOp, calling it one of the ”doubtful substi-
tutes for clover."53 As late as 1902, an associate edi-
tor of the gggggp, Colon c. Lillie, stated that he
”personally cannot see the practicability of growing it
here in Michigan except on hilly ground where one wishes
to do away with plowing for a number of years."5 4 The

Farmer's attitude, as well as that of the College, changed

during the first decade of the new century, and the paper

 

51Farmer, June 16, 1894, p. 369; Sept. 30, 1899,
p. 237; Ju1§_7:'1900, p. 14; Feb. 8, 1902, p. 105; Sept.
3, 1904, P0 1590

2
5 Ibid., June 15, 1895, p. 374.
53Thirty-third Annual Report g£_the Secretgry‘gf

the State Board g§_ggriculture, 92. cit., pp. 434-435.
In 1899, alfalfa was reported on 213 farms, making a total

of 1,087 acres; in 1909, 1,456 farms reported 6,553 acres.
U. S.‘Bureau of the Census, 92, cit., 1900, Vol. VI, pp.
218-219; 1910, Vol. v1, p. 776."'

54Farmer, Jan. 4, 1902, p. 1. Another staff mem-
ber, who later became editor and business manager of the
Fggger, seeded some alfalfa on his farm in the early
19003. ”Folks did not think too well of his judgment. .
e .I Ibid., May 22, 1937, p. 368.

68

became an ardent crusader for alfalfa about 1912.

In appraising the rise of such specialty crOps,
as mint, chicory and ginseng, the 'Eggmg; urged caution
but at the same time stated that growers interested in
such crops should not regard them as one-year ventures
but should give them a fair trial before rendering'judg-
ment.

As for fruit crOps, the editors of the Farmer
displayed a consistent interest. In the first issues of
the revived paper and throughout the period under dis--
cussion, at least one page was regularly devoted to horti-
cultural tOpics. Until the latter half of the 'nineties
a great share of the horticultural material was obtained
from exchange publications and often was not pertinent
to Michigan. Allied material found on the "horticulture”
page included items dealing with apiculture, floricul-
ture and landscape gardening. As in earlier years, the
Fgrmg; favored the promotion of horticultural and pomo-
logical societies on both a local and state basis. Regu-
larly and at great length, the paper reported the activi-

of these organizations.5

 

551bid.,.0ct. 17, 1887, p. 1; Dec. 28, 1901, p.
490; July 21, 1906, p. 42; July 20, 1907, p. 40.

56The Farmer in 1871 praised the organization of
the Michigan State Pomological Society, which later bee
came the present State Horticultural Society. Many of
the early leaders of that society wrote articles on
fruit growing which appeared in the Fggmer. Ibid., Aug.
12, 1871, p. 99. - .

,‘R

 

69

By the 'eighties, a large prOportion of the
state's total fruit output was concentrated in three
southwestern counties, Allegan, Berrien and VanBuren,
and that section continued to increase in horticultural
importance. In 1887 the editor of the Eggmg; urged the
Michigan Secretary of State to enlarge the annual state
crOp reports by including statistics on the apple and
peach crOps.

Horticultural material included articls on fruit
varieties, fruit drying, cider making, orchard manage-
ment, spraying and marketing. A bewildering avalanche
of fruit varieties was presented, many of which were
essentially the same but which were known by different
names. Only a few of the names are in common use in the
horticultural nomenclature of today.58 Farmers were
regularly warned to avoid patronizing those traveling
agents who sometimes sold mis-labeled fruit trees or
trees of inferior quality.59

For a time in the 'seventies, the Farmer was of

 

57L. A. Chase, Burg; Michigan (New York: The Mac-
millan Co., 1922), p. 204; Fgrmer, Sept. 19, 1887, p. 1.

58In 1889, the State Horticultural Society pub-
lished a list of 219 apple varieties. Only about 20 were
said definitely to have poor bearing qualities or other
defects that would exclude them from favor in Michigan.

Ei hteenth Annual Re ort of the Secretar of the State.
ngticulturgl Society off_ignggg, 1888 (Lansing,w 9),
pp. 3 2-39 0

59Farmer NOV. 28,1887, P. 3.

70
the Opinion that fruit growers might profitably invest
in drying equipment and thus utilize inferior fruit; it
later conceded that such Operations should be done by
commercial processors.60 As the control of insects and
diseases became more scientific, the quality of the
fruit was improved and more of it could be shipped long
distances or stored for later sale.

During the years, 1869 to 1908, much progress
was made in the control of orchard insects and diseases.
In the"seventies, the Farmer's advice on "bugging
fruit trees" included the use of long poles with which
to strike the branches and thus knock off codling moth28
In that same decade, a correspondent recommended the
tieing of old woolén rags around the tree trunks as a
means of trapping insects. He stated that unless the
codling moth were controlled, a "tree may cast its fruit
from habit. . . . such as do animals that abort."62 By
the end of the 'eighties, the value of arsenicals in
controlling insects had been demonstrated by Professor
A. J. Cook, entomologist at the Agricultural College.

About the same time, control of orchard diseases by the

 

éonide, Jan. 11, 1872, pp. 11-12; Jan. 26,
1875, p. 27; June 27, 1876, p. 201.

61%., May 9, 1872, p. 1447; April 8, 1873,
p. 122.

2
Ibid., Nov. 10, 1874, p. 355.

71
use of fungicides had been accomplished by his fellow
worker, Professor Levi R. Taft, a horticulturist.
The Farmer showed keen interest in their work, and in
1890 printed a suggestion from a fruit grower that all
orchardists be required by law to spray their trees.

In the 'nineties, the Farmer suggested the use
of better packing methods to improve the shipping abili-
ty of Michigan fruit and urged the establishment of an
experiment station in the fruit section. The subse-
quent establishment of such a station at South Haven by
the College was praised.65 After 1900 the paper favored
greater specialization on the part of fruit growers and
stated the belief that fruit growing was no longer a
profitable side-line activity for general farmers. The
editor also urged the elimination of all neglected
orchards because they harbored insects and diseases.66

Considerably in advance of its time, the Eggmgg
in 1901 lauded the good qualities of the blueberry and
predicted correctly that some day this fruit zould be a

7

profitable venture for some Michigan growers.

63l§i§,, May 9, Dec. 5, 1887; pp. 3, 3; July 22,
1893, p. 3.

65;p;g., Jan. 4, 1890, p. 3.
65;2;Q., Feb. 1, March 15, 1890, pp. 4, 3.
65;p1g., Jan. 7, 1905, p. 14.

67.1.2251" Aug. 21", 1901, p. 127.

72

Johnstone and Gibbons were greatly interested
in livestock raising and followed such develOpments
closely. Gibbons, in particular, was widely known for
his knowledge of that occupation. About him, it was
stated, ”In the halcyon days of the live stock business
no one had a wider and more comprehensive understanding
of what each breeder was doing, or the lines in and
purpose for which his stock was being bred. . . ."68

The Michiggg Farmer was steadfast in its pro-
motion of better livestock through the use of improved
foundation animals. Both Johnstone and Gibbons had a
thorough knowledge of pedigrees, particularly those in
the Shorthorn breed, and were quick to engage in long,
technical diaputation with correspondents over blood-
lines of various animals. Gibbons, however, did not ad-
vocate a slavish adherence to purebred animals; he
stated that though every animal of pedigree might not
be meritorious pg; gg, such an individual would be a
safer breeding animal than one of an unknown family.69

In 1869 interest centered upon the dual-purpose
breeds, the Devons and the Shorthorns. The Devons soon
lost favor to the Shorthorns, which reached the peak of
their pOpularity between 1880 and 1890; after that, they

lost ground to the specialized beef and dairy cattle

68%‘9 Aug. 21": 1895, PP. 113, 120.

691bid., Aug. 1, 1882, p. 1.

fl

73

O
breeds.7 The Farmer, it must be noted, was somewhat
reluctant to change with the times, and in 1902, Gibbons
stated:

For something like 25 years the editor of the
Michigan Farmer has been advocating general purpose
cattle for the general farmers of the State, both
in its columns and at farmers' clubs and institutes.
He never changed his Opinion in the face of the
great stampede to7ihe dairy breeds some ten or
twelve years ago.

Competition from western beef producers and the

growing importance of dairying in the years after 1890
caused Michigan farmers to display decreaSing interest
in raising cattle for meat purposes. Livestock men in
the early 1900's deplored the indiscriminate mixtures
of beef and dairy blood-lines that characterized so
many animals. These mixtures produced a serious lack of
uniformity in type and calor. The College in 1904 was
aware of this situation and started a long-time experi-
ment with twenty "typical" grade Shorthorn cows pur-
chased in state markets. The objective of the experiment
was to demonstrate how many of the state's common dairy
stocks could be improved in quality and quantity of milk
production by a program of up-grading. In addition, the

animal husbandmen wished to show the effects of good

 

7O

71
Farmer, Jan. ‘5, 1902, p. 10.

2
7 Ibid., April 12, 1902, p. 304; May 28, 1904,

pp. 508-509. Fiftieth Annual Report p£_the Secret ,2;
the Michi an State Board p§'A riculture,l907 Lansing,

‘1'"‘9-07 , pp. 163—T-1 O.

Butterfield, pp. cit., pp. 1-8.

ll‘lll 14.1.

'.

...!

 

 

.74

feeding and management. The cows were separated into
sections and bred respectively to Jersey, Holstein,
Guernsey and Shorthorn bulls.73

The Michigan Egggg; long advocated the need
for the production of better quality dairy products.
Soon after Johnstone and Gibbons began publication of
the paper, they chronicled the first annual meeting of
the Michigan Dairymen's Association at Adrian.7h Peri-
odically, they printed articles and editorials on
improved butter and cheese making. The Farmer's stand
on the highly controversial butter substitute question
was objective and free from the more emotional type of
argument sometimes advanced by the dairy interests. The
paper favored legislation compelling butter substitutes
to be correctly labeled, and stated that the dairyman's
prime weapon was the marketing of a standardized pro--~
duct of high quality. In one issue, Gibbons even Justi-
tied the buying of a butter substitute if good butter

were not available, and said that the farmer who produced

poor or dirty butter was the one who caused consumers to

 

73
Fgrtz-ninth Annual Report of the Secretar o
theéMichi an State Boagd f Agricult e, 1903 (Lansin
190 ' p. 2 0.

7uF3£ger, Feb. 20, 1873, p. 58. Among other
matters discussed, the dairymen debated the proPriety of
making cheese on the Sabbath. According to the corres-
pondent of the F er, "No conclusion was arrived at. .

. . .” Ibid.

 

75
desire oleomargarine.75
Following the introduction of the Babcock test,
and the rise of commercial butter-making plants and

creameries, the Farmer enthusiastically predicted a

 

bright future for the Michigan dairy farmer. 76 Butter
production on the farm changed considerably from 1899
to 1909, as is shown by Census figures. In the first-
.named year, 77 percent of the state's farms, or 157,000,
produced over 60 million pounds of butter, whereas by
1909, the percentage of farms reporting butter pro-
duction had fallen 13 percent and the total farm butter
production had decreased about 10 million pounds. Fluid
milk sold had increased from about 56 million gallons
in 1899 to more than 7h million gallons in 1909. Income
from the sale of dairy products rose from about $10
million in 1899 to $22 million in 1909.77

In 1894, the Eggmgg_printed a special dairy
issue, devoted to articles designed to increase the out-

put and to improve the quality of Michigan dairy pro-

8
duction.7 A short time later, the editor praised the

 

751bido, NOV. ll!" 1878, p. 1: Jane .1}, 7, 18,
1881, pp. 1,1, 1; March 1A, 1882, p. 1; April 28, 189A,
p. 264; Jan. 18, 1896, p. to.

7§lglgPD March h, 1893, p. 10

77U. S. Bureau of the Census, gp.lg;§., 1900,
Vol. V, pp. 588-589; 1910, Vol. VI, p. 773.

78Eé£22£3 NOV. 17’ 189h, F0 305.

 

 

 

.I'l'i

 

 

 

 

76

College for starting a short course in dairy methodg?
Two develOpments that were to become widely used dur-
ing the next half-century by dairymen were illustrated
in issues of the Farmer in 1897. One was a plan for
a water system to supply cows in stanchions with an
abundance of fresh drinking wate§9 This was the fore-
runner of the automatic drinking fountain for cows.
The other was a drawing of a milking machine manu-
factured by Hussey and Cushman. The Farmer believed
there was a need for such a machine because of the
difficulty dairymen were experiencing in finding help
to milk Michigan's expanding dairy herds. Some doubt,
however, was expressed as to the continued need for
such a machine.81 Mechanical cream separators were on
trial use during those years, and in 1906 the editor
of the Farmer stated, "Most peeple who have given the
subject careful thought believe that hand separators
have come to stay. The old system of raising cream by
the gravity process is certainly out of date."

Another phase of Michigan‘s agriculture that
experienced considerable change during the years 1869

to 1908 was sheep raising. Except for set-backs,

79Ibido, May 18, 1895’ p0 3160

80929... June 19. 1897, p. A85.

81
3.1.9.. Dec. 11, 1897, p. 1.1.1.
82%., April 21, 1906, 1). [+160

77

following the end of the Civil War and for a short
time in the 'seventies, sheep raising continued to ex-
pand until 1900. In numbers, the state had 1,985,000
sheep in 1870 and reached a peak of 2,7h7,000 in 1900.
By 1910, the total had declined over h00,000 and con-
tinued to drOp.83 A marked change in the nature of the
industry came during the 'eighties, with the beginning
of the importation of feeder lambs into southern
Michigan from the western ranges. With this came the
change from an emphasis on wool, as in the early days,
to mutton production. The increase in European immi-
grant pOpulation in the area between Buffalo and
Detroit brought a demand for mutton, as many of these
industrial workers had retained their dietary habits?A

Johnstone and Gibbons many times stated that
sheep were essential in Michigan agriculture, even
after the emphasis had been transferred to the mutton
types. In addition, they sought to improve management
and breeding, and were vigilant in observing wool
tariff develOpments. They believed that the Michigan

sheep raiser's prosperity was geared to a high protect-

ive tariff to keep out foreign wools, regardless of

 

8

3U. S. Bureau of the Census, 2p. cit.,1870,
Vol. III, p. 82; 1900, Vol. V, pp. BBQ-335; 1910, Vol.
VI, p. 772.

8“Farmer, April 2, 1898, p. 163; Wentworth,
22, cit., p. 163; Butterfield, 22. cit., pp. 11-13.

78
the domestic mutton prices.85

Before interest in wool production waned, the
Farmer helped to promote shearing festivals and carried
detailed accounts of those events.86 In the contro-
versy that develOped, during the late 'eighties and
'nineties, over the custom of washing sheep before
shearing, the Farmer threw its support to those who
favored discontinuing the practice.

Declines in sheep and wheat production in the
early years of the twentieth century were not matched
by similar drOps in horse and swine production. 0n
the contrary, both horses and swine continued to in-
crease in numbers and value. By 1910, the state had
more than 610,000 horses and 1,246,000 swine. The
total value of the horses was estimated to exceed $71
million, or well over half the total value of all live-
stock, thus making them by far the most valuable of
the farm animals. Both horses and swine had increased
in numbers about three timesover the totals reported

in the 1870 census. These increases were logical in

 

85Farmer, May 22, 1869, p. 12; July 15, 1871,
p. 217; May 9, 1872, p. lh8; June 2, 187k, p. 169;
Jan. A, 1887, p. 1; April 2, 1898, p. 265; April 26,
1902, p. 349; May 10, 1902, p. 393.

86Ibid., May 17, 1881, p. 1; May 18, 1889, p.1.

87Ibid., June 8, 1886, p. 1; June 13, 1891,

p. 1; Jane 23, 1892, p0 lo

 

 

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79
view of the great increase in corn production, as
previously mentioned.

The type of horse preferred by Michigan farm-
ers for many years prior to the 'eighties was what
might be called a horse of all work, one strong enough
to do plowing and some heavy work but one which could
also pull a carriage at a reasonable speed. There was
little or no demand for the heavier, draft breeds
until long after the Civil War. The first purebred
Percheron stallion in the state is said to have been
owned by Michigan's former United States Senator,
Zachariah Chandler, in the 'seventies.89 Indicative of
increased interest, a regular department on horses
began in the Farmer, in January, 1871. This feature
gave advice on hitching and caring for horses. Soon
after that, the paper began regular accounts of breed-
ing stock being brought into the state, with Special
attention being paid to Percherons. A regular depart-
ment on veterinary advice was started in 1878. Many
of the questions answered and much of the material in
the department concerned common equine diseases and

injuries. Diagnoses was given and remedial measures

 

88U. S. Bureau of the Census, gp. cit., 1910,
Vol. VI, p. 772; gp. cit., 1870, Vol. III, p. 82.

89Butterfield, Op. cit., pp. 9-11.

 

 

 

80

90

recommended. A year later, the Farmer made it

possible for its readers to receive veterinary ad-
vice by mail for a fee of $1 for each question askedzl
The amount of Space devoted to veterinary advice in-
creased, and the paper rendered its subscribers a
needed service during the years before 1910 when the
supply of trained veterinarians was small.92

During the 'eighties and 'nineties, some
interest was shown in Thoroughbreds, and the material
published in the Farmer reflected that interest.
Articles on trotters and the racing gossip of the day
probably were an accompaniment of fine increasing pOpu-
larity of fairs in Michigan.93

His love for good horses seems to have blinded

 

90Farmer, Jan. 7, Feb. 25, March 18, 1871, pp.
10, 6h, 81; May 9, 1872, p. 1&8; Nov. 6, 1877, p. 1;
NOV. 7, 1878, p. 1; April 20, 1880, p. 10

91Ibid., Jan. 2, 1879, p. 1. The editor of the
Farmer engaged in a heated controversy with the Michigan
State Veterinary Association in 1903 for its action in
seeking to have a law enacted that would forbid non-
veterinarians from practicing on animals. The associa-
tion, for a time, caused the veterinary advice to be
drOpped from the Farmer's columns. The department was
resumed after several weeks' omission, but restrictions
were placed on the giving of free advice which might be
construed to be in competition with private veterinary

practice. Ibid., Feb. 20, May 7, 1903, pp. 168, #25.
931§18., Feb. 20, 1903, p. 163,

931218.. June 26. 1897, p. 501; Oct. 13, 1900,
p. 260; April 12, 1902, p0 3020

81

Robert Gibbons to the possibility that some day they
might be superseded. In 1898, in discussiong the Opera-
tion of a few of the *horseless carriages," Gibbons
agreed with the editor of the Breeder's Gazette that
horses would not be diSplaced by such ”large, heavy,
ungainly looking things. . . . more or less noisy and
ill-smelling." Gibbons added, "Every reaction of such
efforts to displace the horse. . . . will only increase
confidence in him and add to his value. . . . ."94

The Farmer did not show the interest inswine
raising as it did in the case of sheep, cattle or
horses. An occasional article on the raising of hogs
and the merits of the various breeds was printed, but
interest seems to have lagged. Not until during the
late 'eighties was there a state swine breeders' associa-
tion.95 A discussion of hog cholera occurred from time
to time, and the belief was eXpressed once that the
disease was caused by feeding too much corn;in the
fattening ration.96 The Eggmgg in 1908 invited its
readers to relate their experiences in hogging-down

corn, but stated that the practice "has not been very

extensively followed in Michigan, and we do not believe

 

9“Ib1d., July 30, 1898, p. 75.
95Ibid., Dec. 29, 1888, p. 1.

96Ibid., March 5, 1878, p. 1; March 5, 190h,
p. 21h.

82

it is a good practice to follow. . . . ."97

Poultry production in Michigan continued for
many years after the Civil War to be in the nature of
a spare-time activity and one which was sometimes re-
garded as a woman's job. Most farmers, as well as did
many village residents, kept a few chickens of uncertain
breeding, but the specialized poultry raiser did not
come into existence until after 1900. The develOpment
of cold storage facilities in the late"eighties and
early 'nineties, together with the improvement of incu-
bators, were important factors in the rise of the new
industry.98 Poultry on farms in the stateiin 1900 was
valued at about 82% million, a figure that was morethan

doubled by 1910.99

Before 1900, the Farmer reflected the lack of
interest in poultry. In 1897, the editor gave some
”hints" for incubator management ”to some of our
readers who are struggling with one,"loowhich would
indicate that the paper did not feel that the incu-
bator was in a high state of perfection. Also, it

'would indicate that use of the device was an a com-

 

97
Ibid., Jan. 4, 1908, p. 1.
98
Ibid., April 27, 1935, p. 205; U. S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture, Agriculture Yearbook, l92h,(Govern-
ment Printing Office: Washington, 1925}, pp. 382-388.

99H. S. Bureau of the Census, 22, cit., 1900,
'Vol. V, pp. 6h8-6h9; 92. cit., 1910, Vol. VI, p. 772.

100Farmer, Feb. 27, 1897, p. 161.

 

‘IIIIIIIIII? all

 

.tiifil....

 

83

paratively small scale. By 1906, however, the paper
stated that "the incubator has come to stay" and gave
suggestions on how to select one.101 Scattered
articles on better breeding and the selection of birds
for winter laying appeared during the late 'ninetiei?2
Increased attention was given poultry tOpics with the
beginning of the new century. In 1902, a diagram of a
home-made device with which to candle eggs was printed,
with an admonition urging producers to candle their
eggs before marketing in order to get a higher pricég
The first interest in poultry record keeping came about
that same time when a reader inquired about what consti-
, tuted ”a good year's work for the average hen."loh

ExpanSion in Michigan's animal industry during
the years after 1869 was accompanied by a Spectacular
rise in farm machinery investment. From a total of
slightly less than $11 million in 1870, the estimated
investment in machinery and implements increased to al-

most $50 million by 1910. The greatest period of advance

was from 1900 to 1910, during which time the total in-

 

101
Ibid., Jane 6, 1906, p. 80

1021mm, Jan. 6, 1894, p. 3; Jan. 9, 1897, p.
29; Jan. 21; 1899, p. 53. .

10
31bido, June 21, 1902, p0 5020
lo“:b1d., Jan. 5, 1907, p. 5.

SA
105

vestment in machinery increased about 73 percent.

One of the greatest services the Farmer per-
formed for Michigan agriculture from 1869 to 1908 was
in presenting news and Opinion about new farm machinery.
Advertisements of new machinery which appeared in the
paper's columns during that period have already been
mentioned.

Johnstone and Gibbons were Optimistic about
the future of devices to reduce farm labor and usually
gave enthusiastic reception to news Of most inventions.
As early as 1871, they saw the possibilities Of the
portable steam engine for threshing grain and sawing
wood. They believed that such an engine some day would
power a grain separator that would thresh 100 bushels
Of wheat an hour.106 They correctly characterized as
impracticable the recurrent prOposal Of plowing with
eight or ten plows drawn by a stationary steam engihg?

The Fgrmer in 1882 warned its readers of the
dangers of Over-investing in machinery “just to keep
up with the times,” as the periodl of cOmparatively
good prices would not likely continue for long. Rather,

the editor stated, farmers should analyze their needs

—___

68 105U. 3. Bureau Of the Census, 92. cit., 1910,
p.7 .
106Farmer, June 10, 1871, p. 180.

107
Ibid., July 22, 1871, p. 228.

85
before buying.108 That type of advice is still con-
sidered good today.

By 1880, the Farmer foresaw the time when plow-
ing would no longer be regarded as such a tiresome
job, stating, ”It looks as if the sulky plow is to be
the plow of the future and that the work Of plowing
. . . . is to be hereafter rendered as light and easy
as the mower and reaper have made the heavy work of
harvesting."109

Before the gasoline engine was perfected for
Operating stationary farm‘machines, windmills and de-
vices utilizing animal power were widely advocated.
The Farmer printed drawings of many of these devices,
some Of which were also advertised in the paper.110The
bulk of this material appeared in the paper only a
short time before the perfection and extensive use of
the gasoline engine. Some idea Of the frustration
possible when one depended upon a windmill for running
may be learned from the statement of a Huron County,
made in 1897. During periods of little or no wind he
usually left his windmill "in gear“ so as to permit

his grinder to Operate during the night if the wind

 

108Ibid.,July 18, 1882, p. l.
109 '

. Ibid., April 17, 1883, p. 1.
110

Ibid., July 3, 1877, p. 1; Oct. 27, 1888,
p. 1; Aug. 22, 1891, p. 1; Jan. 2, 16, Feb. 27, 1897,
pp. 3, 37, 157, 113; April 16, 1898, p. 309.

86

should happen to blow. When the wind abated while he
had "three loads of fodder enroute to the silo,” he
was forced to use a horse-powered sweep and a "tumbling-
rod" system to furnish power for the cutter.111

The first mention of a gasoline engine was in
1896. It was used in a creamery, and the heat from the
exhaust gases helped to heat waterEli year later, the
Farmer stated the advantages Of the gasoline engine
over windpower; the writer believed, however, that the
engine was not so practical in the winter, as there was
always the possibility that the water surrounding the
cylinder might freeze. As a result, he stated a pref-
erence for treadmills and windpower devices because
they were more foOl-proof and had a lower maintenance
expense].-1 The paper became more enthusiastic towards
gasoline engines, however, by 1903, and in 1906 it was
stated that gasoline engines were superior to windmillifh
Also, in that year "a new method of making the automo-
bile useful” was pictured. This showed a Ford car
jacked up, with a belt running from one of the rear

wheels to the pulley Of a wood saw. The editor observed

that, with the perfection of the car to do farm tasks,

 

11mg, Aug. 2,, 1897,, p... 81:. - A. ..

ll?;p;g., June 20, 1896, p. #15.

113gpgg., Nov. 20, 1897, p. 37h.

11“Ibid., Nov. It, 1903, pp. 362-363; Aug. 11,

1906, p. 99.

‘
.
C
" n 1
c,
n - '
h , -\
‘ ,

,‘1

 

 

 

87
115
"horseless age will be close upon us."

The Farmer correctly prOphesied still greater
mechanization of agriculture and in l90h urged the
establishment Of "a farm mechanics course” in agri-
cultural colleges. Stated the editor, "The gigantic
strides that have been made within five years in the
application of various kinds of ineXpensive power to
farm machinery seem prOphetic of still greater achieve-
ments than the past has known, thus compelling the
belief that the important part which machinery is to
play in the farm Operations of the near future is not
fully realized."116

The many labor-saving inventions that attracted
the attention of Michigan agriculturists during the
last quarter of the nineteenth century brought troubles
over alleged royalties due and patent infringements.
The first mention of such difficulties was in 1878 when
farmers were contacted by agents of a manufacturer of
a gate made in Ypsilanti. These farmers, who had pur-
chased gates and had assumed that the matter was closed,

were informed that they had purchased from a manufac-

 

1151bid., Oct. 31, 1903, p. 313.

116Ibid., Oct. 1, 1904, p. 2&2. Michigan.Agri-
cultural College established a department of farm
mechanics in 1906, as a part of the Division of Agri-
culture. Previous tO then, agricultural students had
received some shOp training in the Division of Engin-
eering. W. J. Beal, History gfpghg_Michigan_Agricul-
tural College (Michi an Agricultural College; East

Eansing, 1913), p. 2 0.

 

 

 

 

88

turer who had infringed upon a patent owned by the
Ypsilanti firm. They must now pay a royalty of $3
for each 80 acres of land on which the gates were be-
ing used, or face lawsuits.117 The defendants' woes
were aired in the Farmer, and the editor counseled
them on how best to combat the threatened suits. A
result was the formation of the Michigan Farmers'
Mutual Defense Association in September, 1878. Sub-
sequent issues of the Farmer revealed that legal
talent employed by the association advised the users
of the gates to get evidence that such gates were in
common use in their communities for several years prior
to the time the Ypsilanti firm secured its patent.
Thus, they would be able to defend themselves.118

Sporadic outbursts against patent law abuses
appeared in the Farmer throughout the 'eighties. The
matter seems never to have become as heated an issue
as it was in such corn-belt states as Iowa. Following
one United States Supreme Court decision, upholding a
patent on barbed wire in 1881, the editor of the Eggmgg
calmly asserted that the ruling would not affect many
Michigan farmers. This was because "barbed wire has

not been used in Michigan to anything like the extent

 

ll7Ibid., Aug. 1, 1878, p. 1.

118Ibid., Aug. 8, Sept. 12, 1878, pp. 1, 1;
Jan. 2, 9, 1879, pp. A, 1.

89

it has in neighboring states."119

The Michigan Farmer rightly considered that
though its readers might be able to Obtain modern
machinery and produce abundantly, yet the importance
of marketing needed emphasizing. Through the years,
it believed in consistently devoting a considerable
amount of space to market news and quotations. Its
publishing schedules were arranged to make possible
the transmission of the market news to its readers in
the quickest possible time. The extensive nature of
this news is illustrated by the material which filled
about five and one-half columns in one issue. Three
and one-half columns of reading matter were devoted to
a discussion of the market prOSpects for the important
commodities of the day. These were presented under the
following headings: "Wheat," "Corn, Oats, and Rye,"
"HOps and Barley," "Beans and Seeds,” "Apples and Pota-
toes," "The Pork Trade," "Wool,” "Dairy Products." In
addition, over two columns were filled with market
receipts and quotations from Detroit, Buffalo, Chicago,

and New York.120 In 190h the market news from Detroit

included the names of sellers, the commodities and quan-

 

119Ibid., Jan. 4, Nov. 29, 1881, pp. A, 1;
blarCh if, l8gh, p. 1+.

120Ibid., March 11, 1879, p. A. In 1900 the
editor of the Farmer stated that "Marketing the pro-
ducts of the farm is just as important as growing them

0 O o O 0" Ibid., June 16, 1900, p. [+600

 

90
121
tities sold, and the prices received.

Other ways in which the Farmer sought to aid
Michigan agriculture's financial status included agi-
tation for lower freight and interest rates, warnings
against frauds, the giving of farm legal advice, and
the advocacy of more farm account keeping.

Early in the 'seventies, the paper argued for
lower freight rates, saying that the charge of $150
for shipping a carload of cattle from Detroit to New
York was three times what it should have been. Great-
er regulation Of canals and railroads to safeguard the
interests Of the shipper was urged.122 At about the
same time, the paper believed the state legislature
should lower the legal rate Of interest, which the
Galesburg Grange had resolved should not exceed 7 per-

123

cent.

In the 'nineties the Farmer urged that a grain
inepectiOn system be set up at the marketing terminals
to protect shippers from fraud. It cited instances in
'which grain was mixed with other grain so as to lower
the true grade and, thus, to defraud the shipper. Also,
‘the editor stated, better grading would encourage

lfarmers to market higher quality grain. The paper

121Ibid., Jan. 9, 1904, pp. 31-35.

122~ _
Ibid., Feb. A, April 8, 1871, pp. 36, 108.

12311318., Oct. 10, 1876. p- 3213 Marc“ 4' 1878’

p. 1+.

91
also called for "public scales at every railroad
station as a protection to producers against the
trickery and dishonesty of buyers."124
Feeling that "wool has simply been talked
down,” Johnstone in 1872 urged his readers to hold
their wool for higher prices.125 A recovery in prices
occurred a short time later and lasted long enough
to vindicate his stand and bring him praise.126 His
advice to wool growers that year was similar to what
he told them when he was editor in 1859.127 In 1883
A. C. Glidden, a correspondent, warned farmers to dis-
count reports on crop conditions supplied by "middle-

men," whom he said were trying to depress the mar-

ket .128

Warnings against frauds and dishonest buyers
are sprinkled through all volumes of the Farmer. Per-
sons aginst whom readers were warned included unscrupu-
lous peddlers, hog buyers known to give short weights,
sellers of shoddy merchandise, ”slick" lightning rod

salesmen, sellers Of poor varieties of seed, and

 

12“Ibid., Dec. 27, 1890, p. A; Aug. 22, 1896,

p. 12.
132, 180, 132"."
126Ibid., Jan. 20, 1874, p. 20.

127See page 33 of this thesis.

125Ibid., April 25, June 6, July A, 1872, pp.

128Farmer, Oct. 16, 1883, p. l.

92
”tricky" portrait agents and magazine subscription
salesmen.1291n one instance, the Eggggg fearlessly
exposed what seemed to be an attempt of one of its
advertisers, a saw manufacturer, to defraud a sub-
scriber.
A department dealing with farm legal matters
was begun in 1879 under the direction of Henry A.
Haigh, a Dearborn lawyer.131
The editors Of the Eggggg were aware of the
business nature of Michigan agriculture, and no better
statement of their philosOphy is that which appeared
in 1899 under the heading, ”The Farmer Must be a
Business Man": 7
The farmer is no longer an isolated individual
whose sole business is to produce staples to feed
and clothe the world. He is a part. . . . of the
business world. Upon his labors and theirlggsults
hang the greatest industrial enterprises.
The “new” farmer was urged to study other things than
the production of crops and livestock. These included
marketing, banking, farm accounting, and other business

subjects.133

 

129Ibid., Oct. 27, Nov. 17, Dec. 1, 8, 187A,
588?, pp. 1, 1;; Nov. 26, 19014., p. #11; Jan. 6, 1906,
IP- ‘

O
13 Ibid., Jane 2, 1888, p. the

131Ibid., June 3, 1879, p. 7.
l 2
3 Ibid., Ag. 26, 1899, p0 11+60

133Ibid., June 16, 1900, p. A60; Jan.h, 1908, p.1.

93

The Mighiggg Farmer stated firmly at various
times that it was not the advocate of any political
party and that it did notwish to meddle in politics.

Its policies relating to the tariff, the currency
issue and on some other tOpics, however, leave little
doubt in the reader's mind but that the editors were
Republicans. At all times, the paper advocated a high
tariff wall against foreign agricultural productsEJBh
The editors, also, were unmoved by the arguments of
the Greenbackers and, later, the POpulists; they pre-
ferred to maintain a hard-money policy.135 As for the
issues in the election of 1896, the Eggggg stated its
position thus: "It believes in bi-metallism that will
be such in fact--- with silver and gold in general use,
and every dollar of each maintained at its face value."
Then, in the same editorial, after a reference to the
necessity Of preserving "law and order," the editor
abruptly terminated the subject of campaign issues by

stating, "Discussions of political questions at this

time. . . . when a heated campaign is in progress, we

 

13“Ibid., May 6, 1871, p. A; Jan. 22, 1878,
p. A; Dec. 1A, 1886, p. A; Aug. 8, 1896, p. 88; March

1351bid., Oct. 27, 187A, p. 340; April 5,
1890, p. if; Dec. 11+, 1895, p0 3760

—’—--

<I. lull‘ll‘llll

1 c Ill..\

9A

136

feel, would accomplish no good. After the election,

the Farmer admonished its readers, "now, go to work.”

The editorial was entitled, "Be Conservative and Be

Industriousl"137

Coincidental with, and contributing to, the
emergence of the farmer as a business man were the great
improvements in transportation and_communication facili-
ties that occurred after 1880. By the end of the nine-
teenth century, emphasis on the traditional steam
railroad had shifted to the electric interurban, with
some attention being given to better highways and

country roads.
The Farmer, though critical of freight rates,

strongly favored the extension of railroads throughout

136
Ibid., Aug. 8, 1896, p. 88. The Farmer in

the preceding issue had announced Bryan's nomination

and had printed, without editorial comment, the text of
the Democratic platform. Ibid., Aug. 1, 1896, p. 72.

It is of interest to note the reluctance Of the paper

to show any support for POpulism. At the same time, it
printed accounts of distress in Michigan caused by low
grain and livestock prices. Yet there is no indication
that the editor believed relief might be obtained through
measures advocated by the POpulists. A. C. Bird, in his
department on farmers' clubs, wrote of “Tens of thousands
of farmers' homes in Michigan, where ruin stares the in-
mates in the face; where the mortgage is an ever-
present thought by day and a restless dream by night;
where unpaid interest has become.a flaming sword; . .

. . where even the necessities are cruelly curtailed'
beyond all bounds of reason; . . . . where the children
will be kept from school, from church. . . . because no
money can be Spared to buy them prOper clothing.” Ibid.,
Aug. 29, 1896, p. 1A1. After nearly four years of fall-
ing prices, better prices came in September. 1896.

137Ibid., Nov. 1A, 1896, p. 32A.

 

95

the state and supported them in other ways. In the
first issue Of the new series, Johnstone urged
support for railroads because of their part in help-
ing to develOp the backward areas of the state.138
Later, he stated, ”The true interests of Michigan are
intimately connected with her railroads.” 139 The
editor in 1879 stated that the construction of narrow-
gauge railroad lines might be ideal for the interior
of the state because, he believed, such lines would be
cheaper to build.“0 The paper defended the Michigan
Central in its reluctance to build a prOposed over-
pass in Detroit, saying that the city should build
the structure because of the benefit it received from
the railroad.lhl

The editor of the Fggger enthusiastically de-
scribed some new railroad features in 1879. In the
“new'hotel cars” on the Chicago and Northwestern line,
‘”the kitchens are so arranged that no fumes from cook-
ing viands can reach the occupants of the berths."142

4A.new'type of livestock car, put in use that same year,

138

1218;. April 28. 1900, p. 330.
1 x
39.1.9191... Jan-6. 187A, p. A.
IhQIQiQe. May 6. 1879, p. 1.
1A1

Ibid., Jan. 6, 187A, p. A.
lthbid., Feb. 27, 1877, p. 7.

96

permitted feeding and watering livestock without the
necessity of unloading the animals each time.ll+3

It is possible that the Farmer's cordiality
towards railroads may have been influenced by the
policy then generally Observed by railroads of pre-
senting passes to editors, clergyman and other per-
sons considered influential.

About 1880 interest was shown in better
country roads, and from that time on the Farmer de-
voted an increasing amount of space to articles and

1AA

editorials urging improved roads. "Good roads en-
courage socialability," asserted A. C. Glidden, corms-
spondzenta 1 of the paper. He explained how improved
-roads would pay for themselves because farmers could
haul heavier loads.ll+5

At first there was some argument over the
Inerits ofhiring professional road builders, one per-
son stating that such individuals would likely be-
come "political hacks."lhé Later it was realized

that road-building was an undertaking which required

 

1h31bid., Aug. 1A, 1877, p. 1.

1“}Ibid., Nov. 23, 1880, p. 5; Feb. 22, 1881,
;p. 1; March IA, 1896, p. 182.

1[+5Ibid., May 5, 1881, p. l.
1A6
Ibid., Feb. 13, 1879, p. 2.

 

I!

97

more attention than farmers could give during their
Spare time. In 1888, the Farmer Sponsored a series
of articles on road-building by Professor R. C. Car-
penter, a member of the Agricultural College facultg?
The county road systems came into being after
passage of state legislation in 1893, which had been
sought by bicycling enthusiasts. Progress was slow,
however, for many years¥h8In 1897 Frank Hodgman, of
Climax, who was in charge of some road construction
in that part of the state, pointed out the fallacy of
laying out roads to coincide with section lines. He
criticized, also, the needless cutting of shrubs and
trees and the prevailing practice of piling the dirt
high in the center of the roadbed. As for the future
of paved roadways, he stated:
I believe there are but few country roads in
Michigan that will ever require or pay for paving
of any kind. The railroads will continue to carry

the heavy trafficlpgtween large places even more
than they do now.

 

lwlbid” March 9, 1888, p. 1. One correspon-
dent, in arguing for systematic care of the roads,
stated that good roads would aid morality by eliminat-
ing the possibilities for swearing when teams became
mired. Ibid., Nov. 12, 1892, p. A.

ll'b8M. M. Quaife and Sidney Glazer, Michigan:
From Primitive Wilderness 39 Industrial Commonwealth
(Prentice-Hall, Inc.: New York, 19A85, pp. 29A-295.
The Michigan Farmer acquired a bicycle dealership in
1895 and sold 136 models in July of that year. The
prices were 8A5 for men's and 8A8 for ladies' models.
F er, Aug.3, 1895, p. 72; April 25, 1896, p. 285. -

ltharmer, Sept. 25, 1897, pp. 21113-2150

97

more attention than farmers could give during their
spare time. In 1888, the Farmer sponsored a series
of articles on road-building by Professor R. C. Car-
penter, a member of the Agricultural College facultgf
The county road systems came into being after
passage Of state legislation in 1893, which had been
sought by bicycling enthusiasts. Progress was slow,
however, for many years8781n 1897 Frank Hodgman, Of
Climax, who was in charge of some road construction
in that part of the state, pointed out the fallacy of
laying out roads to coincide with section lines. He
criticized, also, the needless cutting of shrubs and
trees and the prevailing practice of piling the dirt
high in the center of the roadbed. AS for the future
of paved roadways, he stated:
I believe there are but few country roads in
Michigan that will ever require or pay for paving
of any kind. The railroads will continue to carry

the heavy trafficlpgtween large places even more
than they do now.

 

1h71bid., March 9, 1888, p. 1. One correspon-
dent, in arguing for systematic care of the roads,
stated that good roads would aid morality by eliminat-
ing the possibilities for swearing when teams became
mired. Ibid., Nov. 12, 1892, p. A.

178M. M. Quaife and Sidney Glazer, Michigan:
From Primitive Wilderness 39 Industrial Commonwealgg
(Prentice-Hall, Inc.: New York, 19A85, pp. 29A-295.
The Michigan Farmer acquired a bicycle dealership in
1895 and sold 136 models in July Of that year. The
prices were 8A5 for men's and 8A8 for ladies' models.
F er, Aug.3, 1895, p. 72; April 25, 1896, p. 285. —

lLpgli'armer, Sept. 25, 1897, pp. 21A-215.

98

Editors of the Farmer believed that there was
a great future ahead for electric trolley lines serving
rural residents. This type of transportation was ex-
pected to cause freight rates to be lowered and would
do away with the necessity of building many eXpensive
country roads.”0
. By 1897, the Farmer, which in 1876 had been
non-committal on the prOpOsition of digging a Ship
canal across lower Michigan, now Opposed the project,
which it was estimated would cost $15 million.”1

As indicated previously, the tranSportation
possibilities of the automobile were not realized.
In 1898, the Farmer stated that there were ”a few,
perhaps a half dozen" horseless carriages in Opera-
tion, but that the kerosene and gasoline types had
been failures. The editor Speculated that perhaps
electricity might be used as a source of power].'52 The
paper continued to look at the automobile rather criti-
cally for several years after 1900, as shown by a
headline, "The Deadly Automobile,” and such expressions

as "auto fiendsF and "auto bums or tourists who do not

1
act like gentlemen on country roads." 53 The editor

 

15Olbid., Nov. 13, 1897, p. 362; Jan. 7, 1899,

15llbid., Jan. A. 1876. p- h: Oct-2:3397v19°239°
152Ibid., July 30, 1898. P- 75-

1
531239,, Sept. 31, 190A, p. 159; Aug. 19,26,
1905, pp. 129, 1A9.

p. 10.

99

in 1905 advocated passage of laws to curb "the crimi-
nally careless and irresponsible auto 'scorcher' who
is unfortunately too common."15h I

Two innovations of the 'nineties which had a
great influence upon Michigan rural life were supported
wholeheartedly by the Fggmer. These were the inaugu-
ration of rural free delivery in 1896 and the rapid
extension of telephones in the rural areas after the
expiration of the original Bell patents in the early
'nineties. -
7 The R. F. D. began an experimental Operation
out of the Climax post office on December 2, 1896, and
the two carriers, in horse-drawn carts, traveled
routes of 22 and 27 miles in length. These routes in
Michigan were two of the earliest to be established
in the United States. The cost of the service for the
first two months was $97.2A, or 1.15 cents for each
piece of mail delivered.155 The Fggggg_was pleased
over the results of the experiment, but expressed sur-
prise at the reluctance of the metr0politan daily
newspapers to encourage the R.F.D., as the new ven-

« 156
ture would surely help them increase circulation.

 

‘ISthid., April 15, 1905, p. 382.

155%., MarCh 27, 1897, p0 2370

1 6-
5 Ibid., Nov. 13, 1897, p. 371; Jan. 28, 1899,
p. 78. Agitation for inauguration Of a parcel post
system began in the Farmer shortly after 1900. Ibid.,
Nov. 28, 1903, p.A02; Dec. 31, 190A, p.529.

100

Many articles were printed in the Farmer on
how to organize and construct rural telephone systegg.
In commenting on the rapid extension of the lines,
the editor stated in 1899, "Farmers report that noth-
has given them greater value for the expenditure than
the telephone, for a line once started with half a
dozen telephones soon spreads throughout the entire

158 The telephone was destined to be of great

county.”
value to shippers of livestock and producers of horti-
cultural products, the Fggger believed. Said the edi-
tor, ‘These two inventions, the telephone and the
trolley line, will revolutionize farming in the older
states and put the farmer and business man in entirely
new relations to what they were a few years ago."159
Use of the telephone was not restricted to
business Or social calls, as was illustrated by the
experience of a group of farmers and their wives
living near Leslie, in the winter of 1901. The Eggpgg
reported that bad weather had ruined the plans of
nineteen families to hold a meeting to organize a
local Grange. One day all members of the group who

shared the same party line were contacted and they

 

l571bid., July 8, 1899, p. 17; July 26, 1902,

. 160.
p lSBIbido, Aug. 26, 1899, p0 1,4,6.

1591b18., Sept. 1, 1900, p. 1A6.

101
agreed to organize via telephone. Within a Short
time, the necessary business was transacted, officers
were elected, and the Telephone Grange of Leslie, as
it became known, was in existence. To announce future
telephone ”meetings,“ the group agreed to use a gener-
al call of ”eight longs."160

The alertness of the Michigan Farmer in report-
ing the formation of the Telephone Grange was typical
of its policy Of supporting the activities Of farmers'
organizations. Perhaps the fact that Robert Johnstone
was an officer of the Michigan State Agricultural Soci-
ety may explain in part the attention he and Gibbons
gave to all farmers' groups.

During their frequent trips about the state,
Johnstone and Gibbons in the 'seventies addressed or-
ganizations which they described as "farmers' clubs.”
They urged the formation of more similar groupiélThese,
later, were known Officially as Farmers' Clubs. In
1879 Johnstone proudly announced that the state had
fifty-three agricultural, horticultural and "mechani-
cal” associations which held annual exhibitions and
twenty-two others that met periodically to discuss

62 ,
various tOpics.1 The first local Orange in Michigan

 

16011148.. Jan. 5, 1901, p. 18.

16,lIbid., June 20, 1872, p. 193; March 11,

1873, p. 81; Feb. 10, 1871+, p0 All-o
2Ibid., Feb. 13, 1879, p. 2.

102

came into being in 1872 in Lapeer County, and the
State Grange was organized at Kalamazoo the following
year, at a meeting attended by about 500 members repre-
senting twenty subordinate Granges.1631n January, 187A,
the Farmer began the inclusion of a regular weekly
department, "Patrons of Husbandry," which was renamed
”Grange Department" in 1897 and greatly expandedféh
The first regular Farmers' Club was formed in June,
1879, in the home of A. c. Glidden, Michigan Eggggg
correSpondent living near Paw Paw.165 In one issue in
August, 1897, material concerning the Grange and
Farmers' Clubs filled a total of fifteen and one-half
columns.166

A regular department, "Associated Farmers'
Clubs,” was started in 1896. A part of the Space Occu-
pied in each issue was devoted to furthering the dis-

cussion program Of the clubs. Each month a different

 

163Ibid., Oct. 27, 1900, p. 315.

16“Ibid., Jan. 9, 1897, pp. 22-23.
165Ibid., June 2A, 1899, p. A7A. In discuss-
ing the history and achievements of the Ingham County
Farmers' Club, organized in the 'seventies, Dr. Eben
Mumford stated, “The farmer's club is probably the
Oldest type of local farm organization. It seems never
to have been promoted, having neither national nor
state organizers, butgrowing as it were, spontaneously
out of the social and economic needs of the farm
peOple. It is the only farm organization that meets
regularlyat the homes of its members, and it is prob-
able that this has had much to do with the interest in
the organization, and with its long and useful service
to the agriculture of the state. Ibid., Jan. 30, 1926,

PO 131.
66Ibid., Aug. 21, 1897, pp. 118-119, 130-131.

103

tOpic was announced and background material presented
which was intended to be helpful to those persons
participating.167 These tOpics embraced a wide range
of interest and revealed some of the more controver-
sial issues of the day. Included from 1898 to 190A
were these: ”The Present Rural School System--- How
Can It Be Improved,” ”Dairy and Pure Food Laws and
the Farmer's Relaticn Thereto," "The Farmer's Duty
Regarding the Temperance Question,“ "Governmental Own-
ership of Public Utilities,” ”The Farmer as a Business
Man," ”Should Higher Education Draw FarmerS' Sons and
Daughters Away From the Farm?," and ”Education of
WOmen."168 .

Though the Farmer was generous in devoting
I Space to the activities of organizations, including
the work of the State Agricultural Society in promot-
ing the State Fair, it was critical of some things that
occurred at the fair. In particular, the editors
criticized the fair management for permitting ”cheap
and vulgar shows" and gambling to have choice spots on

the grounds. They urged that fair activities should be

centered more upon agriculture and that less emphasis

 

167Ibid., March 21, 1896, pp. 192-193.

1681mm, April 2, May 21, 1898, pp. 266, A06,
A26; Jan. 17, 1903, p. 60; Feb.6, April 2, 190A, pp.
128, 336; Aug. 27, 1901+, p. 1500

10A
169
be placed on "fakirs and freaks."

The State Fair was not the only agency criti-
cized by the Farmer for allowing other activities and
interests to supplant agricultural matters, in the
judgment of the editor. In the 'nineties, the Agri-
cultural College, now Michigan State College, was
criticized by Gibbons for neglecting agricultural in-
. struction. At that time, June, 1891, the "college
bill" was being held up in the Legislature because,
according to Gibbons,

A well-defined belief exists that the College is
getting further away each year from the purpose
for which it was founded, and that agricultural
instruction, such as will fit young men for the
practical duties of farm life, is being more and
more ignored. . . . . It [the college] is getting
away from the peOple.17O. . and therefore is re-
garded with distrust.

At other times during the period 1869 to 1908,
the Farmer was critical of policies and actions of the
State Board of Agriculture, governing body of the

college. These included the dismissal Of Samuel John-

 

169Ibid., Oct. 15, 1898, p. 286; Oct. 6, 1900,
p. 2A6; Oct. 5; 1901, p. 2A2; Sept. 17, 190A, p. 202.

170Ibid., June 27, 1891, p. A. A few issues
later, the editor of the Farmer quoted State Senator
John Bastone as saying, "more practical knowledge was
obtained from one dollar by subscribing for the Michigan
Farmer than we derived from the thousands we spend on
the Agricultural College.” The senator Opposed the
construction of a new greenhouse. Ibid., Aug. 22, 1891,
p. A. .

105
son, Professor of Agriculture, the authorization for
the establishment Of a new weekly newspaper at the
College, and the delay in establishing more short
courses.171 It must be stated, however, that through
the years the College has had no better friend than
the Michigan Farmer. Both Johnstone and Gibbons
warmly endorsed most of the policies and activities
of the school, and were always quick to defend it
when the school was attacked.172 Typical Of those
defenses was that which was made by Johnstone in
1871, in explaining why the College did not give
satisfaction to all Michigan farmers. He ascribed
the dissatisfaction to misunderstandings and a prone-
ness on the part of many persons "to convert the
least appearance of a blemish into an unpardonable

173

error.”

The Farmer supported the College's policy of

requiring manual labor, even though the editor acknow-

 

1711bid., Aug. 10, 1889, p. A; Jan. 11, April
11, 1896, pp. 25, 2A . The Farmeg criticized Governor
Begole's appointment of E. w. Rising and William L.
Walter to the State Board of Agriculture, in 1883. The
editor said that Rising's spelling ability was faulty
as shown by his writing the words ”foridge" and "forr-
itch” when he submitted his report as superintendent
of the For e Department of the Michigan State Fair in
1881 and 18§2. Ibid., Feb. 13, 1883, p. A.

172Ibid., June 12, 1869, p. 36; March 30, 1875,
pp. 68, 97; Jan. 2A, 1887, p. A; March 31, 189A, p. 200.

 

1731bid., July 1, 1871, p. 200.

106
ledged that farm-reared boys likely didn't profit
from it. If the State Board of Agriculture were to
abolish the policy, the paper feared such a move would
"abrogate the sympathies of the agricultural class,
as indicating a desire to ape the University where
science is taught theoretically and manual labor dis-
17A

credited."
The College's inauguration of farmers' insti-

tutes in 1875 and short courses in 189A was praised

by the Farme§250ccasionally, the paper published di-

gests of pertinent College bulletins, and in 1899 a

regular question-and-answer department was started.

In this department members of the College faculty

answered questions submitted by farmers.176 The editor

felt that many bulletins might be improved by simpli-

fication of the vocabulary used and they would, thus,

be more useful to farmers. He believed that the reform

might be accomplished through a committee of the Asso-

ciation Of Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations,

which would,

urge upon the faculties of Colleges and Experiment
Stations the necessity Of using the simple English
terms in their bulletins, SO that they may be under-
stood by everyone. Some of the bulletins read as

 

l“Ibid., June 15, 1895, p. 380.

, 175Ibid., Feb. 9, Nov. 16, 1875, pp. AA, 357;
Jan. 13, 189A:"p. l7.

l761bido, Aug. 12, 1899, p. 1060

107

as if the parties preparing them were more anxious
to display their knowledge of Latin and acquaintance
with high-sounding but little used English words,
than to convey information. There has been consid-
erable improvement in this respect within the past
ten years, but it can be extended further without
injury to the reputation of the professors and to
the great advantage of the farmer and horticulture
let. The entomologists, eSpecially those connected
with experiment stations, have wisely discarded a
great many technical terms in their bulletins,

and have given pOpular as well as scientific names
to the various insects they write about. . . . .
such bulletins are primarily intended to give in-
formation upon the subjects treated, not to furnish
an Opportunity for a display of the wonderful knowl-
edge Of the writers.1

In 1897 the editor-of the Farmer evaluated the
worth of the College during its four decades of exis-
tence, and set forth several objectives of agricultur-
al education. Said he:

We believe there is such a thing as an agri-
cultural problem. . . . . this problem is serious
. .1. : .ithe future.condition of the farmers.of
this country is to be . . . . the criterion Of
our success as a nation. Our thought for the agri-
cultural college is that it must solve this agri-
cultural problem. Thus, the true function Of the
college is to educate farmers. There are three
phases to the education which farmers should re-
ceive. First, the farmer must be educated in
business. . . . including 1. Cheaper production;
2. A diversification of production; 3. Wider mar-
kets and a better distribution of farm products.
The second necessity of education for the farmer
is that he be educated as a man. This means his
social and intellectual advancement. . . . . The
third line. . . .is as a citizen. He must be po-
litically trained, in the best sense of the term
. . . . . The college must touch the farmers at
all points. Insofar as it fails to do this, it
fails Of its mission. Insofar as the college be-
comes a follower instead of a leader it misses
its Opportunity. The college must not be theo-

 

177Ibido, May 8, 1897, p0 3660

108

retical. It must not keep too far ahead of the
peOple. But it must be a leader. . . . . The next
forty years ought to bring to the college, in a
vastly increased degree, more of influence and
power among the farming peOple Of the State. 8
The Farmer Opposed intercollegiate athletic
participation by students at the Michigan Agricultur-
al College on the grounds that it would make them over-
train, neglect their studies, and likely would under-
mine their health. Especially did the editor deplore
the playing of football, which he regarded as'the most

brutal form of sport in existence.”l79

Promotion of better rural living was a policy

of the Farmer since its founding. The means by which

 

178Ibid., May 29, 1897, p. A26. A few years

later, in writing about the value of agricultural ex-
periment stations, the editor stated: "There is probably
no other department or line of work in which public
moneys are eXpended in which the results attained are

of more immediate economic benefit to the farmers of
the country than the state experiment stations. To these
institutions the practical farmer has come to look -
for information which be obtained only by scientific
research work or exhaustive experimentation, which he
himself cannot make or which is too expensive for him
to undertake on his own account. . . . . Our own Michi-
gan experiment station is not the least helpful of

these beneficient institutions."Ibid., May 16, 1908,

p. 508. 1

79Ibid., Nov. 6, 1897, p. 339; July 21, 1900,
p. A0. In 1900 the paper reported that "Owing to the
poor condition of the football team, the Athletic As-
sociation of the College has directed the manager
of the team to cancel the remaining engagements with
other college teams."Ibid., Nov. 10, 1900, p.3A5. This
would indicate that football, at least, was not being
over-emphasized at the College.

‘IIIAIIIIIII

 

109

this improvement was to be effected and the goals of
the program were changed as farming progressed more
and more from a pioneer status. During the period
under consideration, the paper gave its support liber-
ally to a wide range of subjects concerning rural
life and health. Included were articles and editori-
als on better home construction, beautification of

the farmstead, improvement of farm sanitation, person-
al health, prevention of accidents, recreation and
self-improvement.

Articles on home construction included the
selection of the site, house architecture, and heatingéo
In 1896 plans were given for ”a cheap and convenient
house” which the author stauad could be built for about
$1,200. Its dimensions were 2A by 29 feet, and it had

four rooms on the first floor and four bedrooms on the

181
second.

In addition to encouraging the planting Of more
flowers, the Farmer urged its readers to take greater
advantagee of their Opportunities to have beautiful
lawns. They were also told how to make the grounds

around their homes more attractive by planting native

 

180Ibid., May 2, 1878, p. 3; Feb. 16, July 27,
Aug. 3, 1886, pp. 2, l, A; Jan. 25, 1896, p. A9; June
11, 1898, p. A57; July 29, 1899, p. 66; Dec. 3, 190A,

p. A21.
181-Ibid., Jarlo 25, 1896, p. [+90

110
trees and shrubs.182 During the first decade of the
twentieth century the Farmer sought to encourage
more attractive farmsteads by regularly printing
photographs of attractive farm homes.

The need for better farm water supplies was
recognized by Johnstone as early as 1871, and plans
were printed, showing the construction of a water
filter.183 Other articles and editorials on sanita-
tion included those on selection of a well site, use
of window screens to keep out flies, building of sani-
tary privies, and the desirability of having bathing
facilities in the house.181+ Owing to a lack of con-'
venient power for pumping, not many water systems
were in use on Michigan farms prior to 1910, and no
mention of septic tanks was made until after 1900885
The ease with which farmers might store ice during the

winter for warm weather use was pointed out periodi-

cally, beginning as early as 1880. As the state's dairy

 

182 '
Ibid., May 15, 1869, p.3; Jan. 20, 187A, p.
17; Jan. 2,.1877, p. 3; June 13, 1878, p. 3; Feb. 18,
March A, 11, 1879, pp. 3, 3, 3; May 16, 1882, p. 1;
July A, 1887, p. 1; Oct. 19, 1895, p. 2A2; April 18,
1903, p. 3A5; March 12, 190A, p. 237.

1831b1do, Aug. 5, 1871, p0 2420
8
‘ l #Ibldo, June 30, Sept. 15, 137A, pp. 205,
293; May 17, 1881, p. 7; Sept. 18, 1897, p. 189; Sept.
23, 1899, p. 223; May 28, 190A, p. 506. '

1851bid., Sept. 2A, Oct. 15, 190A, pp. 21A,
273-27A.

111

production increased in the 'nineties and after 1900,
many dairymen were glad to have such a cheap source
of refrigeration for keeping milk and cream cool].-86

Material concerning health and the prevention
of accidents included first aid suggestions, warnings
of potential danger spots and practices on the farm,
endorsement of the work of Dr. R. C. Kedzie in pro-
moting the marketing of "safe” kerosene, and the ex-
posure of vendors of dangerous prOprietary remedies
and persons engaged in food adulteration.187

In the 'seventies, Johnstone and the conductor
of a regular department on health, Dr. C. Henri Leonard,
named a number Of proprietary remedies and cosmetics
which they said were hazardous to health. Many Of the
compounds were said to contain Opium, lead and other
substances likely to produce ill effects if taken in-
ternally or applied to the skin. As a result of those
exposures, a Buffalo remedy manufacturer, Dr. R. V.

Pierce, published a pamphlet for circulation in Michi-
gan which libeled Johnstone. The latter brought suit

 

186Ibid., Nov. 9, 1880, p. 1; March 3, 189A,
p. 126; Jan. 25, Feb. 8, 1896, pp. A9, 90; Feb. 6,
1897, pp. 67-70; March 12, 190A, p. 238; Jan. 20, 1906,

. 25.
p 187lbid., Nov. 1, Dec. 29, 187A, pp. 367, A09;
Jan. 18, 1876, p. 23; Jan. 2, 9, March 6, 1877, pp. 7,
7, 7; Feb. 18, 1879, p. A; April 6, 1880, p. A; Jan.
6, 13, 189A, pp. 1, 2A; Nov. 16, 1895, p. 312; Jan.
27, 1900, p. 72; April 30, May 21, 190A, pp. A15, A9A.

112

for damages and was awarded $200888

Before the enactment, about 1900, of stringent
laws relative to adulteration of food, mis-labeling
and the addition of other materials to packaged foods
seem to have been commonly done and the consumer had
little or no protection. In 1880 the Farmer urged the
legislature to enact anti-adulteration measures. In
the early 'nineties progress was made with the organi-
zation of the State Dairy and Food Commission. The
paper supported the work and, in one editorial, cited
the instance of a sample of coffee which was found to
contain 12 percent coffee, 20 percent wheat or barley,
and 68 percent peas or beans. Some jellies were said to
contain hydrochloric acid. The results of these analyses,
the editor stated, ”must be astonishing to many peOple
in this city [Detroit] , where wholesale food adultera-
tion has been carried on for years as a legitimate

business."189

In addition to showing concern for the physical
well-being of Michigan rural residents, the editors and
correSpondents of the Farmer believed that peOple

should Spend more time in social contacts and in self-

 

188Ibid., Jan. 2, 9, March 6, May 1, 1877, pp,
7, 7, 7, 1; March 26, 1878, p. A.

189Ibid., April 6, 1880, p. A; Jan. 6, 189A,
p. 1; NOV. 16, 1895, p. 312.

113

improvement. A. C. Glidden, a correspondent living
near Paw Paw, in 1883 urged that farmers Spend more
time together socially, because "This mingling to-
gether shakes Off the dust Of farm labor, brightens
the intellect, and fills the mind with fresh ideas
to be worked out in the practical affairs Of farm
lire."190

‘ Occasional announcements were made of musical
instruments, such as "solid walnut" reed organs, which
could be purchased for $65 and which "would be file
means Of providing pleasure for young and Old.”191
Later, towards the end of this period, the Farmer
became the agent for violins and guitars, priced at
‘ 192

$3.50 each, and pianos at $180. A ”concert" model
Edison phonograph was advertised in 1899 for 8100,
and eight years later a similar machine and twelve
records could be Obtained for only $2 a month, or un-
til 827.20 had been paid.193
The Eggggg in 1882 listed the titles of about
eighty-five books for which it was an agent. The aver-

age price was 81.75, and the offering embraced the

 

190Ibid., Feb. 6, 1883, p. 1.

l l
9 Ibid., MarCh 23, 1880, p. 80

1921b;8., July 23, 1898, p. 63.
193Ibid., Nov. 25, 1899, p. A03; Jan. 19, 1907,
p. 72; Aug. 21+, 1907, p0 121+.

11A

following general tOpics: ”Travel and Adventure,"Bi-
ography and History," "Agricultural and Practical,"
”War Books,” "Medical Books," "Religious Books," and

19A

"Humorous Works." In the late 'nineties, an agent

for the Farmer, B. A. Wood, ascribed the rapid adOption
of improved methods and labor-saving devices to the
"increased tendency for sound reading matter. . . .
and the average farmer reads more and better litera-
ture than the average resident of our towns and cities.
It is no uncommon thing to find a farmer who is taking
one or more farm journals, several newspapers and one
or two leading magazines."195 The editor in 190A, in
recommending the cultivation of better reading habits,
warned that two common practices were bad--- that Of
not having a skeptical attitude as one read and a
carelessness in skimming over the pages in search of
interesting items. He said that peOple should read
material that would help to educate them.

In promoting better rural living, the Egggg;
has almoSt always recognized in some manner the im-
portance of the housewife's work. Since its earliest

years, as mentioned in the previous chapter, the paper

printed material selected for the farm woman's interest

 

lghlbid., July 25, 1882, p. 1.

195Ibid., Jan. 2, 1897, p. 1.

196Ibid., April 23, 190A, p. A00.

115

and enlightenment. To be sure, much of this material,
varying in quantity and quality from issue to issue,
would have little appeal today. Before home economics
education cametobarecognized as an essential subject
in the public schools and in higher education, the
articles and advice directed to the housewife were
inclined to philosOphical or didactic rather than
scientific. This was true of most of the "household"
or ”domestic" material which appeared in the Farmer
until about the turn of the century.

The household section of the Farmer during
the period under consideration was greatly improved
from what it had been before the Civil War. The tra-
ditional manner of selecting and presenting household
material persisted, however, for a long time. For
several years after 1869, Johnstone had no regular
conductor of the "Household Department,” as the home
economics material was designated. He accepted con-
tributions from readers on their home-making experi-
ences and theories, and selected additional material
from exchange publications. As had been true in the
earlier years, many of the contributions contained
little practical advice but much philOSOphy and moral-
izing.

In the late 'seventies, Elizabeth Gardner began

contributing household material, under the pen-name of

116
"Beatrix." In 1880 she was married to Johnstone, only
a few months before his death. She remained in charge
Of the household department until 1895 and was suc-
ceeded by Mrs. Ella Rockwood, of Flint, who continued
until 1910.197

During the years that Mrs. Johnstone was on
the staff, the paper printed a wide range of miscel-
laneous household hints, recipes, and essays on vari-
ous matters of personal conduct, dress and housekeep-
ing. Starting in 1885, this material was taken out of
the regular part’ of the paper and appeared in an in-
closed supplement, for which an extra charge of 25
cents a year was made. This supplement, which was of
a smaller size than the paper, was discontinued in
189A. After that the household department became a
part of the regular issue and occupied about the
equivalent of two pages each time.

-In addition to the usual sort of Short items
and articles on tOpics relating to food and cooking,
"Beatrix" gave hints on such matters as washing dishes,
removing stains including kerosene spots from rugs,

8
and curing croup.19 Under the heading, "Fashion

 

197Ibid., Oct. 7, 1893, p. A; Jan. 5, 1895, p.
A; Aug. 12,1899, p. 108; Feb. 5, 1910, p. 152.

198Ibid., Dec. 5, 1872, p. 387; Aug. 25, 187A,
1). 271; 001;. 16, 1877, p. 7; Jane 6, 1891+, p. 110

117

Points,” it was mentioned in 187A that "some of the
prevalent styles in evening dresses have necessitated
the revival of the sinful habit of tight lacing."199

As for household furnishing in the 'eighties, "Beatrix"
stated: .

Whatnots are rather 'Out' as parlor furniture,
but will still find favor in-many homes because of
their convenience for displaying small geological
Specimens, shells, mementoes and books. Any room
. . . . is bare without a fegogolumes; they are as
lndiSpensible as the chairs.

About the same time, "Beatrix” urged her read-
ers not to hoard their colorful dishes and good silver-
ware "until the minister comes to tea" but to use them
everyday. "One's own folks ought to be the very ones
for whom the best is none too good,” she observed.201
A few years later, she suggested that left-over sand-
wiches would be good for the family to eat next day,
which might be a questionable practice if the weather
were warm and if the sandwiches had been filled with
food in which bacteria could grow rapidly.202 In des-
cribing how “to sterilize" milk, she was on firm sci-
entific ground when she advocated heating milk to 150
degrees Fahrenheit for fifteen minutes to make it a

safer baby food. Said she, "It is claimed that the

 

199Ibid., Jan. 13, 187A, p. 15.
20°1bid., March 15, 1881, p. 7.
201Ibid., Nov. 1A, 1882, p. 7.

202Ibid., April 28, 189A, p. 266.

118

perils of the dreaded 'second summer' are reduced to
a minimum if babies are fed upon sterilized milk
alone.” 203

Both Mrs. Johnstone and her successor, Mrs.
Rockwood, gave much attention to etiquette and person-
al conduct of women, with emphasis upon the behavior
of young women and girls. "Girls' Rights" was the
heading of one wordy, didactic esSay on the need for
prOperly training the adolescent girl.207 A letter
from "HOpe” expressed the conviction that young girls
needed a room of their own and that they should not
be required to Share a bed with the hired girl.205 In
an article entitled, Ready Made Relatives," readers
were warned of the danger of conflicts with one's "in-
laws" and how to avoid such trouble.206In "HOW'Shall
We Mourn?,' "Beatrix" urged moderation and the exer-
cise of gOOd taste in the selection of mourning cos-

207

tumes and in one's conduct during bereavement.

 

203Ibid., April 28, 189A, p. 267. Mrs. John-
stone's views seemingly were not shared by all Of her
colleagues. A few years later, the editor stated that
"We have several times taken the position. . . . that
the sterilization or Pasteurizing of milk, while per-
haps necessary where its purity was under suspicion,
was really a serious injury, or detracted from its di-
gestibility, especially in the case of infants. Ibid.,

March 1, 1902, p. 178. 7
“Ibid., Feb. 25, 1879, p. 7.

207

Ibid., April 28, 189A, p. 266.

119

In the nineties and after 1900, increased at-
tention was given to better kitchens and kitchen equip-
ment, including stoves and fireless cookers.208 The
Fggger became an agent for oil cooking-stoves in 1896,
and advertised a two-burner stove for $5 and a three-
burner one for $7. In giving advice on how to keep
cool during the hot weather, Mrs. Rockwood urged the
purchase of an Oil or gasoline stove, even though there
was plenty of wood available. Using the old wood- or
- coal-burning stove was "one-sided economy.” Said she,
”It gets to be second nature for some women to save
while their husbands never think of denying themselves
eXpensive machinery, to say nothing of little things
like tobacco and cigars."210

Mrs. Rockwood encouraged a breezy informality
on the part of correSpondents, and she herself Observed
a similar manner in answering questions asked by read-
ers. In giving advice on how to get relief from head-

aches, she told ”a rosy maid whose shoulders and hips

were lazy” to "just loosen your corset laces and sin no

more1'21l

 

208Ibid., May 22, 1897, p. A15; Aug. 19, Sept.
2, 1899, ppL'lI7, 157; Jan. 13, 1900, p. 32; April 23,
190A, p. A06; July 21, Aug. 11, 1906, p. 111; May 16,
1908, p. 51‘}.

2091bid., June 20, 1896, p. A19.
Zlolbido, Allgo 12, 1899, p. 1080

211Ibid., July 7, 1900, p. 10.

120

Indicative of a rising reader reaction against
the traditional type Of household advice, based more
upon theory than practice, was a letter which Mrs. Rock-
wood printed in 1899. In it, "HOpe Daring" castigated
home economics writers who had only a superficial
knowledge Of the subjects on which they wrote. She
cited the instance Of a writer in a national periodi-
cal who advised women to put their oil cooking-stoves
on a ”vine-covered back porch," and who also gave
incorrect directions for making molasses cookies. The
correspondent stated indignantly, "A day may come when
peOple will tell only what they knew. Then the trials
of the woman who like myself believes all she hears

and reads will be lessened."212

Believing that their readers were interested in
other things than the business of agriculture or running
the farm household, the editors of the Farmer during
the years 1869 to 1908 printed a considerable amount of
news and literary material. In addition, many of the

editorials were on subjects only remotely connected with

agriculture.
In the early part of this period, the material

was taken largely from other agricultural publications

or from Detroit newspapers. About two pages were devoted

212lb1d., Aug. 12, 1899, pp. 108-109.

121

each week to non-agricultural material. This was ex-
panded as the size of the paper grew until in 1907 a
”magazine” section was added. The news usually con-
sisted of terse, one-paragraph summaries of important
happenings of the day, such as the kidnapping of
Charlie Ross, the Custer Massacre, death of Jesse
James, the march of Coxey's "Army," Spanish-American
War, and the Drerus case.213
The literary material consisted of fiction in
the form of short stories, a few serials, and some
travel articles. Many poems also were used. Some of
the poems were by Michigan authors, as were a few of
the short stories. Many of the poems were of either
an elegiac or sentimental nature and frequently were
didactic. As a whole, the Fggggg's literary fare
during the period 1869 to 1908, was comparable to that
which appeared in other journals of the time. It is
likely that the only compensation the Michigan poets
received was the satisfaction of seeing their names in
print.
Some indication of the subjects presented in the

fiction may be gleaned from the following titles: "My

Afternoon with the Baby," "A Glasgow Privateersman,”

 

213Ibid., Dec. 22, 187A, p. A07; July 11, 1876,
p. 220; April—11, 1882, p. A; April 21, 189A, p. 2A9:
May 6, 1897, p. 366; May 1A, 1898, p.391; Sept. 2, 1899,
p. 167.

122

"A Great Mistake (love story),” "The Fate of a Fast
Young Man," ”At Gettysburg," "Out of the Jaws of Death,"
"Running a Rebel Picket," "A Rogue's Nemesis," and
"The Baiting of Foolish Ralph."2:u+ A serial which ran
for nineteen weeks in 1893 and 189A was entitled, "In
Dixie's Land Before the War." It was by an anonymous
author and concerned the adventures of a northern man
who sought to marry a mulatto heiress to a Louisiana
plantation. The plot was well planned, but the narra-
tive was marred by wooden dialogue and stiff actiogf
Typical of many of the poems were these: "Only
a Lock of Hair," "Yes, Thou Art with Me," “Drowned,"
”Goodbye Old Home,” "No Night," "The Old Grist Mill,"
FAnd Now Comes Autumn," ”Baby Has Gone to School,” and
“Sale of the Old Farm} In 1886 the Farmer. printed
James Whitcomb Riley's poem, "The Elf Child," later to

217

become famous as "Lil' Orphan Annie." A good example

 

2141mm; Jan. 13.37%, p'LrlA; May 3, 1881. p- 7:
OCt. 2A, 183:, p. 6; Jun. 2 9 890’ P- 6; Feb. 3, lagh'
po 70: March 26. 1904. pp- BIA-315; Jan. A. 1908. pp. 9-

17.
2151bid., Nov. 11, 1893, p. 6, to Jan. 27, 189A,

. 5A.
p 216Ibid., Dec. 5, 12, 26, 1872, pp. 390, 398,
AlA; Feb. 2'7',"'"1873, p. 68; Feb. 13, 1879, pp. 6-7; Oct.
13% 1882, p. 6; Jan. 2, 1901+, p. 12; Sept. 10, 1901+, p.
1 .

217Ibid., Jan. 12, 1886, p. 7. Another example
of a poem by a well known author was "Only a Year" by
Harriet Beecher Stowe. Ibid., Jan. 9, 190A, p. 32.

123

of the sentimental verse was ”Old Letters" by Mary A.
Simpson, of Hartford. This poem, written a short time
before her death, is about an invalid who at first
decided to burn her old letters, as she fears that her
family will not keep them after her death. In the end,
sheycannot bear to destroy them, saying, "I never can
A burn them; I should put out the fire with my tears."218
Typical of several poems, extolling the virtues
of country life, was "Winter on the Farm" by Orlo L.
Dobson. In it the author described the simple pleasures
of working with animals, doing chores, winter recrea-
tion and the joys of childhood on the farm. One stanza,
illustrating the author's rural philOSOphy as well as
his struggle with meter, is,

Such a jolly time is winter

When the ground is white with snow,
And you hear the merry jingle

Of sleigh bells where'er you go;
'Mid the city's rush and rumble
- This glad spell may lose its charm;
But a happy time is winter

0n the farm.21

The major points of the editorial policy of the
Johnstone-Gibbons period and the period of the Lawrence

Brothers up to 1908 have been already treated in con-

 

8
21 Ibid., March 29, 1902, p. 288. Mrs. Simpson,
who died in.1903, was the author of about 150 poems,
which were published after her death. Ibid., Jan. 2,190A,

p. 12.
219Ibid., Jan. 30, 190A, p. 106.

12A

siderable detail. In closing this portion of the history
of the Michigan Eggggg, it seems desirable to mention a
a few of the general non-agricultural policies.

Johnstone was critical of the leaders of the
women's suffrage forces and revealed a somewhat re-
actionary philOSOphy on the subject of female partici-
pation in politics by this statement in 1871, “Women
have a way of drawing conclusions from premises that
are not well established, so it is not safe to place
much reliance upon them."220

Other stands taken by the Farmer during this
period include Opposition to a lottery endorsed by
Governor J. J. Bagley in 187A, endorsement of temper-
ance views held by its correspondents, Opposition to
foreign immigration to Michigan, Opposition to federal
free seed distribution, and Opposition to the annexa-
tion of Hawaii.221 The Farmer Opposed the election of
United States senators by pOpular vote, saying in 1900
that "we need conservatism in the Senate."222 That same

year, the paper Opposed governmental ownership of utili-

ties and expressed Opposition to anything "that smacked

 

22OIbid., March 11, Aug. 19, 1871, pp. 76, 260.

221Ibid., Jan. 27, 187A, p. 28; Jan. 8, 1878,
p.7; April 11, 1887, p. A; April 3, June 26, 1897, pp.
pp. 266, 50A; May 26, 1900, p. A10; Feb. 3, 1906, p.
101+; Jan. 25, 1908, p. 88. -

222Ibid., April 28, 1900, p. 330.

125

of paternalism in government."223

Two editorial stands taken by the paper reflect-
ed the average rural person's attitude toward organized
labor and the legal profession. The editor passed up
few Opportunities to chronicle accounts of organized
labor's committing unpOpular acts, such as engaging
in riOts or destroying prOperty.Zzh In 1886 the paper
Opposed an eight-hour day for Chicago packing house
workers, and approved their returning to work on a
ten-hour day basis.225 Instead of advocating shorter
work-hour days, the Farmer's recipe for success was
for one to work hard and eschew extravagent habits.

An editorial in 1896, "Hard Work and Its Advantagesf

admonished young men,

don't be afraid of hard work. It is the furnace
that separates the dross from the true gold of
manhood, and is the lever which moves all enter-
prises, accomplishes all undertakings, and has
made this world so much etter for the habita-
tion of civilized man.2

Farmers in general have long had a distrust for

 

223Ibid., Dec. 1, 1900, p. A06.

22A:
Ibid., July 31, 1877, p. A; May 11, 1886,

p. 1f; JUly 5, 19, 1902, pp. 8, 1+0; Sept. 26, 1903, p.
222. In an editoria1,entitled "Lacking in Good Sense,"
the editor in 1899 attacked the Chicago brick layer's
union for causing a delay in plans to have President
McKinley lay a cornerstone for a new building because
he was not a member of the union. Ibid., Sept. 23,
1899, p. 226; April 1A, 1900, p. 290.

2251bid., Nov. 9, 16, 1886. ppo h. A;
226Ibid., Oct. 20, 187A, p. 332; Aug. 1: 18969

 

p. 72.

126
lawyers and the processes of law because many times the
latter has been worked in their disfavor, such as in the
case of the nineteenth century patent-use suits,
mortgage foreclosures and other litigation. The Farmer
Opposed increasing the attorney-general's salary from
$800 to $3,500 a year on the ground that, “We regard
the amount of money paid out to courts and lawyers
hblding public position in this country as an outrage
upon the taxpayers and a public scandal."227 A short
time later, in an editorial, "An Oversupply of Law,"
the editor stated, A

There has been let loose on the community about
260 young lawyers, over 200 from the University and
some fifty-odd from the Detroit College of Law. . .
. . We cannot get rid of them as we do with insect
pests or contagious diseases--- by poisonous sprays
or quarantine--- hence, they are becomgng more
dangerous as their numbers increase.22 ~

 

2271bid., March 20, 1897, p. 226.
228Ibid., July 7, 1900, p. 8.

CHAPTER III
MATURITY, l908-19A3

The Michigan Farmer had definitely discarded
its knee breeches by 1908, and during the next three
decades it wore its long trousers with increasing
pride. As he lived out the remainder Of his seventy-
eight years, before his death in 1917,1 Robert Gibbons
undoubtedly must have reflected many times on the
growing up of the sickly infant to which he and Robert
Johnstone had given new life in 1869.

In appearance the Farmer of 1908 was vastly
different from the drab paper of 1869,and even more
”face-lifting" was to occur during the last three
decades of its first century of existence. Halftone
photo-engravings first appeared in the paper in 1895,
but their use was still restricted as late as 1908.
After the first World War, they increased in number and
quality. During the 'twenties the use of color became
common in advertisements, and in 1929 the cover was
printed in colored ink. Improved type faces, designed

to promote ease in reading, were introduced in 1936.

 

1Farmer, Nov. 2A, 1917, p. A86.Gibbons retired
from any connection with the paper in 1903.

127

128

The greatest change in the appearance of the
paper came, however, in 1939, when the method of print-
ing was changed from letterpress to rotogravure. With
the new press equipment, as many as sixty-four pages
could be printed at the same time and at a rate Of
about 18,000 OOpies an hour. It permitted the practi-
cal use of several colors throughout the paper, and
from that time on increased attention was given to the
use of color on the cover and in headlines, as well as
in advertisements. The reproduction of photographs and
other illustrative material was greeted improved by
the new equipment.2

The various improvements in appearance effected
by the staff of the Farmer since 1908 reflected the
constantly improving status of the paper as a business
enterprise. From a circulation of about 80,000 in 1907,
the paper reached a total of more than lA2,000 in 19A32
and might have increased even more if paper supplies
had not been restricted because of the war. AlmOst
ninety-five percent Of the 19A3 circulation was con-

fined to Michigan.“ Advertising rates increased from

 

2Ibid., Nov. 11, 1939, p. 217.

3Audit Bureau of Circulations, Report or

Twelve Months Ending Qgcember 3; 19g; Michigan Farm-
er (Chicago: Audit Bureau of CirOulatiOns, 165 West

'Wacker Drive, March, 19AA), p. 1.

Albid.

 

 

 

129

$A.20 a column-inch in 1901 to $15.40 in 1942.5

Not only did the advertising help make contin-
ued publication of the paper possible, but Editor
Waterbury stated in 1910 that it provided a liberal
education for the readers. Said he:

If you will think back a little, you will recall
the many pieces of first news you have gained
through the advertising columns--- new machines,
new devices, new breeds, new lands, new styles,
new household conveniences, new places to get the
thousand articles that must be bought,and where
to get them cheapest or to the best advantage. .
. . . the large amount of advertising carried,
provided it is high class advertising, is 3 good
feature of a paper, rather than a bad one.

An indication of the prOSperity of a publi-
cation is the number Of pages printed during the year
or during a volume period. From 1908 to 1920, the Size
of the volumes increased until during the six-month
period, January through June, 1920, the number of
pages printed totaled 980, or an average of about 38
pages a week. During the depression in the 'thirties,
the paper changed from a weekly to a bi-weekly fre-

quency? and the number of pages printed during the

 

5Farmer, Oct. 5, 1901, p. 2A2; Michigan Farmer
Rate Card No. 9 (Michigan Farmer, Detroit, Feb. 18,19A2,
effectivg May, 19A2), p. 1.

Farmer, OCt. 29, 191.0, p. 356.

7Ibid.,Jan. 23, 1932, p. 58. In announcing the
change, which was to become effective immediately, Burt
Wermuth stated that the Farmer was following "the ex-
ample of a majority Of similar publications. . . . .
Farm papers, just like farm folks, have some real prob-
lems to meet these days. We must all adjust ourselves
to the conditions which exist." Ibid.

130

period July through December, 1932, declined to 232.
The number of pages per volume increased steadily
after 1933, and A28 pages constituted the volume for
period January through July, l9Al. After the outbreak
of Japanese-United States hostilities, paper supplies
were so drastically reduced that by 19A2 the publishers
were forced either to refuse advertising or to cur-
tail circulation expansion. Early in 19A3 plans were
made to print a special issue to commemorate the cen-
tennial of the paper's founding. Unfortunately, owing
to the paper shortage, the special issue never materi-
alized, even though a considerable amount of promotion-
al effort was expended and much of the special editori-
al OOpy was prepared.

The ngper during the period 1908-A3 changed in
other ways than in appearance. This was indicated by
a content analysis of carefully selected sample of
twenty-four issues published in February, May, August
and November of the years 190A, 191A, 192A, 193A, 1939,
and 19AA. In all, more than 33,000 column-inches were
measured, and more than 16,000 column-inches were clas-
Sified as to subject matter, which was divided into
sixteen main categories and approximately 150 sub-
categories. In brief, the following trends were indi-
cated:

1. An increasing prOportion of Space was de-

131

voted to advertising. In 190A, A8 percent of the paper
was used for advertisements as compared with 55 percent
in 19AA.

2. The amount of space devoted to articles on
the technical asPects of farming decreased approxi-
mately two-thirds from 190A to 19AA. In 190A, more
than AO percent of the editorial Space concerned
articles dealing with technical production in the
fields of agricultural engineering, animal husbandry,
dairy husbandry, poultry husbandry, farm crOps, forest-
ry, horticulture, floriculture, apiculture, and soil
science. By 19AA that percentage had declined to 13.

3. The Space used for the printing of detail-
ed market quotations decreased about nine-tenths. This
probably was the result Of the increasing competition
of daily newspapers and the radio in furnishing last-
minute market news.

A. On the other hand, the amount of Space de-
voted to farm business analysis and agricultural out-
loOk material more than tripled.

5. The amount Of general farm news, such as
local crOp reports, governmental announcements, and
the activities of Special interest groups by 19AA had
increased about four times what it had been in 190A.

6. The amount of material concerning home

economics doubled. In the sub-category, foods and nutri-

132

tion, the amount doubled.8

AS mentioned in the preceding chapter, it is
impossible to separate the story Of the Michigan
Farmer from the story of Michigan agriculture and
farm life. Again, it seems logical and desirable
to present the paper's program and policies for the
period 1908-A3, in approximately the same order as
in the previous chapter:

Agricultural production and marketing, trans-
portation and communication, agricultural organiza-
tions, education, improvement of rural life, "house-
hold" or home economics material, and general news

including literature.

Agricultural production in Michigan during the
period 1908-A3 underwent considerable change in kinds
of crOps grown and livestock raised as well as in
methods employed. Perhaps one of the best examples is
that of winter wheat, which in the 'nineties had been
the state's leading grain crOp. It had continued to
hold leadership since the early times when wheat and
wool were Michigan's most important products. The

decline in wheat acreage began after 1899, when almost

 

8Joseph G. Duncan, "Content Analysis of a State
Farm Periodical, l9OA-AA" (Unpublished seminar paper,
Department of Socidlogy and AnthrOpology, Michigan State

College, 19A5), pp. A-8.

133

2 million acres was harvested. By 1908 the acreage had
declined one-half, and by 19A2 the amount of wheat
grown in the state was only about one-third what it

had been at the turn of the century. Both corn and

oats now outranked it in acreage, production, and in
value. Wheat was also outranked in value in 19A2 by

the potato crOp, estimated to be worth more than $20
million, and by the field bean crop, worth about 5,523

million.9

Michigan farmers since 1900 came more and more
to realize that since the climate could not be changed
to suit a particular crop, then the crOp must be
adapted to the climate. Also, they came to recognize
the potentialities of the state's many soil types for
producing specialized crOps. As a result, there was
a consistent trend towards specialization, and general
farming was much less prevalent in the 19AO'S than in
1900. As the "Thumb" became the center of sugar beet
and field bean production, so did the southwestern

part of the state assert its supremacy in fruit pro-

duction.

 

9Office of Agricultural Statistician, Michigan
Co-Operative CrOp Reporting Service, Lansing, mimeo-
graphed statistics, n. d.; U. S. Department of Agri-
culture and Michigan Department of Agriculture, Crop
Re ort for Michi an, Annual CrOp gag Livestock Summar
('1"E9'A"'3")’ TEEnsing, Jan.'-""Feb'.'," 19AA), pp. 8, 11, .__-611A, 1 ,
21-22, 25.

 

13A

One important Specialized crOp in l9AO, sugar
beets, had only a very small acreage in the years before
1900, and in 1909 it was grown on 78,000 acres and was
valued at about SA million. In 19A2 the crOp occupied
about 138,000 acres, and the production was valued at
more than as million.lo Another Specialized crop came
into its own in the 'thirties. It was the hybrid blue-
berry, a crOp that thrives upon an acid soil, which
heretofore was considered to be of little value for
most types of farming. By the middle of the 'forties
the blueberry crOp brought raisers an annual cash
return of more than $3A5,000.

Illustrative of the Farmer's progressive policy
towards new crOps is the cooperatiOn its editors and
writers gave in promoting alfalfa. It is true that the
paper for many years shared the doubts held by many
farmers concerning the growing of this crop in Michigan.
By 1910, however, eXperimentation had revealed that
adapted strains and systematic use of lime play an im-
portant role in the successful growing of the legume.

A year later, there was an alfalfa "club" in existence

 

10U. S. Department of Agriculture and Michigan
Department of Agriculture, pp. cit., p. 21.

11U. S. Bureau of the Census, United States

Census p§_Agriculture: 19A5, Vol. 1, Pt. 6 (Washing-
ton: Government Printing Office, 19A6), p. 6.

135

near Jonesville, in Hillsdale County. The secretary of
the club stated that the thirty-five members of the
club were OOOperating "to make a systematic study of
the crOp, and of their local soil conditions to devise
methods to best adapt alfalfa to their farms and to
make the conditions of their farms such as to raise
the crOp."12 In 1913 the paper enthusiastically sup-
ported the work of the College in organizing alfalfa
clubs. Editor I. R. Waterbury urged the planting of
from ten to forty acres of the crOp on every farm and
described the campaign as being "one of the greatest
in economic importance.“13

The big alfalfa campaigns, however, came in
the years after 1920. The paper continued to support
the work being conducted by the College through its
agricultural extension agents. "Get Behind Alfalfa"
was the title of one editorial, praising the work
undertaken.lh'Waterbury,in l921,related his personal
experiences as an alfalfa grower, which began before

1900.15 Other writers narrated their experiences and

 

12 .
Farmer June 5 1909 p. 598, July 2, 1910,
p. 2; April"‘8",""1911, p. A10. ' w

13Ibid., April 26, May 17, 1913. pp. 52A, 658;
July 5, Dec. 6, 1913, pp. 6, 505.

lipid” Oct. 15, 1921, p. 351,.
15M” po 353.

136

gave cultural suggestions.16

By 1939 alfalfa acreage had increased to
1,200,000 acres on a total of more than 88,000 Michi-
gan farms. Thirty years previous, the acreage was only
6,500 on abOut l,AOO farms.17 The Farmer's role in
helping to make this possible cannot be Over—emphasized.

As in previous periods, the paper from 1908
to 19A3 printed articles and editorials on a wide
range of other farm crops, in an effort to keep its
readers informed on newest production methods, as
well as to urge the growing of those crops considered
best for the state. Included were navy beans, potatoes,
soybeans, sugar beets, corn, oats, wheat, and such
specialty crops as chicory, ginseng, and peppermint.

In helping to promote improved crop varieties,
the paper kept in close touch with plant breeding work
at the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station. In
1905 a member of the Farmer's editorial staff, 0. E.
Young, was a prime mover in helping to organize the
Michigan Corn Improvement Association. The activities
of this group expanded from the conducting of corn

shows and exhibits, and in 191A the name of the organi-

 

l6Ibid., Sept. 3, Nov. 12, 1921, pp. 198, A51,
ASA; Jan. 2, 1926, p. 5.

17U. 8. Bureau of the Census, Sixteenth Census

of the United,States, 12§O, riculture, 701. I, Pt. I
Twashington: Government rinting Office, 19A3), p. 776.

137
zation was changed the Michigan Experimental Associ-
ation.. About the time of the first World War the name
again was changed, this time to the one it bears
today, the Michigan Crop Improvement Association.
Tile work of the Michigan Crop Improvement Association
in helping to promote new crOp varieties originated
by the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station at
the College has become very important. It is one of
the principal sources of certified and improved seed
in the state.

Soil management and cultural practices became
important subjects for articles and editorials in the
Farmer in the years after 1908. This was to be ex-
pected, as the virgin fertility in soils in the older
portiOnSsof the state had long since been exploited
and farmers were faced with problems not encountered
by their fathers. Erosion was given some attention by
the paper in 1912 and farmers were urged to protect
land areas vulnerable to water damage.19 The general
smbject of decreasing crop yields due to fertility
depletion was treated in an editorial in 1919, which
suggested that farmers consult their county agricul-

agents for advice.20 Later, the importance of farm

 

18Farmer, Feb. A, 1922, p. 106.

19Ibid., Feb. 3, 1912, p. 116.

”ll-is... May 10. 1919, p. 722.

fl

138

manure was emphasized by an article admonishing
farmers not to neglect manure hauling because valuable
soil nutrients were lost if the manure was permitted
to accumulate for too long a time.21

In the middle 'twenties came the famous "soils"
trains. Annually for more than a decade, Michigan State
College soil and crOp specialists traveled by railroad
throughout the southern portion of the state, advis-
ing farmers on fertility and allied problems. Various
railroads cooperated by furnishing an engine and some
coaches containing crop exhibits, soil testing facili-
ties, and living quarters for the specialists. In
one nine-day tour in 1926, a soils train on the Michi-
gan Central line in southeastern Michigan stopped at
28 towns and villages. There the specialists tested
more than 650 soil samples and gave advice to about
2,500 farmers. In praising the work of the soils
trains, Waterbury stated that in 1925 similar trains
had benefited many farmers, at a cost to the state of
the trifling sum of about $150.22In an editorial in
1928, entitled ”The Gospel of Better Soils,” he as-
serted that the Farmer during the interval of slightly
over three months had printed more than sixty column-

inches on the care and improvement of the soils of

 

21Ibid., Jan. 9, 1926, p. 33.

2 Ibid., May 1, 1926, p. 593.

139
Michigan.23 In 1941 Editor Milon Grinnell, in a plea
that more attention be paid the results of water
erosion, stated:

A fellow with a trailer hitched behind his
car stopped alongside the road near a farmer's
house and began to load some rich soil. Within
a matter of minutes the owner came hot-footing
it down the road, carrying a shotgun, with his
dog a couple of jumps ahead of him, and soon
told the motorist where he could go and to head
for there immediately. ~The next day it rained
fairly hard for an hour,washing away more rich
top soil from cultivated, rolling land than the
motorist could have loaded into his trailer,
and the only thing the farmer said was that it
was good for the growing crops and gave him a
littlg time to catch up on some work in the
barn. h

Horticultural production in Michigan after
1908 became more specialized and gained in economic
importance. From a total value of about $12 million
for all Michigan fruit grown in 1909, the production
more than tripled in value within the next three
decades, reaching more than 3&0 million in 19th. Fruit
growers realized a cash income from the l9hh crOp of

25
about $32 million.

 

231bid., March 24, 1928, p. 406.
2h“

Ibid., May 2h, l9hl, p. 360.

250. 8. Bureau of the Census, gfi. cit., A ri-
culture: 1 ,Vol. I, Pt. 6, p. 75; id., Thirteenth
Census of t e United States. 1210, A ri cult ture o .
(Ugsfiington: Government Printing Ofgice, I9I33, p.

77

140

Articles by staff members and readers' letters
to the editor of the Farmer after 1908 reveal a grow-
ing interest in the possibilities of specialized fruit
farming. It was foreseen that the necessity for spray-
ing to control insects and diseases would make fruit
growing less profitable as a part-time or sideline
activity. A Calhoun County farmer, S. B. Hartman,
wrote in 1909 that the work and expense connected with
spraying made it difficult for the average livestock
or general farmer to succeed as a fruit grower.
Another writer stateithat, although he sprayed regu-
larly, he knew of orchards "that are allowed only ad-
vantages that nature can give, with all of the disad-
vantages that man can impose."

Dusting as a means of supplementing the regular

spraying program, or to protect fruit when weather con-

ditions made use of the sprayer difficult, was endorsed
in an article which appeared in 1920.28
On several occasions the Farmer printed enthusi-
astic articles on Michigan‘s future as a fruit growing
state. Once the editor passed along to his readers a

statement in which apples were advocated as a remedy to

cure a craving for alcohol:

 

26Farmer, March 20, 1909, pp. BAA-3&5.

2
7Ibid., Sept. 17, 1910, p. 226.

8 -
2 Ibid., April 3, 1920, p. 531.

lhl

There seems to be a peculiar combination in apples;

in the acid in them, or in the peculiar chemical

combination of the apple, that allays the irri-

gatiigéhgiigoigziiig.Sgpetite, produced by the use

Aside from special articles, most of the horti-
cultural material appeared in a regular department con-
ducted by persons who lived in the fruit belt. As
might be expected, technical matters of production,
such as fertilization, pollination problems, and in-
sect and disease control, constituted a large pro-
portion of the material. Articles on leading fruit
varieties were frequent. Subjects discussed in this
department in two issues of l9hl were typical of those
which appeared in many issues. In a January issue, Her-
bert Nafziger, conductor of the department, wrote on
the holding of fruit in storage, fruit juices, hormone
sprays, and horticultural labor. In another issue, in
March, he discussed apple scab, pruning, feeding trees
growing on sod, and new fruit products.
In 1938 the paper printed a series of articles

on the dehydration of fruit which were similar to the

articles on fruit drying that had appeared more than a

half-century earlier. This time, however, the editor

 

291bid., July 2, 1910, p. 18. The original
statement appeared in a publication of the Iowa State
Horticultural Society. .

302223- Jan- 13. March 15, 1941, pp. 28-29,

193.

142

was not so optimistic on the subject as Johnstone had
been in 1872, and.mentmneiamn of thew difficulties to
be encountered.31

Editor Milon Grinnell, in 1941, forecast a
bright future for the new apple juice industry and
pointed out the superiority of the product as con-
trasted with cider, a long-time by-product of the
apple-growing industry. Commercial production of
apple juice, designed for a highly competitive mar-
ket, began in Michigan in 1937 through the work of
Dr. Roy E. Marshall, Professor of Pomology at Michigan
State College.32

As field crop and horticultural production
underwent changes during the last third of the Farmer's
first century of existence, so did the state's live-
stock industry. Being aware of the importance of
Michigan's herds and flocks, the editors of the paper
continued to devote considerable space to the problems
confronting breeders and feeders.

In number of animals, sheep continued the
decline which had begun in the 'eighties, and by 1943
the total of slightly over one million on Michigan

farms was the smallest on record. During most of the

 

31Ibid., Jan. 11, 1872, pp. 11-12; July 16,
1938, p. 19. . _
2

3 Ibid., Sept. 20, 1941, p. 130; Aug. 15, 1942,

p. 69.

143

first two decades of the twentieth century, the number
of horses increased, but soon a steady decline reduced
the number to about 300,000 in 1943, less than half of
the total in the peak period of 1916-17. Cattle
numbers continued to increase until in 1943 the total
had reached about 2 million head, an all-time high.
Contributing to this total was the number of dairy
cattle, which rose from 635,000 in 1910 to 923,000
in 1940. Swine on Michigan farms in 1943 reached an
all-time high in valuation, more than $27 million;
their total, however, did not exceed the peak reached
in the early 'twenties.33 The editor of the Farmer in
1921, I. R. Waterbury, endorsed the keeping of swine,
and in an editorial, entitled "Do Not Overlook the Hog,"
stated: -
A survey of general agricultural business im-
presses one with the fact that the hog is and will

continue to be a most important factor in Michigan
agriculture. . . . . The hog has been the means of

keeping many men and boys on the farm. This has been

accomplished not because the hog is an especially

tidy animal nor by reason of sentiment in his favor;

but the efficiency of the animal in turning grain
and other farm products into money has enabled the
farmer to meet his interest or rent, to pay off the
mortgages, and to furnigg a good share of the family
living in the meantime.

 

33U. S. Department of Agriculture and Michigan
Department ovagriculture, 32. cit., pp. 68-69; U. S.
Bureau of the Census, gp, 212°: £940, Agriculture, Vol.
1, Pt. 1, p. 775. A

3I'FFarmer, June 11, 1921, p. 712.

144

The editors of the Farmer vigorously urged
measures to promote the health of farm animals and con-
sistehtly supported the strengthening of state laws to
control animal diseases, such as tuberculosis, hog
cholera, and Bang's disease. As the state's dairy
industry expanded to meet the increasing demands for
market milk, the necessity increased for producing
more wholesome milk.

In 1909, Waterbury urged the inclusion of ani-
mal disease discussions at farmers' meeting, saying
that such talks on the "grass roots" level would be
more profitable 'than long-winded talks among veterin-
arians. He also was in favor of more adequate state
laws relating to dairy cattle tuberculosis and hog
cholera.35 A few years later, in 1913, the paper stated
that opposition to the bovine tuberculin test was
based largely upon a lack of knowledge of the test.3
The fight against Bang's disease, or brucellosis, in
dairy cattle began in earnest in 193#, and county-wide

testing was completed in 33 southern Michigan counties
by the end of 1939.37
Other features of the Farmer's dairy program in-

cluded promotion of silo construction and the more ex-

 

35Ibid., April 10, 1909, p. 424.

BEBE-o NOV. 299 1913: P0 [+85-
37

Ibid., Sept. 9, Dec. 23, 1939, pp. 111, 130,
307. . .

145

tensive use of silage, culling of "boarder" cows, en-
couragement of cow testing associations, cooperative
use of good bulls, artificial insemination, and the
protection of the dairy market from oleomargarine com-
petition.38 In 1913 the paper told about the great
amount of 3116 building that had occurred during the
previous year and predicted that eventually a farm that
did not have a silo would be an exception.39 It is of
interest to note that the first silo in the United
States is said to have beeh’biilt'in Wayne County, Michi-
gan, by a former member of the State College faculty,
Dr. Manly Miles, in 1875.40 In 1934 the Farmer des-
cribed and illustrated how temporary silos could be
constructed cheaply.

Michigan has the distinction of being the state
in which the first cow testing associations were organ-
ized, after the idea had been brought to this country
from Europe. Following formation of the first one in
1905 at Fremont, the number grew steadily, until in 1939
there were seventy-six active associations, having about

29,000 cows. Such organizations are how known as Dairy

38Ibid., Dec. 31, 1910, p. 585; Jan. 18, Feb.
8, 1913, pp. 62-63, 154; March 13, l9l9,.p. 291.

39Ibid., March 29, 1913, p. 412..
401616., Aug. 19, 1911, p. 136.

1 . .
4 Ibid., July 5, 1934, p. 7.

0

146

Herd Improvement Associations.1+2 The Farmer supported
the formation of these groups, and in 1915 Waterbury
urged that they be organized in every Michigan com-
munity."3

The present-day Michigan Artificial Breeders
Co-operative, organized in 1939 and greatly expanded in
the 'forties, had its counterpart in the various co-
operative bull associations organized in various parts
of the state, beginning in 1908.. Both types of breed-
ing organizations were praised by Farmer editors.hh

As in previous periods, the Farmer shared the
fears held by dairymen about the possibility of losing
the butter market to the oleomargarine interests. After
1920, the editors stated a conviction that propaganda
and agitation against butter substitutes must be direct-
ed to farmers--- even.daflmmen-- as well as to the

urban consumers. The Farmer suggested that the dairy

interests should stage an advertising campaign to pre-

 

thnon., Histor g; Cooperative Extension Work
in Michi an 191591239 Michigan State College Extension
Division, Bul etln 29’(East Lansing: Michigan State
College, 1941), p. 31.

A3Farmer, May 22, 1915, p. 590.

##Ibid., March 13, 1909, p. 291; Aug. 26, 1939,
p. 91. The first mention of any system of animal breed-
ing similar to today's artificial insemination appeared
in the Farmer in 1909. A Cleveland firm advertised
uartificiaImare impregnators. . . . for getting one to
six mares in foal from one service of a stallion." Ibid.,

April 17, 1909, p. 442.

 

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147
sent butter's good points, and once published a "butter-
only" pledge form which it urged readers to clip out,
sign, and return to the office of the paper.“5 In 1930
cow testers reported large sales of butter substitutes
in rural stores, one store having been reported as
selling in one month 180 pounds of oleomargarine and

6
only 10 pounds of butter.1+ Some years before, Water—
bury had severely criticized such practices in an edi-
torial, entitled "Killing the Goose,"

The man who owns a dairy farm and buys butter
substitutes deserves mighty little sympathy when
prices for dairy products hit the tobaggan. . . .
. The farmers make up a large portion of the con-
suming public, and if every farm family used as
much milk as it should use there would be no big
surplus to deal with. If dairy farmers have not
learned the food value of milk and butter, and

have not pride in their business to use them how
can they expect the city people to buy them?47

Indicative of the new position in Michigan agri-
culture attained by poultry husbandry in the second
decade of the twentieth century was a series of articles
on poultry raising. The first of these, in 1915, "The
Hen as a Factor in Farm Profits," was featured on the
first page of reading matter. This was the first time

any article on poultry husbandry was accorded such promi-

 

“5Ibid., Feb. 8, 1930, p. 154; Feb. 3, 1934, p.
Ibid., Feb. 8, 1930, p. 181.

“71219-. April 10, 1920, p. 578.

148
. 48 . . .
nence in the Farmer. With the increase of interest
in poultry raising, management became more scientific
and less of a hit-or-miss proposition. No articles on
culling appeared in the Farmer before 1918.

One of the reasons for the relative unprofit-
ableness of the Michigan poultry industry for many
years, according to Waterbury, was that too many farm-
ers kept flocks of "mongrel birds." Asserted the edi-
tor:

as a result, some of their eggs are white, some
brown, some large and some small; all other shapes,
sizes and colors between. . . . . The only kind of
flock that will pay maximum returns for feed and
labor is the uniform flock of purebred fowls that
look alike, grow alike and begin laying at about
the same time and produfig eggs that are alike in
quality and appearance.

Winter egg production was first emphasized in
the Farmer in 1917, and with the extension of electric
power in the 'twenties, the paper urged the installation
of lights in the laying house as a means of obtaining
greater egg production. The author of that article was
careful to discredit a former belief that turning on
the lights caused the hens to believe that another day
had arrived and that it was time for them to lay another

egg. Instead, he said, lengthening the day induced the

hens to eat more mash and that was the principal factor

 

48Ibid., Nov. 13, 1915, p. 421.

hglhiéo. April 3. 1920, p. 530.

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149
. . 50
in greater egg production.

Grading began to be emphasized in the 'thirties
as a means by which poultrymen might obtain greater

51

return from the sale of high quality eggs. As in the
case of horticulture, most of the material on poultry
production, marketing and general promotion of the
industry appeared in a regular department of the paper,
entitled "Practical Poultry Pointers." Typical of the
contents of many issues was the material comprising
this department in one issue in 1941. At that time,

Ray Conolly was in charge of the department, which in-
cluded most of a page, and which featured the following:
ordering chicks, feeding chicks, controlling lice, the
importance of fresh air in the laying house, profitable

poultry management, and an admonition that everyone

should eat more poultry meat.5

Playing a great part in the increasing productiv-
ity of Michigan's farms during the twentieth century was
improved farm machinery, a fact recognized many times
by the editors of the Farmer. And well they might, for
a great proportion of the paper's advertising revenue

came from an increasing amount of farm machinery an?

 

5011211121.» Nov- 17. 1923, p. 499.
51M" April 279 1935’ p0 2050
52%., Jan. 1"” 1941, p. 9.

150

nouncements. The growth of investment in machinery and
implements which was made by Michigan farmers from 1900
to 1945 was phenomenal and reflected the great strides
made in mechanization of farm operations. From an esti-
mated investment of about $29 million in 1900, the 1
figure rose to almost 850 million by 1910, to $122
million by 1920, and to $214 million by 1945--; an in-
crease of more than 700 percent in four decades!5

The Farmer by 1912 recognized the growing im-
portance of the tractor, even though the state's horses
were still increasing in number. Within a few years,
the paper was advocating the use of tractors for those
farmers having large acreages, and the new machines
were seen as a means of solving the farm help problem?5

The farm help problem became more serious as this

country became involved in world War I. When smaller

 

53

Some of the farm machinery advertising during
the early years of the twentieth century was extrava-
gantly phrased, and it would seem that the Farmer might
have done its readers a service had it rejected such ad-
vertising. For example, in 1911 an advertisement for the
Chatham Cleaning Mill was headed by this statement,
"This season I'll help 200,000 More Farmers to Get Rich
e-- Don't You.Want to be One of Them?" Then the-reader
was told about_the "Chatham System of Breeding Big Cropsr
which was the advertiser's flowery way of introducing
the sales arguments for buying a cleaning mill designed
to remove weed seeds and foreign matter from threshed
small grain. Ibid., Aug. 12, 1911, p. 128.

5hU. 3. Bureau of the Census, 0 . cit., 1910,
A riculture, Vol. V1, p. 768; 9%. cit., . g. Census 2:
Egizcfizture: 1945, Vol. 1, Pt. , p. 2.

55Fardeg, March 28, 1914, p. 353.

151

tractors became available more farmers could make use
of them, and they were more versatile than the first,
heavy, large machines.56 By 1920 about three percent
of the state's farms had a total of 5,500 tractors.
This total was tripled within five years and was in-
creased more than six times by 1930. In 1940 about
one-third of Michigan farms had a total of about 62,000
tractors, the total increasing to about 85,000 by
1945.57

Soon after 1912 the editors of the Farmer
periodically invited their readers to relate their
experiences in using some of the recently developed
mechanical devices.58 Later the paper printed the facts
gleaned by lengthy questionnaires on farmers' opinions
regarding such devices as gasoline engines, tractors,
motor trucks, automobiles, acetylene gas plants for
farm lighting, milking machines, auto trailers, and

59

farm electric plants. In most instances upwards of

twenty-five replies were published in detail, and the

 

56M'9 Aug' 2: 1919, Po 1.07.

7- -
5 U. S. Bureau of the Census, gp. cit., 1940,

Aggiculture, Vol. I, Pt. 1, p. 781; o . cit., U. S.
ensus g_ griculture: 1945, Vol. I, t. 6, p. 2.
58Farmer, March 1, 1913, p. 272; Jan. 9, 1915,
p. 34; June 22, 1918, p. 744. .

.Sglbid., Jan. 20, Feb. 10, May 19, 26, June 9,
23, Aug. 13, I917, pp. 58-59, 162-163, 607, 631, 675,

,e

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9 ( g
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152
information undoubtedly exerted considerable influence
on other farmers who might have been contemplating
the purchase of such devices.

Standardization of farm machinery parts, so as
to simplify the ordering and installation of repair
parts, was urged by Waterbury as early as 1913.60

By the late 'twenties the small combine had
made its appearance in the Lake States, and the editor
of the Farmer believed that such a machine would find
favor among Michigan grain producers. It would help to
supplant the day laborer, "who too frequently lacks in
efficiency," the editor stated.61 The small combine
became established in Michigan by the middle of the
'thirties, and symbolic of the revolution in small
grain harvesting methods was the experience of a Shia-
wassee County farmer in 1936. This man, Mr. W. F.
Alexander, harvested wheat in the morning with his com-
bine, had the grain ground into flour that afternoon,
and ate wheat gems which his wife made from the flour
that evening. 62

In 1931 the Farmer joined with other groups in

helping to erect a monument at Climax, in honor of

 

6°iaii-. Sept. 14, 1913, p. 200.

6
1Ibid., Sept. 11, 1926, p. 227; June 11, 1927,

p. 742. .
62%.. Aug. 29' Sept. 26) 1936, pp. 81, 131+.

153

Hiram Moore, inventor of a machine similar to the modern
combine. Moore's machine had weighed about five tons
and required twenty horses to pull it. For the machine
to operate satisfactorily, it was required that wheat
be dead ripe. Small fields and rolling terrain caused
the cumbersome machine tobeoflittle practical use in
Michigan. After almost two decades of experimentation
and use in this state, the machine was taken to Cali-
fornia, and almost a century elapsed beheiaisfiimlaraone. n
was Operated again in Michigan. Reducing the size and
improving such features as the pick-up made the later
combine of use in this state.63
Other agricultural engineering subjects treated
extensively in the Farmer during this period included
hay-making equipment, farm explosives, tiling, irri-
gation, farm building construction, farm labor-saving
devices, fire prevention, care of machinery, and
electric fences. As for the last-named subject, the
paper campaigned unceasingly against the dangerous types
of home-made electric fence energizers, which annually

caused the deaths of several Michigan residents and

those of many farm animals. In praising Michigan

 

631%.) Aug. 23, 1919 p. 188; Jane 20, Feb.
24, 1923, pp. 67, 271; March 28, Sept. 21, 1931, pp.
326, 228.

6l’Ibid., March 1, 1913, p. 272; Aug. 19, 1916,
p. 145; July 22, Oct. 7, 1922, pp. 87, 357; Feb. 19,
1927, p. 231; May 12, 1928, pp. 642, 665 (continued)

/1

2‘!

154

State College for providing facilities for a farm
machinery show during Farmers' Week, 1941, Grinnell

' 6
urged that such shows be regularly held. 5

By the end of the nineteenth century, the
Farmer was becoming increasingly aware of some of
economic problems facing Michigan agriculture in the
years ahead. As mentioned in the preceding chapter,
the editors urged the reader to become proficient not
only in the raising of crops and livestock and in the
use of modern machinery, but also in the role of a
modern business man. The fast-changing series of events
which affected agriculture in the new century provided
ample justification for the Farmer's advice. Within
the comparatively brief span of a quarter-century, the
effects of the worst depression and the two greatest
wars in history were to be experienced. A number of
the aspects concerning the farmer as a business man
were treated in the paper during this period. Included
were such subjects as farm management, taxation on farm

real estate, farm labor, land inflation, farm mortgages,

 

64(continued from page 153) April 23, May 21,
June 4, July 16, 1938, pp. 275, 286, 335, 350, 381, 22;
Aug. 12, Nov. 25, 1939, pp. 62, 256; March 15, June 7,
21, 1941, pp. 178, 381,413.

65Ibid., March 1, 1941, p. 150.

5%

‘I

155

farm accounting, and marketing. In an article, en-
titled "Farmers Facing New Problems," I. J. Mathews
in 1919 correctly predicted the necessity of farmers
giving more attention to land management and the main-
tenance of soil fertility. Said he,
No doubt management and efficiency will come inibr
a large share of treatment. . . . . Management of
farm, labor and fertility will be subjects of great
importance. . . . . Until a few years ago, few
farmers ever gave any thought to managing the fer-
tility of their farms. The farmer sowed and reaped
and let fertility matters take care of themselves.
He built his barn on a hillside and eXpected the
river to wash the manure away. . . . . the danger
signals put fortg a few years back now exact at-
tention. . . 6
The first systematic or scientific farm manage—
ment work in the state was begun in 1911 as a result of
a newly created office in the United States Department
of Agriculture's Bureau of Plant Industry. C. B. Smith,
an employee of the Office of Farm Management, made
a survey in Lenawee County, as,a part of a nation-wide
project to determine the most profitable types of farm-
ing. A year later the College established a Department
of Farm.Management Field Studies and Demonstrations;
_through this department was born Michigan's system of
county agricultural agents. In 1915 farm management

surveys were conducted in six counties in connection

with other activities of the agents. That same year saw

 

66Ibid., Jan. 18, 1919, p. 77.

156

the first farm account book made available to those
,farmers cooPerating in the project.67

The paper favored the work being done by the
College, and in 1915 the editor stated his belief in the
importance of good farm management. From the pro-
jects sponsored by the College farmers learned to evalu-
ate the relative profitableness of their enterprises,
how to save labor, and how to detect weak features of
their business. Dairy farmers especially were benefited
by systematic account-keeping, which revealed that they
were not getting sufficient return from the sale of
market milk. Having the accounting figures available
helped them in bargaining with the distributors in
Detroit, and was a factor in the formation of the
Michigan Milk Producers' Association, which was organ-
ized in 1915.

Editor Waterbury stressed the importance of
farmers adopting practices long utilized by business
men, such as advertising, use of typewriter for letter
writing, systematic attention to answering correspon-

. 7o
dence, and the adoption of a good filing system.

 

a.) .333.) . .'
67Hi tgry g: Cooperative Extension WOrk ig,Michi-
ESE: 22.6%." PP- 39-41 ""'""'"
6 Farmer, Jan. 2, 1915, p. 12.
9Ibid., Jan. 2, Feb. 13, 1915, pp. 2, 185-187.

7°1bid., Nov. 4, l9l6,p. 443; Aug. 18, 1917, p.
116; March 30, 1918, p. 423; Sept. 3, 1921, p. 224;
Feb. 4, 1928, p. 129.

 

 

 

 

157

How to attract and keep good farm labor was
stressed periodically by the Farmer in the years after
1912. Land Operators were urged ‘to pay fair wages,
provide their hired men with comfortable dwellings,
and to encourage their help to assume responsibilities.
After the first World War the shortage of the tradition-
al day laborer became more acute because of the at-
tractiveness of urban employment.71

As mentioned previously, the Farmer was alert
to encourage agricultural organizations of all types.

In the nineteenth century groups such as the Grange

and Farmers' Clubs were given most attention. In

1890 only one c00perative marketing association ex-
isted in Michigan, but by 1915 the number had increased
to 90. During the World War I period, they grew rapidly,
reaching a total of 418 by 1920. In 1925 the College
expanded work in the field of agricultural economics,

mainly as a result of the need for such service by the

 

71Ibid., Jan. 18, Feb. 22, April 12, 1913, pp.
61, 274, 457; Feb. 21, 1914, p. 195; Jan. 2, Dec. 25,
1915, pp. 2, 579; March 2, 1918, p. 275; July.10, 1920,
p. 34; July 7, 1923, p. 3. After a brief taste of urban
living and employment some farm-reared persons became
disillusioned and returned home. One of these related
his experiences in a letter to the editor, warning other
youths to stay on the farm. Said he, "Mr. Ex—farmer,
while you are looking for a job at the factory these
cold Winter days, do you think how warm you had your
hog pen in winter, and still you want to work for men
who do not care as much for you? What would the manu-
facturer do if his agent had no better place for his
products than they have for the unemployed that come to
their office?" Ibid., April 6, 1929, p. 537.

IO

158

state's many marketing associations.72
Preceding the work of the College in promoting
better marketing as a means of raising the state's
agricultural income was the long-time policy of the
Michigan Farmer. The paper, since its re-establish-
mentin 1869, had carried extensive market summaries,
and in the 'nineties and early years of the twentieth
century had printed many articles on marketing. In
1908 the paper reported the efforts of a group of
dairy farmers in Oakland and adjoining counties to
form an organization to bargain with Detroit milk dis-
tributors. Said Waterbury, "As we have always main-
tained, the organization of farmers along special lines
of production is the most effectual kind of organiza-
tion and should be everywhere encouraged."73
In 1912 the paper began a series of articles
on marketing under the standard heading, "Farm Commerce,"
of which one was entitled "The No-mid System of Distrib-
uting Farm Products." The coined term signified "no
middleman,"and the series concerned means by which

73 Among the

_a_

farmers could deal directly with consumers.

72Histor of Cooperative ExtenSion Work in
Michigan, _p. cit., pp. 9-11.

73Farmer, Aug. 1, 1908, p. 78.

7thid., Dec. 28, 1912, pp. 604-605; Jan. 4, IL
1913, pp. 23, 49..

159

co-Operative groups organized after 1912 were the South
Haven Fruit Exchange, Plymouth Tomato Growers' As—
sociation, Michigan Milk Producers' Association,
Farmers' and Manufacturers' Sugar Beet Association,
Michigan Bean Growers' Association, andthe Michigan
Elevator Exchange.75

The Farmer supported the organization of Farm
Bureaus, which were started in 1912, and the amalga-
mation of the county units into the state federation
in 1919. One of the first projects of the Farm Bureau
Federation was that Of wool pooling, and the organ-
ization was praised by the paper for its work in help-
ing to increase the inCome of Michigan sheep men in
1921 when wool prices were depressed.7 The paper in
the 'thirties supported the organization of the Junior
Farm Bureau, saying that such a group would "greatly
benefit Michigan agriculture of the future" in its
training of new leaders.77

Phases of marketing stressed by articles and

editorials in the Farmer included emphasis on higher

 

751bid., Jan. 27, 1912, p. 81; Jan. 30, 1915, p.

113; Oct. TIT-1916, p. 342; Jan. 13, Oct. 13, 1917, pp.
27, 320; Sept. 12, 1936, p. 121.

761bid., Aug. 7, 1915, p. 100; Feb. 15, 1919,
p. 244; JuI§_IO, Oct. 30, 1920, pp. 36—37, 528; Feb.
19, 26, June a, 1921, pp. 220, 256, 680.

77;212-. July 18, 1936, p. 22.

.-‘_J

160

quality, better grading to insure a more standard pro-

78 These took on added

duct, and better salesmanship.
importance as agriculture went into the less pros-
perous days in the early 'twenties and, again, when
the depression of the 'thirties struck.

In the boom years after World War I, the
editor of the Farmer saw little reason to be alarmed
over the rapid rise in land values:

farmers generally will hardly be pessimistic re-
garding a tendency toward a more rapid increase

in the value of good farm land. . . . . The speed-
ing up of this upward tendency is in line with
general conditions of the present time, and is,

we believe, prophetic of the future so far as the

prosperity of agriculture is concerned. Good farm
land is a safe investment and a valuable asset. .

Speculation in Michigan farm land did not reach
the extremes experienced in the Corn Belt, and the agi-
tation for farm relief in the #twenties was relatively
quiet in the state.

The Farmer in 1922 was conservative in its views
on what the government should do for agriculture, saying
that short-time credit through already existing agen-

cies should be sufficient.

 

7822lQQ. Jan. h, 1919, p. 2; Oct. 13, 20, Nov.
17, 1923, pp- 351,~387, #993 Aug. 29. 1925. Po 1563
July 16, 1927, p. #3.

79Ibid., March 27, 1920, p. 490.
80Ibid., July 30, 1921, p. 90; Sept. 11, 1926,

p. 228.

161

The real solution to these problems must. . . .lie
with the farmers themselves after adequate machin-
ery has been provided. Two factors must ever enter
into this problem, viz, reasonable security,
coupled with low moral hazard, and the prompt meet-
ing Of Obligations on the part of the borrower. To
avail himself of the full advantage of better credit
facilities the farmer must be a good business man.
The purpose or investment for which the funds are
borrowed must be solid from a business standpoint
and insure the probable ability to repay the loan
on maturity. Credit is a giluable asset in any
business if rightly used.

As the Michigan agricultural price situation
became less secure, the paper devoted an increasing
amount Of space to money matters, with emphasis on the
cost of government. It was conceded that the farmer's
position was especially unfortunate, as compared with
that of some businesses, because his prOperty could not
be concealed from the eye of the tax- assessor.82
Readers were periodically told to contact their law-
makers about the necessity for greater governmental
economy, and many articles were printed on phases of
taxation, designed to explain how taxes were levied and
-to illustrate how savings might be effected.

In the fall of 1930 the Farmer's campaign for

stateslegislatiOn.1imiting the amount of tax assess-

8lIbid., Feb. 18, 1922, p. 178.

8222$Q-: NOV. 17. 1923, p. 498.

8 .

31bid., Jan. 19, 192a, p. 82; Jan. 10, 1925,
p. 28; Jan. II, March 1, 15, 1930, pp. 31+, 258, 337;
March 4, 1933, p. 73.

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162

ment on real estate was launched. In November, the
editor extended sympathy to an Oakland County man
whose farm was assessed for more than its possible
selling price. In his editorial entitled "Carl
Tibbets-- Martyr," Burt Wermuth urged the Michigan
Legislature to pass an act limiting the amount of
assessment possible and also to enact legislation that
would enable an owner of real estate to have his
assessment limited to an amount that he would be
willing to accept for the property.8[+ During the next
two years the Farmer saw its efforts to promote tax
relief bear fruit in a constitutional amendment which
was ratified at the 1932 general election. This amend-
ment limited the total amount of taxes assessed against
property in any one year to one and one-half percent of
the assessed valuation of the property. It was rati-
fied by a vote of 671,124 to 641,162 after several
months of strenuous work on the part of the editors of
the Farmer and local agricultural leaders.85

Early in 1933 the Farmer opposed a proposed stafia
sales tax on the grounds that it would tend to lower
prices of Michigan farm products because shipped-in

products would not be taxed. The proposed tax would have

‘ D...
891212-. Nov- 1. 29. 1930. pp. 388. 480.

851bid., Nov. 21, 28, Dec. 5, 12, 19, 1931, pp.
3811-: 397, W [+110 [+152 [+279 4141?: 1+1+53 April 169 May
114, 1932, pp. 318, 265; Oct. 15, Nov. 26, Dec. 24, 1932,

.pp. 137, 142, 185, 223. .

rut-v.—

163
86
been collected from farmers selling products. Later

that year, after the present sales tax law had been
enacted, the paper stated its three-point tax pro-
gram: 8) A 15-mill tax limitation, and preferably a
limitation not to exceed 10 mills, b) a reduction in
sales tax rate, and c) a "workable" state income tax.
Another state constitutional amendment sponsor-
ed by the Farmer failed to be ratified at the election
of 1934, possibly because of "ambiguity of wording."
Among other things, the proposed amendment provided

for machinery for putting more prOperty on the tax

rolls, for a state income tax, and for a reduction in

the rate of the state sales tax.

At the beginning of the Great Depression, the

Farmer was overly sanguine as to the duration and

86Ibid., Feb. 18, 1933, p. 58.

87 '
Ibid., Dec. 9, 1933, p. 169.

88Ibid., March 17, July 21, Nov. 24, 1934, pp.
117, 21, 187. In starting the campaign to secure enact-
ment of this amendment, the Farmer published the text
of a petition to force consideration of the proposed
amendment at the forthcoming election. The editor sug-
gested that readers organize into canvassing parties to
secure signatures to the petition. On the opposite
page, and inserted as a "space-filler," appeared by
coincidence a short item in which the writer commented
sarcastically on the gullibility Of the average person
:in signing petitions. The item was based upon a recent
:reported.instance of several professors and students at
‘an Ohio college who signed, without reading, a petition
in which they agreed to commit suicide by beheading.

Ibid., March 17, 1934, p. 116.

 

 

 

164

severity Of the hard times ahead. Commenting on the
stock market crash in the fall Of 1929, the editor

stated:

A crash had to come before it [the market] could
return to normal and the good suffered with the
bad. . . . .But the speculator in the stock mar-

ket is pretty much of a piker as compargg with
the out and out speculator on the farm.
In the same issue, Arthur Capper, president of the
board of publishers, wrote:

Probably this ends the biggest gambling spree the
world ever saw. . . . .The country and business
generally will breathe freer now that the collapse
has come 368 the process of getting back to sanity

has begun.
About a year later, in 1930, Senator Capper

wrote in an editorial, entitled "Better Times Coming,"
that ”this depression will not last forever," and the
tide would turn "in the not too distant future."91 He
was in favor of the Farm Board and urged its critics
to give it time to Operate before condeming it.

The paper was opposed to any dole system of
relief, which the editor predicted would be "hatched"
as a political scheme in Washington. Instead, it favor-
ed the setting up of work projects. MOre self-sufficiency

on the farm and less reliance on factory-made goods were

8?;bid., Nov. 16, 1929, p. 458.
90%., p. 459.

91933., Oct. 25, 1930, p. 367.
92:34., Jan. 18, 1930, p. 71

165

advocated for farmers. The editor suggested that they
make more use of vegetable garden produce, home-
butchered meats, and home-baked goods.93
By 1933 the paper had lost its early Optimism
about the duration of the depression. Commenting on
the frantic attempts by farmers in some states to halt
mortgage foreclosures, the editor stated:
This should be a warning to our political leaders
that farm folks are tired of the fruitless efforts
made in their behalf and they are preparing to
take matters in their own hands if something worth-
while is not done shortly. . . . . this tax and
mortgage burden is forcing them to the wall.9#
The Bischoff-Munshaw bill to prevent mortgage fore-
closures in Michigan until March 1, 1935, was signed
by Governor Comstock in June, 1933.95
In the issue for September 16, 1933, appeared
the first use of the NRA 5eagle" in the Farmer. Editor
wermuth stated that its omission in the previous issue
was an oversight and should not be construed to signify
that the Michigan Farmer would not support the recovery
program of the Roosevelt administration.9

As for the first Agricultural Adjustment Admin-

 

931212-. Jan- 16. March 19. 1932. pp- 42, 184.

gulp—12°, Jan. 21, 1933, p. 22.
951bid., June 10, 1933, p. 215.

96Ibid., Sept. 16, 1933, p. 78.

166

istration Act, Wermuth stated in 1936 that perhaps it
'was a good thing for the act to be declared unconsti-
tutional as "there has always been serious objections
to the methods.employed. . . . . After these few years
of experiments is it not possible that something better
and more universally popular can be worked out?"97

In January, 1937, Wermuth jubilantly reported
federal statistics which revealed that "agriculture is
very definitely on the upgrade and farmers are once
more a highly important factor in the buying market."9
Although the paper felt that a comeback had been staged,
it did not relax its vigilance in watching the rise in
cost of government. Three years later, in 1940, the
editor observed that the cost of government in Michigan
had increased from about $1 per person in 1880 to an
annual figure of $41.06 in 1937. He suggested that his

readers give the matter serious consideration in the hOpes

of finding a remedy.99

During the last portion of its first century of
existence, the Michigan Farmer guided its readers not

only through a war against depression but through one

 

97Ibid., Jan. 18, 1936, p. 30.

98Ibid., Jan. 2, 1937, p. 7.
99

Ibid., March 2, 1940, p. 112.

I,

167

World War and through the preliminary phases of a
second World War. Its part in recording the story of
Michigan agriculture's essential contribution to the
winning of both struggles deserves mention. As a
medium of reliable technical information, the paper
perfOrmed a great service in the battle for increased

agricultural production.
The editor of the Farmer in 1914 was among the

large number of American writers and editors appalled
by the magnitude of the struggle unfolding in EurOpe,
but who did not foresee our eventual involvement.
Commenting in August, 1914, Waterbury said that he
believed the war "promises to be the greatest and most
deadly conflict in the world's history." He foresaw
correctly that it would produce a great demand for

American products and goods, and that there would likely

be trouble ahead in our carrying on foreign commerce.

Also, he stated:

It; is a matter for sincere congratulations that
the geographical situation of our country insures
agiinst any but the indirect consequences of this.
deplorable struggle during which we can do no better
than to pursue the even tenor of our way in the pro-
duction of foodstuffs, using our best judgment in
the matter of marketing same, regardless of ths
feverish excitement of the speculative market. 0

In subsequent issues, the Farmer pointed out

the possibility of higher trends in farm prices and

1001mm, Aug. 8, 1911., p. 101..

 

 

 

 

 

168

suggested that its readers increase production by
clearing or breaking unused acres, feeding more live-
stock, using more fertilizer, and practicing scien-

tific methods.101

To help increase agricultural pro-
duction, the paper urged the hiring of more county
agricultural agents, of which the state had a total
of twenty-two in the summer of 1916.102

Wilson's neutrality policy was praised; Water-
bury rejoiced, in June, 1915, that the President was
firm, saying, "we have as president a man who cannot
be stampeded by belligerent influences and who, at the
same time, insists upon an adherence to justice and
humanity on the part of the offending warring nation;$23

Even after the diplomatic break with Germany
in February, 1917, the editor of the Farmer did not
believe that hostilities would ensue, as there was a
”potent force for peace."lohThe next month he welcomed
the news of the Russian revolution and predicted, "Un-

doubtedly under the new order, Russia willbecome a

10
greater factor in world affairs." 5 The day after the

 

lOl '
Ibid., Aug. 15, 1914, p. 124; Feb. 20, March
20, July 10, 1915, pp. 224, 356, 22.

02
1 Ibid., April 22, June 10, 1916, pp. 546, 730.
10
3Ibid., June 19, 1915, p. 670.
104*"‘

Ibid., Feb. 10, 1917, p. 162.

1051bid., March 24, 1917, p. 386.

 

 

169

United States declared war against Germany, the editor
of the Farmer stressed the importance of an "ample
supply of food stuffs" as "the most essential factor
of preparedness for any eventuality which may arise};06
In the next issue, "Agricultural Patriotism" was the
the title of the lead-off editorial. In it, Waterbury
stated that this war was different from that of the
Revolution, when the patriot left his plow to fight for
his rights. Now it was necessary for the patriot farmer
to stay with his plow, to make the food program a suc-
cess. Realistically, he added, "In addition to being
a patriotic duty, this program has the advantage of
promising increased profit for all who contribute to
its effective accomplishment."107
Besides promoting greater production, the paper
cooperated with the national government in various Other
ways, such as in the meatless and.wheat1ess days and
Liberty Bond campaigns, and in the drives to collect

scrap metal.108 In the late winter of 1918, the paper

defended farmers against the charge of grain hoarding,

 

106Ibid., April 7, 1917, p. 442. Although this
issue was_dated a day after hostilities were declared,
the editorial apparently had been written at least a
week in advance of publication. It was entitled "Agri-
cultural Preparedness." .

Ibid., April 14, 1917, p. 474.

108Ibid., Oct. 6, 20, 1917, pp. 286, 350.

 

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170

saying that the weather had been unfavorable for the
movement of‘grain to country elevators.109

At the outbreak of the Second World War, in
September, 1939, it was evident that the paper had
not forgotten the experience gained during the period
1914-17. This time, the editor was not so confidentl
that America's geographical position would keep her
out of danger, and hessuggested that readers contact
their congressmen to promote neutrality. It was ac-
knowledged that prices of farm products might behave
as they had done in 1914-18, but the editor soberly
stated, "All of us can stand prosperity but we do not
want it at the cost of human bloodshed."110

As the defense program increased in tempo, the
paper was sharp in its criticism of those persons who
put personal gain ahead of the nation's welfare. Es-
pecially did the editor feel that the country as a
whole did not understand or appreciate the important
role being played by agriculture in the defense pro-
gram. In criticizing those who fomented strikes in key
industries, the editor remarked,

If farmers suddenly decided to grow only what
they needed for home consumption because of un-
satisfactory prices and working hours they would
be immediately condemned as unAmerican and unpa-

_m

109Ibid., Feb. 16, 1918, p. 204.

110
Ibid., Sept. 23, Oct. 7, 1939, pp. 142, 166.

 

 

 

171

triotic. Undoubtedly their most severe critics would
be those same individuals who are now staging
strikes in many of the most important plants engaged
in building the materials of national defense.1 1

Ih.commenting on shortages of much needed farm machinery,

he ascribed them to

union strikes in the manufacturing plants earlier
in the year and the recent priority demands of the
government for materials. . . . . The farmer does
not see eye to eye with the laboring man who ties
up national defense for personal gain.112

Even after the United States was Officially at
war, the editor of the Fgrmer continued to feel that the
nation did not possess an adequate comprehension of the

part agriculture was bearing in the conflict. Said

Grinnell:

Every day the newspapers carry stories about
special awards being made by the government to in-
dustrial plants that are doing a good job in the
production of war materials. Individuals in many
of these plants also receive special recognition.
Farmers generally are commended for their efforts
but beyond that nothing has been done to throw the
spotlight on individuals who are excelling in food
production. Michigan State College has decided to
something about it, so during the 1943 Farmers
week. . . .hundreds of outstanding farmers in every
_county of the state where rural war production has
been above the average will be named and honored.

O O O O O O O O O 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0

These rural war food production plants, manned by
soldiers of the soil, in every corner of the state,
are even more important than the industrial plants
turning out munitions and weapons, for it is most
important and essential that our armed forces and
the workers in the plants be well fed to win this
‘war in the shortest possible time and with the

111
112

Ibid., May 10, 1941, p. 330.
Ibid., July 12, 1941, p. 8.

172

minimum loss of lives.113

During the "defense boom" the Farmer viewed
with misgivings the migration of farm labor to the ur-
ban centers and counseled men who had families and who
were well established in farming, to weigh carefully
the pros and cons of leaving agriculture for factory
employment. The editor prophesied that after the
current program to arm the nation was realized, then
there would be possibility of depression and the farm

114

would gain in attractiveness. That issue of the

paper had hardly left the pressroom before the Japan-
ese bombers struck at Pearl Harbor.

In an editorial, entitled "Unity Will Bring
Victory,F the editor gave his views on the grim days

ahead.

Our country is at war. That thing we have long
feared might happen has happened. The suspense is
over. . . . .[The war] means working hard and long
hours for all of us. All of us must make unlimited
and unreserved contributions of time and money. That
is, if we wish to win this war, and no true Ameri-
can has any doubt in his mind about the ultimate
goal. . . . . Michigan farmers realize the respon-
sibility that has been placed upon them. . . . .
They are expecting other groups to show no less
patriotism.

 

113Ibid., Jan. 16, 1943, p. 30.

11[*Ibid” Nov. 29, 1941, p. 258.

ll51bid., Dec. 27, 1941, p. 304. The managing
editor, Milon Grinnell, wrote in this same issue, "I am
sure most of the fathers and mothers of America. . . .
join me in hoping that finis may be written into the
books of those responsible for the war. . . . before
many months of the new year will have passed." Ibid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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5;.

173
The story of the Michigan Farmerfs activities
in World War II belongs, for the most part, in any
future narration of the paper's second century of

existence.

An important factor in Michigan's agricul-
ture and rural life in the years after 1908 was the
great improvement in transportation facilities.
Better roads and improved motor cars and trucks aided
farmers in many ways. As late as 1925 more than
100,000 of Michigan's farms were located on dirt roads.
Only about one out of thirteen was located on a hard-
surfaced road. By 1940 about one out of four was on
such a road, and only about 15,000 farms were on un-
improved dirt roads. In all, in 1940 about 140,000
farms, or about 80 percent, were on either paved or
graveled roads, which could be traveled inall kinds
of weather.116

The Farmer during the years before the first
World War chronicled many instances of communities
sponsoring "bees" to improve local roads. It printed

pictures of the work being done and urged Other groups

to undertake similar projects.117 In reporting the work

116u. 8. Bureau of the Census, 22o cit., 1940:
Vol. I, Pt. 1. p- 781°

117Farmer, Jan. 13, 1912, pp. 25-26; May 23,
1914, p. 552; Jan. 2, June 12, 1915, pp. 3, 650.

 

,5

IV

 

 

 

 

 

 

174

done in one township in Oceana County, in building
crushed stone roads, the paper stated, "It is esti-
mated that the system of stone roads in the township
will save the farmers annually in marketing their
crops more than the amount of their taxes to pay the
interest on the bonds and the bonds as they fall due]:£8

The road from Battle Creek to Camp Custer, in
1918, was surfaced with asphalt, whichis said to have
been the initial use of that material in Michigan for
country roads. The editor of the Farmer, Waterbury,
described the ease with which such pavement could be
repaired and said that it was "a joy to drive over this

road."119

Later, the Farmer approved the use of federal
designations for inter-state highways, saying "state
boundaries should causeno'chalges in road numbers."]‘20
The use of calcium chloride to stabilize gravel roads,
thus preventing dust and possible accidents, was hailed
as a practice that should be done on an extensive scalg}

Better country roads made possible the extension

of rural mail delivery routes, a project in which the

 

118
Ibid., July 9, 1910, p. 21.

119Ibid., Jan.12, 1918, p. 56..

1201bid., May 21, 1927, p. 666.

121 .
Ibid., June 6, 1936, p. 361.

175
Farmer had been greatly interested since in the

"nineties. In 1912, it endorsed the proposed parcel

post system,'which went into effect the following
'yearu In 1917 was observed the twentieth anniver-
sary of the establishment of rural mail delivery in
Michigan. As previously mentioned, J. H. Brown, then
a member of of the Farmer's editorial staff, helped to
induce the Post Office Department to designate Climax
as one of the first places of departure for rural mail
delivery in the United States, "the beginning of a new
era in American farm life." In the summer of 1917, a
monument was erected at Climax to commemorate the eveii?
Rapid expansion in numbers and improvement in
quality of motor cars and trucks occurred after 1908.
By that time the paper apparently had dismissed the
doubts it once held as to the practicability of the
motor car and had adopted the view that the new in-
vention held great promise for Michigan farmers. A
Huron County farmer reported his experiences with one
Of the new'bontraptions" and cited many advantages of

the automobile over the horse.

On a hot dusty day one can ride along perfectly
cool and the dust all behind, with the pleasurable

sensation of having a power carrying you along that

122

Ibid. March 9 Sept. 14 1912, pp.  294
216; Jan. 471913, pp. 16117. ' '
. 123

Ibid., July 21, 1917, p. 38.

r

 

 

 

rs.

176

responds to the slightest touch with the ease and
comfort that is not found in a carriage, and I
mdght may that an auto doesn't tire, sweat, and
doesn't need a fly net. . . . . they are a great
convenience, the same as the rural telephone, the
rural mail delivery, the daily newspaper. . . .
that the farmer now has. They all help to bring
the farmer out of his isolation and make his vo-
cation 1%: to be desired, and his life worth

living.

The number of cars owned by Michigan farmers
increased rapidly during the second decade of the
twentieth century, and a total of 79,000 farms re-
ported having them in 1920. This figure represented
about forty percent of all farms in the state. The
total increased to 134,000 by 1930 and to more than
153,000 in 1940, cars being reported that year on more

12
than eighty percent of the farms. 5

Some of the early cars and their listed prices
which were advertised in the Farmer in the years before
1920 included the two-seated E-M-F for 8800; five-
passenger, two-seated Mitchell touring car, $1,500;
Hupmobile runabout, $750; five-passenger Jackson,
$1,100; five-passenger Chalmers "with a tOp," $1,800;
.MOdel T Ford roadster, $680; four-cylinder Overland
touring car, $1,000, and a Model Q-ll Maxwell roads-

 

12l"Ibid., Aug. 28, 1909, p. 146.

125U. S. Bureau of the Census, gp. cit., 1940,

V01. I, Ptol,mpo-7810

 

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177
5“.“ 126 o o -
ter, @900. Of the Sixty-n1ne makes of cars mention-

ed in a Mobiloil advertisement in 1914, only eight
were on the market in 1943.127 In 1912, R. E. Olds
advertised his twenty-fourth model or his "Reo the
Fifth-n My Farewell Car." Its price was $1,055, with
the following items requiring an extra charge: tOp,
windshield, gas tank, speedometer, and side curtains.
As quoted in the advertisement, Mr. Olds stated,

Reo the Fifth--- the car I now bring out---
is regarded by me as pretty close to finality.
Embodied here are the final results of my 25 years
of experience. I do not believeOthaizg car ma-
ter1a11y better.w111 ever be built.

The dawn of a new day in transportation was
predicted by Waterbury in 1916 when he said that auto
travel would soon be as common in the winter as in
summer, or within "a few more years when permanent
improvement of trunk line roads is completed." The

custom Of jacking-up the car about Thanksgiving and
leaving it untouched until spring wOuld soon be a-
bandoned, he predicted.129 Greater use of motor trucks

for hauling farm produce was predicted as early as

1911, and the editor foresaw the importance of trucks

 

126Farmer, Nov. 8,19, 1910 pp, 375, 428
“353mm 25 1911 p- 373; July 19, Oct. 21, 28,1911,
pp. 56, 331. 351, 375.

1271bi__c_1., March 14, 1914, p. 305.
128Ibid., Feb. 10,1912, p. 151.
129Ibid., Jan. 29, 1916, p. 122.

 

[1

I!

r‘

 

 

 

 

 

 

178

especially for fruit farmers and other growers who made
frequent trips to the city markets.130
Ownership of trucks was reported on only about
1...,700, or 2 percent, Michigan farms in 1920. This total
increased about eight times by l9h0.131
Waterbury, in commenting on the new state law
passed in 1919, which required all drivers of motor
vehicles to be licensed, said that it would tend to
make for safer driving.132
Taking advantage of improved roads and more
sturdy cars, the Farmer and semesfarm organizations
sponsored several successful farm tours, the first
being in 1920. Indicative of the interest in the first
tour, to Mackinaw City, was the fact that more than
fifty families signed up for the tour a month before
it was scheduled to start. It was under the direction
of J. H. Brown, former staff-member, who was an. early
advocate of motor tours for farmers.13 The first

tour was so successful that similar ones were sponsor-

ed annually for several years. Two of them, in 1926

 

1301mm, Nov. 18, 1911, p. 429; Sept. 4, 1915,
U. S. Bureau of the Census, pp. 233., 191.0,
Vol. 1, Pt. 1, p. 781.

132

- 133Ibid., Nov. 2, 1918» P0 3993 July 3' 1920’

Farmer, Sept. 19, 1919, p. 50.

p. 7.-

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179

and in 1930 were to the Pacific Coast. The first of

those _tours attracted sixty-eight persons, riding in

eighteen cars, who made the round-trip journey in

three rnonths.l31+ Commenting on the value of tours by

farmers, the editor stated:

These tours are popular because they go a long
way towards making life more worth while for the
farmer and his family. The trips contribute not a
little to the general health of its members. They
are taken away from the familiar surroundings of
everyday life and are given new ideas and ideals

. . touring has . . . . a most refreshing
and exhilerating effect upon both the body and

spirit. . . . . Perhaps the educational feature
of a well-planned auto tour is the largest con-
tribution to the participants. . . . . to see
other peOple working at their tasks and thinking
and planning to solve problems similar to those
confronting yourself, gives one new ideas and in-
creased courage and enthusiasm to go ahead with
the work before him. Men and women usually return
from these trips with lighter hearts and firmer

resolves to becom better farmers and better house-
keepers. . . . .

In the late 'twenties the paper pointed out
the possibilities for extra income for farmers who had
room for housing tourists overnight. Such sideline en-
terprises, the editor said, would also "encourage a
mingling of people, thus a better understanding and a

feeling of friendship between the folks of the various
, 136
walks of life."

lBthid.’ May 2, 1925, p. 60].; June 28, 1930,
P0 7970

l351bid., June 11, 1921, p. 712.
136

Ibid., Sept. 15, 1928, p. 244.

 

 

 

180

One of the key points in the Farmer's program
for better Michigan agriculture has always been the
encouragement of education and more training for those
who plan to farm. During the period under considera-
tion, the program included promotion of better rural
elementary and high schools, the consolidation of
rural school districts to promote efficiency and im-
prove instruction, promotion of rural youth groups,
and support of Michigan State College. In the case of
the College, emphasis was placed upon empansion in
research and agricultural extension work.

In urging better rural schools, the Farmer
stated that efforts should be made to prpvide in-
struction designed to aid boys and girls planning to
remain in the country. One of the difficulties, the
editor acknowledged, was the lack of good teachers who
were sympathetic toward and qualified to teach agri-
cultural subjects.137The Farmer was enthuSiastic in
1909 about a venture in teaching agriculture in the
North Adams High School under the direction of Pro-
fessor Walter H. French, of Michigan State College.
This plan included evening classes in agriculture for
'adults and older farm youths not regularly attending

school. The paper advocated more such projects.

 

137Ibido, July 25' septo 12, OCto 17, 1908’
pp. 624., 198, 5620 ~

138
Ibidz,‘,May-15, 19.09,.p. 542.

 

 

 

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181

In 1915 more than forty Michigan high schools were re—
ported to be teaching agriculture, such instruction
requiring about a fourth of the student's time.139 Es-
tablishment of agricultural courses in the high schools
aibdfidetflnmation'of boys' and girls' agricultural clubs
in the communities served by those schools. The first
of these, the boys' corn-growing clubs, were active
as early as 1908, and by 1912 there was a state organ-
ization of the clubs, under the direction of Professor
French.liro These clubs later became the first 4-H clubs.
By the time the United States entered the first World
War, the activities of the clubs had expanded to include
the growing of other crOps besides corn, the raising of
livestock, home canning and woodworking.lhl
Waterbury praised the work of a boys' and girls'
potato club in Marquette County, in l9l7, saying,
The boys and girls who engage in this work get

a new viewpoint of agriculture. Often too, they give

their parents and neighbors a different angle of

vision. . . . since in many cases the yields secured

by these boys and girls are very much superiiizto
those secured by their older contemporaries.

 

139Ibid., Feb. 6, 1915, p. 137.

ll'oHistor gf Cooperative Extension Work ifl
Michigan, gp. cit., p. 6.

1“Farmer, Jan. 31, 191A, p. 105; Nov. 6, 1915,
p. 398; April I3, 1916, p. 526; Nov. 16, 30, 1918, pp.
#67, 522.

lh2 .
Ibid., March 3, 1917, p. 274.

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182

By the latter part of the 'twenties, the Farmer
was devoting at least one full page of each issue to a
department, entitled "Our Farm Boys and Girls." A short
time later, in the early 'thirties, a regular depart-
ment on h-H Club work was begun by A. G. Kettunen,
State Leader of Boys' and Girls' Club Work, Michigan
State College. This department is still a feature of
the paper.

Growing out of the agricultural work with
adults and older farm youth, conducted by some of the
public schools, were the so-called extension schools
.which were held in various parts of the state and which
were similar to old-time Farmers' Institutes. In 1912,
as previously mentioned, Congress made apprOpriations
for farm management studies to be conducted c00pera
atively by the United States Department of Agriculture
and the state agricultural colleges. The men so employed
in that work resided in various counties and became
known as county agricultural agents. The Farmer in 1912
foresaw great possibilities in an expansion of this
work and described the potential results to be "almost
incalculable.u The expansion of the program came,

however, after passage of the federal Smith-Lever Acts

#3

of 1911..1 From that time on, the importance of the

 

lhBIbid” May 11, 1912, p. 556; History 9; Co-
operative Extension Work ig_Michigan, gp. cit., p. 67

183

Farmers' Institutes declined rapidly, and they were
discontinued about the end of World War 1.11+4
County agricultural agents grew in numbers

rapidly as the war clouds gathered, but not rapidly
enough to satisfy the editor of the Farmer. Thirty-
two counties had agents in 1917, and the paper stated
that those counties having agents had experienced a
lower incidence of hog cholera because of a swine-
raising campaign conducted by the extension service
workers.lt'b5 The paper felt, however, that the reason
why more counties did not have agents was due to local
interests "fixing the various boards of supervisors
against county agent work." In some counties, Water-
bury said, the agent was regarded as a "harmless non-
entity and provided with a small salary and a tin-

lizzie if he confined himself to potato scab work or

the social status of his school district." Aggressive

 

1

M.The last report of Farmers' Institutes is
in the Report of the Secretary pf the State Board 9f
‘égriculture, 19I7.

145Farmer, Oct. 9, 1915, p. 306; Oct. 13, Nov.
10, 1917, pp. 5I8, #30. In discussing the "County Farm
Adviser,” a correspondent.in Allegan County wrote that
this was a new factor in disseminating information, and
that criticism would naturally be aroused. He stated
that although the fertility of the soil was being rapidly
depleted, yet the "proverbial conservatism of the avennga
farmer" made it difficult to present new ideas. Declines
in production were attributed to the weather or to
seasonal changes, rather than to poor methods. Ibid.,

April 4, 1914, p. 386.

1811

agents were often prevented from carrying out con-

structive programs, the editor believed. Such con-
ditions should be corrected, he said, as the county

agricultural agents were a big factor in the "new

. l46
co-0perat1ve movements."

In supporting the work of Michigan Agricul-

tural College, later to be re-named Michigan State

College, the Farmer provided a regular medium whereby

college workers in agriculture and home economics

could reach thousands of farmers and their families

with new ideas. In 1911. the paper commended the

beginning of Farmers' Week at the College and predicted
‘ l
a bright future for the new prpject. #7

The Farmer supported the State Board of Agri-

culture in its controversy with the State Administrative

Board over control of the College. The matter was

settled by a State Supreme Court ruling in favor of the

148
Board of Agriculture. The paper, in discussing a

proposed investigation of the College for alleged ir-
regularities in 1933, chided a State Senator for a
statement attributed to him. He is supposed to have said

that he would discharge six hundred of the College's

1461b18., Nov. 16, 1918, p. 455.

l”Ibid., March 14, 1914, p. 300.
148—

Ibid. July 28 Sept. 22, 1923, pp. 72, 270;
Feb. 9, 1924'_, .'176. '

f1

 

 

 

185

seven hundred employees and, thus, reduce the Oper-

ating budget by about $51,200,000.
of the

Retorted the editor
Farmer, "We cannot afford to close shop at

XVI. S. C. .

. . . ." He greatly feared that the events

indicated that the‘school might become "a political

1
football." The paper in 1937 supported the request

of the State Board of Agriculture for more funds for
the College, saying
In their Michigan State College the citizens of
thisstate have one ofthe finest and most ef-
ficient institutions of its kind in the entire
United States. . . . . Michigan State College is
like a boy who has outgrown his clothes, and legis-

lators should be urged to give an attentive ear

and supporting vote to the reasonable needs of the
institution for the next two years. 50

Although the Farmer usually spoke in terms of
praise for the State Board of Agriculture and the College,
there were times when it was critical. In 1923 the
paper criticized the Board for holding a'secret meeting

preceding the forced resignation of President Friday.

TheLFarmer sent letters of inquiry to members of the

Board, but received an answer from only one member, who

would make no comment. As a result, the paper stated,

it no other choice but to believe that the Board had been

critical of Friday's "economic program, which most farm

leaders thought to be sound."151 Again,

?filbid., Feb. 18, 1933, p. 58.
5

Ibid., Jan. 30, 1937, p. 70.
151Ibid., May 26, June 2, 1923, pp. 708, 732.

the editor was

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186

irked because of the lack of information, in 1932, con-
cerning the reasons for the resignations of Dean J. F.
Cox and Professor J. B. Hasselman and the abolition

of the position of College Historian held by Dr. Frank
S. Kedzie, a former'president].52 As for changing the
name of the institution from Michigan Agricultural
College to Michigan State College, in 1925, the paper
felt that there was danger that "agriculture may be
subordinated to the other courses." Waterbury hoped
that farm leaders in the state would remain alert to
make certain that agricultural training was not neg-

153
lected at the College.

The Michigan Farmer in the twentieth century

 

continued its previous policy of presenting a wide
range of information designed to improve rural life.
Included was material on rural electrification, sani-
tation, better health, better housing, improvement
of the home grounds, and promotion of leisure-time
activities.

Although rural electrification did not make
rapid progress in Michigan until in the late 'twenties,

the Farmer printed information on home lighting plants

 

152Ibid., Dec. 10, 1932, p. 206.

153ibid., April 25, 1925, p. 562.

187

as early as 1916. In 1921, the paper reported that most
of these plants were in the '. 111197-1ovx'tiers of counties;
Hillsdale County farmers were said to have 514 plants,
Lenawee 335, Oakland 324, and Monroe 402.15A At a
conference held at the College in 1925, the Grange
passed a resolution which requested the College to con-
duct rnlearch to determine the feasibility of rural
residents receiving electrical power from nearby

cities. At that time there was a rural line near Farms,
in Jackson County, and in 1927 the Mason-Danville ex-
perimental line was put into operation. In 1929 about
1,000 miles of rural electrical lines were constructed,
serving about 8,000 patrons. A year later, the paper
reported that more than 20,000 farms had access to
power.155 During the 'thirties the state lead the

nation in the number of rural extensionssmade. With

the coming of the REA into the state, wermuth in 1937
feared a possible conflict between that organization
and the commercial lines that had been established with-

6
out governmental support.15 In 1945 more than 138,000

 

8 1541bid., Feb. 19, 1916, p. 251; Feb. 19, 1921,
p. 21 . . .
1551bid., April 4, 1925, p. 462; March 5, 1927,
p. 307; May.10, 1930, p. 615. The figures on number of
of farms having electricity are somewhat lower than
those in the Census, which reported 15,695 (8 percent)
farms in 1920; 34,785 (20 percent) in 1930,_and 133,000
(71 percent) in 1940. U. S. Bureau of the Census, 22.
933., 1940, Vol. I, Pt. 1, p. 781.

l56Farmer, Sept. 25, 1937, p. 142.

 

 

 

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188
l”?

farms had been electrified. )
Following the increase of electricity in the

rural areas of Michigan, farmers were more receptive

to consider the installation of water systems, and the

use of septic tanks as a means of sewage disposal in-

creased. The Farmer in 1915 urged its readers to

check their water supplies and to exercise more care

in the disposal of sewage and garbage, as two important

steps in reducing the rural health risk. In 1920 the

paper printed directions on the construction of sep-

158

tic tanks. "Farming Without Pump Handles" was the

title of an article, giving the advantages of running
'water on the farm, which appeared in 1925.159

Besides promoting the use of better water and
sewage disposal facilities, the Farmer's program for
improving rural health included farm safety admonitions
and the encouragement of better personal health. Peri-
odically the editors warned of the hazards one faCed
when working with farm machinery and animals such as

'160
bulls. In commenting on the disproportionate

 

157 U. S. Bureau of the Census, Q, g. Census g£
Agriculture, l9h5,.gp. cit., Vol. I, Pt. 6, p. 3.

153Farmer, Sept. 18, 1915, p. 237; June 26,
1920, p. 95I. .

159Ibid., May 9, 1925, p. 621.

160Ibid., Nov. 27,1915, p. 476; July 13, 1918,
p. 27; Jan. I5, 1921, p. 21; Aug. 6, 1927, p. 97; Jan.-
2, l9h3, p. 6. .

189

number of physicians practicing in the urban areas in
contrast to those in the rural sections, the editor
urged his readers to study some of the more common
means of preserving health. "The medical profession
profits much through the ignorance of the masses re-
garding right living," he asserted.161 Early in the
'twenties, after Senator Arthur Capper had purchased
the controlling interest in the Lawrence Publishing
Company, the Farmer began publishing a regular health
department, conducted by Dr. C. H. Lerrigo¥62His
material had been appearing for several years previous
in farm papers controlled by Senator Capper. Dr.
Lerrigo's writings are still appearing in the Farmer.
For years the Farmer encouraged more attractive
rural homes and the use of native plant materials]:63
In 1927 the paper announced that certificates would be
awarded farmers on the basis of the appearance of their
house and grounds. The certificate, "Michigan Approved
Farm Home," would be awarded if a farm home received

800 out of a possible 1,000 points on a judging score-

card. The house could receive a maximum of 600 points,

 

161Ibid., Jan. 17, 1925, p. 62.

162Ibid., April 22, 1922, p. 488.
16
3Ibid., April 13, 1912, p. 333; Nov. 6,

1915, p. #03; March 31, 1923, p. 449; June 20, 1931,
p. 603; Oct. 2#, 1936, p. 189.

 

 

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190

its furnishings 200, and landscaping accounted for the
remaining ZOO-points.164 As a means of encouraging
long tenure and appreciation for land that had been
owned by the same family for many years, the Farmer
in the 'thirties printed pictures of farmsteads that
had been owned by the same families for several gen-
erations.165

The most famous of the awards made by the
paper was that of "Master Farmer," an annual pre-
sentation which was begun in 1926. Except for a few
years during the worst of the depression, ten farmers
were named annually to receive the award, which was
presented at Michigan State College during Farmers'
‘Week. The scorecard which was the basis of nominations
for the award included operation of farm (270 points),
business methods and ability (200 points), general
farm appearance and upkeep (90 points), citizenship
(140 points), and a miscellaneous rating based on
conveniences of the home, labor-saving equipment, the
man's character as a husband and father, education and
training of his children (300 points). Of some of the

seventy-one farmers who received the award up to 1939,

 

1641bid., May 7, 1927, p. 608.

1651bid., Feb. 15, March 28, 1936, pp. 92, 192;
July 17, 1937, pp. 2h, 26.

 

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191

it is of interest to note that twenty-two had not gone
beyond the eighth grade so far as formal education was
concerned, and only fifteen of the number were college
graduates.16

Use of leisure time through various types of
recreation was encouraged by the Eggmgg. These included
community singing, the holding of social events in
rural community meeting places, playing games, organi-
zation of rural base ball teams, patronizing a travel-
ing library, the reading of good fiction, and learning
to appreciate good music.167

Before the time of the first WOrld'War, the
phonograph was an important medium for bringing good
music and entertainment to rural homes; in the 'twenties
the coming of the radio had a similar effect but on a
much vaster scale. A reporter of Farmers' Clubs ac-

tivities commented in 1910 on the impact of the phono-

graph on rural culture, saying,

 

1661bid., Feb. 27, March 6, Sept. 18, Oct. 2.

1926 pg. 272, 305, 251, 311; Feb. 4,1933, p. 37; Jan.
15, l93 , p. 30; May 20, 1939, p. 302. Ten farmers
were selected each year except in 1926 when eleven ,
were named because two of them were partners.

1671mm, Jan. 21, 1911, p. 61; March 29, 1912,
p. 412; Nov. 5, 1915, p. #08; Oct. 21, 1916, p. 373;
Dec. 9, 1922, p. 613; Jan. 16, Segt. 11, 1926, pp. 59,
228; June h, 1927, p. 7l9; Jan.fl2 , 1928, p. 97; Aug.
31, 1935, p. 81. . ,

192

Nothing shows so plainly the steady trend of
farm life towards culture, refinement and happi-
ness in the home than the number of phonographs
. . . . . In the farmer homes where a phonograph
is to be found, there is no such thing as dull
nights or lack of appreciative company. Whatever
the whim of the moment happens to be, the machine
can satisfy it, band, orchestra, choir, humorous
songs and stories in abundance, sweet love songs
and plaintive ballads, sacred, holy hymns if you
wish, or the classical arias from immortal operas.
Whatever you desire is at yggr command from the
best artists in the world.

. The radio brought practical information as
well as entertainment to the Michigan farm home. The
first mention of the new device was in an advertise-
ment in the Farmer for April 15, 1922. The set adver-
tised was equipped withear-phones, and.with it the
listener could "hear wireless music, weather reports,
market reports. . . .in your home. You can hear Pitts-
burgh, Chicago and Detroit and other cities." The
price was $75, which probably did not include the an-

- 169
tenna or the batteries. The editor of the paper
greeted the new invention enthusiastically,

The radio not only makes the isolation of the
farm a thing of the past but brings quickly to the
farmer the agricultural information needed in the
intelligent conduct of the farm business. The
broadcasting of weather, crop and market reports
is the most important use to which the radio is

now being put, ip7ahe opinion of various radio
experts. . . . . - .

168Ibid., Sept. 9, 1910, p. 29.
169

Ibid., April 15, 1922, p. 473.

177OIbid., April 29, 1922, p. 607.

193

A speaker from the College was scheduled to
"deliver an address on a seasonable and important ag-
ricultural topic” every Saturday evening over the Detroit
News station, WWJ, beginning the first week in April,
1922.171 Later, the College put into Operation its own
station, WKAR, and the Eggmgg in 1925 reported that
,from five to six hundred farmers were officially en-
rolled in extension courses being broadcast by the
College station.172 The-£33333, like many other peri-
odicals and newspapers of that day, soon established
a radio department which ran for three or four years.
This department presented information on how to con-
struct and service receiving sets. Some of the material
which appeared in the department, which was discon-
tinued when mass production lowered the cost of manu-
factured sets, was of a technical nature. For instance,
the person who conducted the department, in describing
how listeners might lessen the annoyance of summer
static, advised,

If the tuner is of the double circuit type, the

tuning should be done with the coupling between the

two circuits as loose as possible. That is to sazid

if a variocoupler is employed, the secondary she
‘be turned nearly at right angles with the primary,

 

171Professor Howard C. Rather, of the Farm Crops
Department, was the first speaker, and his topic was on
the use of better quality seed as a means of producing
improved crops. Farmer, April 29, 1922, p. 607.

1721mm, April 11, 1925, p. 504.

 

 

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19h

or if a loose coupler is used, the movable coil
should be pulled out nearly to the end and all
of the tuning done with the transformer in this
position. 173

Perhaps the farmer's son may have been able to
understand those directions, but it is doubtful if many
farmers of mature years were able to comprehend such
technical language.

In 1925 radios were reported on about 9,000
.Michigan farms, a number which increased phenomenally
during the next two decades. By l9h5 they were reported
on about 15A,000 farms, or 90 percent of all farms in

the state.17h

As Michigan rural residents enjoyed expanding
Opportunities for contact with urban centers in the
'twenties, their woes from thiewes and nfisrepr'écmted mer-
chandise increased. The E3322; recognized this situation
and expanded the function of its Service Department,
which at first had been established to give free legal
advice to subscribers. In 1928 the Eggmgg announced
it would pay a reward of $50 for information leading to
the arrest and conviction of any thief who stole from

its subscribers. A sign announcing the reward offer was

 

1731bid., July 1, 1922, p. 20.
174

U. 8. Bureau of the Census, U. S. Census of
Aggiculture, 19h5, _p. cit., Vol. I, Pt. 6, p.

195

supposed to be posted in a prominent location on the
subscriber's premises?” The previous year the paper
paper had been the moving. force in securing passage of
the so-called Horton Act which gave farmers the right
to restrict trespassing on their land. This act,
opposed by conservation interests and sportsmen, was
said by the editor to be necessary because of the
'depreditions of city people running over the farmer's
“land.“lV6
Through the medium of the Service Department
readers were warned of the dangers in dealing with cer-
tain dealers in such things as insurance, silkworm and
mushroom raising equipment, encyclopedias, gasoline
“savers,” false teeth, oil and mining stocks, and cor-
respondence courses. 77In addition, readers were warned
against certain "buy-back" and "work-at-home" schemes,
itinerant eye "specialists," gypsies, and firms which

8
purported to publish new songs.17 As might be expected,

 

175
Farmer Jan. 23 1926, p. 96; Feb. 18,1928,
pp. 211., 2277—“. ' '

1761bid., April 23, 30, Nov. 19, 1927. PP. 554.

586, 1.82.

177Ibid., May 5 12, Aug. 18,1928, pp. 620, 61.2,
11.0; May 1,1929, p. 658; Dec. 10, 1932, p. 201.; Nov.
32, 1933, p. 155; Jan. 1+, 1936, p. 2; Jan. 11., 1939, p.

1781mm, April 28, May 5, 1928, pp. 592, 620;
Oct. 12,1929, p. 31.0; May 3, 1930, p. 589; Aug. 8,
1931, p.97; Jan. 11., 1939, p. 26.

196

with the coming of the depression in the early 'thirties,
the sellers of misrepresented merchandise increased
their activities, but the Farmer did not relax its
vigilence in protecting its subscribers. Not only did
the paper expose unscrupulous dealers and salesmen,

but it helped its readers to obtain settlement of many
complaints. For instance, during l9h0 the Service
Department reported that it helped to settle 112 com-
plaints, which averaged slightly over $18 each, an
amount too small in most instances to have justified

l
the expense of regular legal procedure. 79

With a general decrease in rural isolation
came greater Opportunities for a more satisfactory life
for farm women. Through its Household Department the
Ziichigan Farmer exerted a constructive influence and
helped rural women to take advantage of scientific ad-
vances in homemaking.

Mention has already been made of the paper's pro-
motion of better rural health, more attractive and
practical homes, and more beautiful home grounds. These
'were of particular benefit to the housewife, but other
material printed in the paper was of help to her in the

rearing of children, and feeding and clothing the mem-

 

179Ibid., Jan. 18, 19A1, p. 41,

 

 

197

here of her family. Included in the articles on child
training was an early plea by the conductor of the'
Household Section, Mrs. Alta Littell ("Deborah"), that
care of infants be taught in the schools. Said Mrs.
Littell,
But so far false modesty has kept this, the most
necessary thing girls can know, far removed from
them. Teachers and mothers both fail to prepare
the girls for woman's most important work, while
religiously cluttering up their minds with a jumble
of material they will pgger remember after they
leave the school room.

In the 'twenties colleges which provided homei
management laboratories also included the care of in-
fants as a part of their home economics graduates'

181
training.

The greatest amount of space was devoted to
food preparation and clothing. Long before our present-
day emphasis on the importance Of a good diet in pro-
moting good health, the Farmer urged women to train
"their daughters in the art Of preparing nourishing
meals. One correspondent sawed, with considerable firm-
ness of conviction,

[éfter marriage] I learned that the one crying need
of man is food; food three times a day, food well-

 

18°Ibid., Jan. 2, 1915, p. 21.

181In 1921, in discussing the need for home eco-
nomics expansion at the College, the Farmer quoted Mrs.
Dora Stockman's remarks on what was needed. She argued
ibr a new building and also for "a cottage filled with
babies where the girls can learn by actual experience
how to take prOper care of infants." Ibid., Jan. 1,
1921, p. 1A.

 

- 1,_____, a---

 

.llli ill;

 

198
cooked and in large enough quantities to keep one
contented and cheerful. . . . . the crying need of
woman is to know how to piggare food so it will be
palatable and digestible.

By 1920 the Farmer was presenting material on
the scientific planning of meals.183 Articles on foods
included those on packing school lunches, canning and
other means of preserving food, baking, meat cookery,
home candy making, the importance of salads and green
vegetables, vitamin preservation during cooking and,
later, the use of enriched flour.18h By the middle of
the 'twenties, the importance of vitamins in one's diet
was being stressed. Homemakers were told by the con-
ductor of the Household Department that those very
essential substances could be provided easily and
cheaply from the farm garden, by the frequent serving
of rhubarb, tomatoes and leafy, green vegetables.185
In 1930 Mrs. Leonard advocated the use of more cream
and butter by farm families as a means of helping to
reduce the butter surplus and to promote better health.

She gave several recipes for the use of sweet and sour

L

lszlbide, Febe 26, 1910, pe 2200

1831bide, NOVe 6, 1920, pe 571+.
18“Ibid.,‘March 19, 1921, p. 39A; Sept. 16, 1922,
p. 275; Nov. 2:, 1923, p. 5A6; Jan. 10, 1925, pp. 46-h7;
Jan. 5,1929, p. 18; April 28, 1934, p. 200; Aug. 29,
1936, p. 88; Jan. 2, 1937. Po 15; March 15, May 10, Aug.
9, 1941, pp. 182, 334, 62-63.

185Ibid., May 8, 1926, pp. 629-630; March 1,
1930, p. 277 e

 

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199
cream in cooking, stating

Seldom does the solution of the farmers' prob- ‘
lems lay within the hands of the farm family. But
in the case of the present butter surplus, pre-
liminary investigations show that if farmers would
use their own product instead of buying butter sub-
stitutes, the butter surplus would be at least
partly wiped out, the price of butter would be again
on a soundlggsis, and farm folks generally would be
healthier.

That same year, Mrs. Leonard, correctly foresaw

a bright future for the use of quick-frozen foods. In

an article, entitled "From Package to Pan," she described
how housewives could now buy frozen cuts of meat, all
ready for the frying pan. She predicted that expansion
of frozen food processing and distribution would benefit
both the farmer and the consumer. Said she,

It looks like we were at the beginning of a new
period of refrigeration. Dry ice and improved elec-
trical refrigeration are overcoming many of our old
Objections to frozen foods. Food scientists have
discovered that the cell structure of frozen foods
does not break down under this new quick freezing
process as it did under the old method.1

For many years the Farmer advocated the use of

an ice house and the preservation of ice in winter from
farm ponds as a cheap means of saving foods during the
hot months. In 1929 the paper printed an advertisement
of the Crosley Icyball Refrigerator, a device which
sold for 885 and Operated on about two cents worth of

kerosene each day. The amount of refrigeration it pro-

 

186Ibid., March 1, 1930, p. 276.

1871bid., May 24, 1930, p. 682.

200

duced was equivalent to about thirty-five pounds Of
ice.188 Later, one issue of the paper featured the
various types of home refrigerators and told how re-
frigeration shOuld be used in preserving milk and
cream. Thirteen makes of refrigerators were pictured,
including three which operated on kerosene and which
could be used on farms not having electricity.189 In
1938 Michigan's first frozen-food locker plant began
operation in Lapeer. The Farmer encouraged the con-
struction of such plants and reported three years
later that the number had increased to about one hun-
dred in Michigan. Three-fourths of the total capacity
of those plants was said to be used by farmers.190

Articles on clothing and home furnishings in-
cluded admonitions urging farm women to take more pride
in their daily dress, the use of commercial patterns,
crocheting, making of fancy work, knitting, choosing
of harmonious colors, use of home-produced wool for
bedding, remodelling of old clothes, making of slip
covers, home dry cleaning, and the selection of dress
accessories. The use of rotogravure in printing the

Farmer after 1941 made possible a great improvement in

the quality of illustrations. This was strikingly re-

 

1381bid., April 20, 1929. p.599;
1891b1de’ Aug. 1, 1936, Pp. 40-1.1.

190Ibid., March 12, 26, 1938, pp. 163, 20h;
March 15, l9ZI, p. 178.

201

vealed in the changed appearance of the photOgraphs
used to illustrate articles on women's fashions. By
the time of the early 'forties, the quality of some of
the illustrations used in the Household Department was
equal to that of pictures appearing in the best of the
specialized women's magazines of national circulatioh?1

During the period under discussion, there was
a vast change in the manner of presenting homemaker
information. Before 1920 many of the articles still
retained some features that characterized women's
articles of the nineteenth century. For example, the
so-called Victorian ideas of conduct and feminine
decorum were stressed. Girls were said to require
special "protection."1 In an article, entitled "A
Case of Criminal Negligence," Mrs. Littell in 1915
urged mothers to watch their daughters carefully after
they started entertaining beaux. Girls were said to
be "turned loose to have a good time" with men of all
ages."from 15 to 50. . . .often with no escort." Stated
Mrs. Littell emphatically,

The American girl is all right, of course. Shefis
ours and we have to swear by her. But she might be

1911b'1d‘f,’ July ’3', 1910, p. 84; Aug. ’17,?1’918,
p. 12.0; mar-Tito 5,’ 1919, p. 434; June 3,1922, p. 661.;
Jan. 10, 1925, pp. 46-A7; March 1, 1930, p. 277; March

5, 1932, p. 134; March 3, l7, 193h, pp. 96, 124; Oct.
7, 1939, p. 172; March 29, 1941, p. 226.

1921b1d., March 25, 1911. p- 365-

202

improved upon. Careful pruning is as necessary to
make a perfect girl as it is to make a perfect shrub
or tree, and it needs tots kept up longer. There
never is a time when the mother can place her
daughter upon her honor and cease to watch her. She
can let the daughter think she is on honor from a
tender age; but the maternal espionage must never
cease if there are to be no regrets.

She marries, not with any idea of what she is
doing, or with any prOper conception of the real
meaning of love, but because it is her mating time
and some one of the men she knows proposes. . . .

. The national evil is not divorce. It is paternal
negligence.193 .

.By the middle of the 'twenties the traditional,
often rambling, didactic essay on various phases of
homemaking was fast changing to the present-day crisp,
"how-to-do-it" type of article. Undoubtedly, the changed
style of homemaker article was influenced by the changes

that took place in women's magazines of that day.

From 1908 to l9h3 many changes occurred in the
typeand quantity of general material and literature
’printed in the Eggmgg. As previously mentioned, in
1907 an eight-page magazine section had been added.

For several years in this section appeared general
material of a non-agricultural nature. Included were
fiction, poetry, travel articles, a picture page,
puzzles for the children, anecdotes, and short articles
on a wide range of subject matter. Cost of the section

‘was said to have been about $10,000 a year.19h

 

f

l93Ibid., July 2h. 1915. P- 72.
l9#IBIa., April 15. 1911. p- 433.

203

Some of the authors of the fiction which ap-
peared serially were well known popular writers of the
times, including Harold Bindloss, "Winston of the
Prairies”:‘William.MacLeod Raine, ”Crooked Trails and
Straight": Zane Grey, "Light of the Western Stars";
and Peter B. Kyne, "The Valley of the Giants."1950thers
were Michigan writers, some of whose plots were based
upon incidents in the state's history. The latter
stories, though perhaps lacking some of the polish of
those written by nationally known authors, doubtless
were interesting to many readers because of the local
historical sites mentioned. Included was "Once a Mor-
man” by Irma B. Matthews, which was a fictionized ac-
count of the last days of.Michigan's Morman leader,
"King" James Strang.196 Another was "When Michigan Was
Young" by Ben East. This was a well written serial,
based on Pontiac's conspiracy and concerned the struggles
of the British to prevent the Indians from capturing
Detroit.197
' Staff members also contributed some fiction.

These included the Household Editor, Mrs. Alta Littell,

.

1951bld., Aug. 29, 1911., p. 166 to A ril 10, 1915,
_c- 2
p. h50° Dec. , 1915, p. 501 to June 17, 191 p. 761;
Oct. 1 ,.19l9, p. 488 to March 6, 1920, p. 366; April 3,
1920, p. 552 to Nov. 13, 1920, p. 604. p

1 6
9 Ibid., April 15 to May 27, 1911, pp. hhh to

590' 197'
Ibid., Jan. 17 to June 13, 1931, pp. 55 to

595-

20h

who wrote in a manner somewhat similar to that of Ruth
Suckow and Willa Gather; the Service Editor, John R.
Rood, and the Rural Health Editor, Dr. C. H. Lerrigo.
Some of Mrs. Littellls stories concerned the tribua
lations of a newly married woman whose husband took F
her to their new home in Michigan's cut-over counti3? I i

Rood's "Romance of a Land Title" was about a man and

woman who built a house on land to which they believed

 

they possessed a clear, legal title. Later events showed L”
them to be mistaken. The story sought to reveal the
value of the Torrens land title system, which is not
used in Michigan.199 Lerrigo's "The Kidnapped Doctor"
‘was a serial based on the life of a young medical phy-
sician in a baskward mountainous section. The idea was
good, but the plot was unduly complicated by too many
kidnappings, and reader interest may have lagged before
the end of the last installment.200 -
Typical of some of the humorous short fiction

was a story by Harv Hess, "She Knocked Our Apartment, So
I Knocked Her Flat.“ In this story a country man paid-a
visit to his urban friends who lived in a forty-family

apartment building. .The latter lived in what "looked

 

1981b1d., Dec. 3, 10, 1921, pp. 539, 558.

199Ibid., den. 8, 1927, p. #1.

00 -
Ibid., Jan. 4 to April 19, 1930, pp. 7 to 540.

 

205

like a hospital" and paid "$85 a month rent!" Observed
the rural man, with disdain,

the flat dweller can't look out his window and see

who's coming, can he? The first intimation they get

that someone is going to call is when the bell

rings. We watch folks coming a mile gayn the road

and try to figure out who it can be.

A regular department on religion in everyday
life, 'Our Family Sermon," was started by the Rev. N. A.
McCune in May, 1920?02This feature is still appearing
in the 333395, and its conductor has the distinction
of having served readers of the paper the longest of
any of the current contributors. His period of service
is two years longer than that of Dr. C. H. Lerrigo,
whose department on rural health was started in April,
1922.203
Use of syndicated news pictures was greatly exp

panded with the coming of the first World War. One pic-
ture in 1916 is that of a grinning soldier identified
as "Lieut. Patton who aided in capturing Capt. Cardenas
a well known lietenant of General Villa."204 The deeds
of "Lieut. Patton" are more widely known today than

those of the "well known" Captain Cardenas or General

 

2011bid., May 2, 1925, p. 599.
202Ibid., May 1, 1920, p. 708.
2031bid., April 22, 1922, p. A88.

20“Ib18., June 10, 1916, p. 737.

" - f 0 '.'..-.3'1 is! ' flame?»

 

LL?

 

 

206

In the late 'twenties the Farmer, for several
months, printed a page of reproduced snapshots submitted
by readers. The quality varied considerably, and most
of the pictures were of children, animals, family re-
unions, and five-generation groups. This material was
high in reader interest. Single pictures of similar
subjects are used in current issues of the paper.

The first cartoon strip appeared in the paper

. 205
in May, 1920, entitled ”Al Acres" by Frank R. Leet. It

 

was still running in the Farmer in the late 'forties.
One of the early cartoons of "Al Acres" showed him
using a vacuum cleaner to pick up out hay, with a
caption, entitled "As a self-loader, the vacuum cleaner
is not a success." The bag of the huge cleaner became
over-filled, burst and scattered hay and "Al" over the
field.206It may be of interest to note that a successful
vacuum-type harvester for white clover seed was devel-
oped at Michigan State College in l9h5. In appearance,
the real-life vacuum harvester resembled the one used
by ”Al Acres.” Another cartoon strip featuring home-
spun humor, "Song of the Lazy Farmer," began running
in 1928.

'With the coming of the depression in the early

'thirties and the change of frequency of issue from

 

2051bid., May 15, 1920, p. 768.

206Ibid., July 10, 1920, p. #9.

 

 

207
weekly to semi-monthly, the quantity of non-agricultural
material was drastically reduced. The regular depart-
ments, however, were not discontinued.
In addition to publishing news and literary

material, the editors of the Farmer frequently stated

 

opinions on questions that had only an indirect connec- 5-
tion with farming. For example, although cigarette 5
advertising was accepted for a time during the depresskn, A
the paper was opposed to cigarette smoking, especially a;

by women. In 1913 a subscriber protested the inclusion
of an advertisement showing a woman helping a man make
cigarettes from Bull Durham tobacco. In deciding to
eliminate all advertising pertaining to cigarettes at
that time, the editor stated:

we desire to shun 'even the appearance of evil.‘
It is a well known fact that if cigarettes are to
be smoked at all (which we believe should be pro-
hibited by law) it is less harmful to make them
from pure tobacco of 589d quality than to smoke
the ready-made kinds.

The editor in 1929 severely criticized women who
smoked and thereby aquired "slimness and steadying their
nerves,” as the advertisements promised.

We may be old fashioned, but we cannot get used
to the thought of the mothers of this great nation
indulging in what some of them may term a new found
liberty. For some reason, we are unable to picture
our mother with a smoking cigarette between her lips
and if we could, we feel quite sure we could not
keep her from falling from the high pedestal of love

 

207Ibid., Feb. 22, 1913, p. 230.

 

111 ll.

208

and reverence upon which we have placed her.208

As the financial skies darkened in the early
'thirties, the Eggmgg temporarily lifted its ban on
.cigarette advertising.209 Reader reaction to the ac-
ceptance of such advertising was unfavorable? In
the 'forties an insertion of a small, conservatively
worded advertisement for a pipe tobacco was the cause
of periodic protest from some reader who objected to
tobacco advertising of any kin001

Surprising as it may seem, it is difficult to
form an Opinion as to the Fagmgg's policy on the pro-
hibition question and the Eighteenth Amendment. The
subject seems never to have been mentioned editorially
except for one instance in 1922, in which Senator
Capper discussed some of the difficulties in enforcing
the provisions of the Volstead Act, under the heading,

I'The Booze Business Is Not Yet Dead."212

The only other
material bearing on the subject was an anonymous letter
to the editor in 1919, entitled "Don't Be Bamboozled By

Booze,” in which the writer urged readers to vote

 

208Ibid., April 20, 1929, p. 584.

2091bid., March 21, 1931, p. 312. On this page
appeared an.advertisement in two colors, in which a
woman wearing a bathing suit is saying, "Sunshine mellaua
heat purifies, Luckies are always kind to your throat."

210Statement by Mr. Burt wermuth, interview.
211

212
Farmer, April 22, 1922, p. 489.

Statement by Mr. Milon Grinnell, interview.

209

against an amendment to the State Constitution which
would permit the sale of beer and wine.213
Four policies of the EQEESE in 1919 were firmly
stated by M. J. Lawrence, publisher. He advocated the
suppression of all "Bolshevistic, I. W. W. or other
anarchist" group, the promotion of harmony between "all

classes" in this country, the shunning of any "covenant

‘with other nations” or any foreign alliances, and the

n- “ 7.6“." "Jain.

ending of all governmental control over America's in-

 

1E'5T""_

dustries. He feared the League of Nations because it
might permit foreign powers to gain authority over the
United States. By removing governmental controls, the
"stimulating influences of competition and fair rivalry
‘would have their swing." He also advocated a protective
tariff that would prevent the entry of the products of
”cheap laborn which he feared might soon be entering
this country. His definition of a good American citizen,
was .
An individual who adheres steadfastly to strict~
honesty and moral habits; who upholds truth as the
basis of all good character; who abhors the idler,
the spendthrift and the fanatic; who believes that
work and constant engagement in industry is not
only a duty but necessary to physical health and
happiness; who resgicts the law and considers its
violation a crime. h

Three years later, Senator Capper, in his weekly

”—1

2131mm, March 8, 1919, p. 368.
21"Rich, May 10, 1919, p. 722.

210

letter from Washington, opposed the cancellation of the

war debts owed by European nations. Said he, "Let us

hear no more nonsense about a cancellation of the

foreign debt owed to the taxpayers of this country."215
In making an expression of opinion on the

celebrated Scopes "evolution" trial in Tennessee, the

.. '. new“!

Farmer avoided offending fundamentalist church groups.
In an editorial, entitled "The Monkey Business," the

editor stated, "The truth will prevail and will become

 

evident to all in due time, whether that truth is now
as the fundamentalists think it is or as the scientists
conceive it."216 A short time later, he let it be known
that he believed firmly in the evolution of farm ani-
mals and plants, and in the subsequent betterment of

the various species.

The recent 'monkey trial' gave the most of us
an incentive to think about religion. We could weigh
in the balance the different thoughts presented,
and decide for ourselves. . . . .there are some
folks who ridiculed any opposing thought because
’they have accustomed themselves to certain con-
captions of things and have therefore definitely
and perhaps infinitely stabihzed their thoughts.

Such is probably the case down in Indiana.
There a man. . . .has gained national fame as a
breeder of gladioli plants. By his selection and
hybridizing he has added color and beauty to this
kind of flower. . . . . But the other day he
was banned from an orthodox church because the
authorities felt that in his hybridizing work he
was interfering with the divine scheme of things;
that if God wished a better gladiolus he would have

_.___-‘

215Ibid., April 22, 1922, p. A89.
216Ibid., July 25, 1925, p. 58.

 

211

produced it.

We just wonder if those people would prefer a
sirloin steak from a wild Texas steer to that from
a prize beef; pork from the wild boar than from a
.modern hog. Would they prefer fig leaves to cloth-
ing made from the cotton of the modern cotton plant.
. . . . Agriculture is all wrong if such conceptions
would generally prevail. When man first tickled the
ground, he started to improve things, and has been
at it ever since. Perhaps it is part of the divine
scheme to keep man busy improving things. God knows
that man must be kept busy to keep him out of mis-
chief, and we feel sure that as long as he is making
things better he is not working with the forces of
evil. Certainly there cannot be any harm in picking
out the best of the things which God grows in such
profusion and making them better, more beautiful
or more useful. 17

When Dr. Charles W. Eliot, distinguished man
of letters and the president of Harvard, died, the
editor of the Farmer criticized the daily press for
'its treatment of the news of the educator's death.

It was unfortunate for the nation that Dr.

Charles W. Eliot. . . . died during the illness

of a popular movie actor Rudolf Valentino . As

a result of this coincidence, the death of the
great university president was given but a few lines
of space in the daily press that there might be
columns and pages depicgigg each groan and whim of
the suffering film man.

In 1929 the Farmer opposed efforts being made
to legalize fifteen-round prize fights in Michigan. In
an editorial, entitled "Demseyizing Michigan,” the edi-
tor criticized the visit Jack Dempsey made to the Michi-

gan Legislature and urged readers to let their legisla-

 

217lhid., Aug. 29, 1925, p. 156.

218Ibid., Jan. 1, 1927, p. 5.

 

 

212

tors know their sentiments. Otherwise, he said, the

state might be made l'the prize fighting arena of the
219

nation.”

 

2191mm, March 30, 1929, p. 1.76.

 

EPILOGUE

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SERVICE

Just 100 years ago the fifteenth of this month
the first issue of the Michigan Farmer made its
appearance. On the first page of this number the
editor and publisher, D. D. T. Mbore, stated in
part: "The primary objects to which the columns of
the Farmer will be devoted are, to introduce use-
ful Improvements in the Practice and Science of
Agriculture in all its various departments-- to
improve the cultivation of the rich and fertile
soil of the West-- and to elevate the standing
and ennoble the character of Western Agriculture."
In brief, it was his sincere desire and intent to
serve the farmers of this state, and even though
the job of editing and publishing your state farm
paper has passed through many hands during the
century coming to a close, those original objects
have remained unchanged.

. . . .at this time, as we are about to go into
the second century, we who are now in charge wish
to renew the pledge of Mr. Moore, for we deeply
appreciate the responsibility placed upon us and
trust there will be no occasion to feel we have
seriously failed.

(An editorial by Milon Grinnell editor of the.Michigan
Farmer, The Farmer, Feb. 6, 19L3, p. 62.)

213

APPENDIX
EVOLUTION OF THE MICHIGAN FARMER

Confining the detailed bibliographical in-

formation concerning the Michigan Farmer to a section

 

apart from the text seemed desirable for at least two
reasons: It would avoid excessive citations, and the E
facts about the rather complex evolution of the peri- I
odical could be presented in the form of a continuous
narrative.

There has been a Michigan Farmer serving
Michigan agriculture for over a century-- from the
time a paper named the Michigan Farmer ggg'Western
‘Aggéculturist began publication at Jackson in Febru-
ary, 18h3. Although a claim that the Michigan Farmer
of 19h3 was a direct, lineal descendant of the giggly
ggg Farmer of 18h3 can be disputed on technical
grounds, to all practical purposes the paper has a
century or more of distinguished service to its credit.
Despite early breaks in continuity of publication,
there has been continuous publication since 1869.

The following series of the Michigan Farmer
have been issued since 18A3;

21h

 

215

l! EEEEE.§EEEEEJ.l§&2:2§
The paper was established at Jackson as the
Michigan Eggggg‘ggd'Western Agriculturist, the first
issue being that for February 15, 18h3 (volume 1,
number 1). With the beginning of the next volume, on
February 15, 184h, the name was changed to Michigan
Farmer Egg'Western Horticulturist, and with the be- I

ginning of volume 3, April, 1845, the name was

 

shortened to the Michigan Eggmgg.

The issues constituting volumes 1 and 2 ap-
peared semi-monthly; those of volumes 3, 4 and 5,
monthly; those of volumes 6 and 7, semi-monthly; and
from 8 through 16 (end of Series 1), monthly. The
volume period was changed to coincide with the calenkw
year, with the beginning of volume 6, January, l8h8.

Because of the exhaustion of the stock of
back issues} a new series was published simultane-
ously with Series I from July, 1850, through March,
1853. Issues during that period carried a dual desig-
nation of volume and number.

The sub-title of the paper varied slightly
during the fifteen years spanned by the first series.
At the beginning, it was "A Semi-monthly Publication,

A

 

1As mentioned in Chapter I, many subscribers
of farm papers in the early years, in Michigan and
elsewhere, kept back issues of those publications for
reference purposes. ‘

216

Devoted to Agriculture, Horticulture, and Domestic and
Rural Economy and Designed to Elevate the Character
of the Western Farmer." The sub-title of the third
volume stated that the Farmer was "A.Monthly Journal
Devoted to Agriculture, Horticulture,and to Rural and
Domestic Economy, Designed to be Particularly Adapted
to the Soil, Climate and Staple Products of Michigan.”
Throughout the rest of the series, the sub-title un-
derwent minor alterations usually with each change of
editor.

The publishers and editors during Series 1,
1843-58, were: I

(Date) (Publisher) (Editor)

1843, Feb. 15 D. D. T. Moore D. D. T. Moore
1844, Nov. 1 W. F. Storey Storey and Cheney
and R.,S. Cheney
1845, Feb. 1 " and ” Henry Hurlbut

1845, March 15 Henry Hurlbut " "
1846, April Hurlbut and u a

He Gs WOOdhull

 

1846, Oct. 26 Hurlbut " "
1847, Dec. 6 warren Isham Warren Isham
1853, April 15 R. F. Johnstone Isham aha John-
, and'William S. stone

Duncklee -
1854, January 5 and " Johnstone
1856, February Johnstone H

The first series ended with the issue for

 

217

December, 1858. During the period from its founding,
in February, 1843, through March, 1847, the paper was
published in Jackson. Thence the place of publi-
cation became Detroit. For a short time in 1849, the
paper was said to have been published simultaneously
in Detroit and Niles. The author has examined only
one issue, however, which carried a Niles date-line, ;

that for January 1, 1849. Niles may have been selected

 

as a means of generating interest for the Farmer and

‘IZ;

to keep the Prairie Farmer from gaining circulation

in that part of Michigan. The plan was soon abandoned.

II. Second Series, 1852-62

Beginning with the new year, January, 1859,
R. F. Johnstone changed the frequency of issue to once
a week and designated the first issue, volume 1, number
1, thus beginning a new (second) series. In April of
that year, Johnstone, who was also secretary of the
MiChigan State Agricultural Society, became general
superintendent of the Michigan Agricultural College
farm. This position took him away from active manage-
ment of the Farmer. Mrs. Lois B. Adams, who had furn-
ished financial backing for Johnstone's entry into

agricultural journalism in 1858, became manager.

 

 

2Farmer, April 16,1859, p. 125; Van Buren,
22o Lite, pp. 31 182-31 0

 

 

 

218

Johnstone disposed of his interest in the
paper in September, 1861, to William.M. Doty, of
Kalamazoo, who became publisher and editor. He
retained Johnstone and Mrs. Adams as assistant edi-
tors. Doty nine months later made an agreement whereby
the American Agriculturist, of New York, was said to
have absorbed the Michigan Farmer in June, 1862. Ac- ;
cording to the publisher 0f the Agriculturist, Doty

became a staff member of the New York publication and

3

 

‘hl

"brought with him the Farmer's subscription list.”
The sub-title of the Farmer for January, 1859,
the first issue of the second series, was "A Weekly
Journal of the Farm, the Garden & the Household, and
of Subjects Relating to Agriculture, Horticulture and
Rural Economy in the Peninsular State." At the start
of the third volume, January, 1861, the sub-title was
shortened to "A Weekly Journal of Affairs Relating to

the Farm, the Garden, aaa the Household."

III. Thigg’Sggigg, 1862-64
Apparently, publication of a monthly farm pagn~
bearing the name, Michigan Farmer, was begun in Detnfim,
by William S. Bond and George Snyder, almost immedi-

ately after Doty had sold his Michigan Farmer to the

 

3Farmer, Sept. 21, 1861, p. 297; American
AgriculturIst, June, 1862, p. 168.

219

American Agriculturist. Copies of volume 1 of the
third series are not available in the Library of
Congress nor in any Michigan library. It may be pre-
sumed that publication of the third series began in
July, 1862, inasmuch as volume 2 started in July,
1863. That volume listed Bond and Snyder as the pub-
lishers, R. F. Johnstone as editor, Bond as assistant
editor, and Mrs. L. B. Adams as "editress."

The third series did not extend beyond the
end of volume 2, in June, 1864. The publishers an-
nounced that the Eggmgg would be changed to a weekly
paper with the beginning of the new volume in July,
1864, provided "enough of our subscribers will for-

ward their names to make it an object."#

Evidently
support was not forthcoming, for in July, 1864, the
mailing list and other assets were purchased by

H. N. F. Lewis, to become a part of his Western 32531.
The latter publication was started in September, 1864.
Lewis mentioned publishing the ”valadictory? of Bond
and Snyder in a number of the Eggmgg, issued as an
"extra" in August, 1864.5 This "extra" may have been
a prospectus announcing the Western Farmer.

The last regular issue of the Farmer of the

third series appeared in June, 1864. Mrs. Adams ap-

 

hFarmer, June, 1864, p. 531..
5Western Rural, Sept. 3, 1864, p. 4.

 

I

 

1 a a};

r .6.

 

- 941‘
Y

220

parently severed her connection the first of that
year, as her name no longer appeared in the paper
after January. Johnstone likely continued on the

staff until the paper was sold to Lewis.

 

 

£1

£1. Fourth Series, 1869-June, 1298 §

The Farmer was revived by Robert F. Johnstone ;

and Robert Gibbons on May 15, 1869, as a weekly farm E
paper. That frequency of issue was continued through— E:

out the series which ended in June, 1908.

Publishers, editors and principal staff mem-
bers of the Michigan Eggmgg for the period 1869
through June, 1908, were:6
(Date) (Publisher) (Editor and staff)
1869, May 15 Robert F. John- Robert F. Johnstone

stone and Robert
Gibbons

 

6Because the information presented here was
derived mainly from the paper's "masthead," it is
recognized that many of the dates may be only approx-
imately correct. It is known that some persons served
several months before their names were listed. For ex-
ample, Burt Wermuth joined the staff in August,1904;
yet his name did not appear in the masthead as an as-
sociate editor until September 30, 1905. James More,
was on the editorial staff from the fall of 1902 until
sometime in 1903; his name was never listed. Statement
by Burt Wermuth, personal interview. -

One reason for postponing the listing of staff
members' names was the fear entertained by the publish-
ers, for a time, that the tenure of the person might be
brief. The publishers did not wish to build up the
readership appeal of such persons, for fear that sub-
criptions might lapse if popular persons left the staffl
Statement by Milon Grinnell, personal interview.

221

(Date) (Publisher)
1877 (about) . . . .
1878, Jane 7 e e e e
1880, Oct. 24 Death of John-
stone; Johnstone
and Gibbons still
listed as publishes
1884 Benjamin Gibbons
"associated" with
his brother, Rob't;
no title given
1886, May 25 Gibbons Brothers
("successors to
Johnstone and
Gibbons")
1893, Jane 7 e e e e
1893, Sept. 19 M. J. Lawrence
and brother pur-
chased paper
1893, Oct. 7 . . . .
1894, Feb. 3 . . . .
1894, Feb. 10 e e e e
1894, June 23 Lawrence Brothers

listed as publhh-
ers (M. J., W. H.
and M. L.)

(Editor and staff)

Elizabeth Gardner
Johnstone ("Beatrix")
in charge of.
Household Dept.

Dr. Robert Jennings,
Veterinary Editor

Gibbons became ‘ ;
editor '

 

Death of Jennings.

Dr. W. F. Strong, Vet.
Ed., Jan.2l-Sept.,
1893 .

M. J. Lawrence

Gibbons retained as
Assoc. Ed.; Mrs.
Johnstone conttd as
Household Ed.

Dr. w. 0. Fair in
charge of "Vet.
Dept."

J. H. Brown, Assoc.
Ed.,

No editor listed;
Gibbons, Brown,
M. W. Lawrence, Assoc.
Editors

 

 

 

 

(Date)
1894.

1895.

1895.

1896,

1896,

1899.

1899.

1899.

1909.

1904.

1905.

222

(Publisher) (Editor and staff)

Dec. 29 . -. . . Last mention of Mrs.
Johnstone as in
charge of Household
Dept.

Jan. 5 . . . . Mrs. Ella E. Rock-
wood of Flint, House-
hold Editor

Sept. 28 M. W. Lawrence B. E. Benedict suc-
replaced W.H. ceeded M. W. L. as
Lawrence as Vice Assoc. Ed.
Pres. Others list-
ed: M.J. Lawrence,
Pres.; M. L. Law-
rence, Sec.

March 21 . . . . Benedict no longer
' on staff

July . . . . 0. E. Young said to
be "assistant to
Robert Gibbons"

Jan. 28 . . . . Colon C. Lillie, of
Coopersville, to be
”writer on dairying
and horticulture"

June 3 . . . . Young replaced Brown
as Assoc. Ed.

Sept. 15 E. H. Houghton . . . . .
listed as Bus.

Mgr.
Jan. 16 . . . . Gibbons no longer
listed'
Jane 30 e e e e I. R. Waterbury and
1 Young, Assoc. Eds.

Jan. 7 . . . . Lillie resigned.‘
. (Contributing Ed. 7
until about 1917)

 

7

Statement by Burt Wermuth, personal interview.

 

15. it!

ft.

 

 

 

223

(Date) (Publisher) - (Editor and staff)

1905, Sept. 30 . . . . . Burt Wermuth listed
as Assoc. Ed. (had
been on staff since
Aug., 1904); other
Assoc. Eds. were
Waterbury and Young

1, Return 22 Original Series

July, 1908-February 15, 1942

The volume for January-June, 1908, was num-
bered 53 (fourth series). Without any explanatory
statement, at the start of the next volume, the paper
reverted to Series 1 (original series) by designating
that volume as number 132. Volumes 17 through 131 were
represented by the span of years, 1859-1908, during
which time Series II, III, and IV were published.8

_.__ A

The desire to acquire antiquity has been in-
creasingly pronounced among American periodicals since
1900. One of the best examples is that of the Satur-
da Evenin Post, which claimed for many years tHe

st net on of Having been founded by Benjamin Frank-
lin. Students of newspaper history have pointed out
the fallacy of that claim. F. L. Mott, American
Journalism (New York: Macmillan Co., 1941), p. 27.
StepHen Conrad Stuntz states, "the truth has fre-
quently been stretched by publishers in regard to the
age of their papers..... For like effect, recently es-
tablished periodicals are often identified with
earlier papers of the same or similar name..... Many
papers juggle their volume numbers to fit theirilaims."
Stephen Conrad Stuntz, List of Agricultural Periodi-
cals gf’thg United States and—Canada Published During
BEE Centur Jul , 18I0, £97331 , I IO,TU. S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture, Misc. ub. 39 Washington;
Government Printing Office, 1941), p. iv.

 

 

 

224

The publishers, editors, and principal staff
members of the Michigan Farmer for the period July 1,
1908, to February 15, 1943, were: .
(Date) (Publisher) _ (Editor and staff)

1909, Nov. 20 Death of M; W. . ._ . . .
‘ Lawrence (1873-
1909), Vice Pres.
and Gen. Mgr.,
Lawrence Pub.
Co.

1910, Feb. 5 . . . . . Mrs. Alta Littell
succeeded Mrs. Rock-
wood as Household Ed.

1910, July 9 . . . . . Mrs. Littell listed
as Assoc. Ed.

1913, July 5 E. H. Houghton, I. R. Waterbury,
Bus. Mgr. Editor; M. J. Law-
. rence, Man'g Ed.

1913, Nov. 3 . . . . . Frank A. Wilken,
Horticulture Ed.

1914, March 21 . . . . . o. E. Young no longer
listed as Assoc. Ed.

1917, Dec. 22 Waterbury replaced . . . . .
_ Houghton as Bus.
Mgr.

1917, Dec. 31 Houghton resigned . . . . .

1918, Jan. 19 Waterbury named . . . . .
Mgr. and Ed.

1918, Febe 23 Death Of Me Lo 0 e e e 0
Lawrence (1870-
1918), Vice Pres.,
Le PUbe COe

1918, JUly 13 e e e e e L. ‘qo Snell, We Mil-
. ton Kelly, Assoc.
Ed.

 

/\

(Date)
1920,

1920,
1922,

1922,

1922,

1922,

1922,

1925,

1925,

1925.

1927.

1928,

 

Jan. 7

May 1

Jan. 7

Jan. 28

April 22

Dec. 9

Dec. 23

Jan. 3

Jan. 10

Sept. 5
June 18

Sept. 22

225
(Publisher)

Controlling
interest in Law-
rence Pub. Co.
sold to Sen.
Arthur Capper

Death of M. J.
Lawrence (1843-
1922)

Waterbury listed

as Bus. Mgr.

Consolidation
with Mich. Busi-
ness Farmer.

anrence Pub . Co

(Editor and staff)

Gilbert Gusler, Mar-
ket Ed.

Rev. N. A. McCune
began weekly sermon

Snell and Kelly no

longer on staff

Dr. C. H. Lerrigo
began Health Dept.

P. P. POpe named
Field Editor

Waterbury, Wilken,
Wermuth, Leonard
listed as Assoc. Eds.

POpe no longer on
staff

Dr. Samuel Burrows
succeeded Dr. Fair
as Veterinary Ed.

Stanley Powell began
"News and Views from
Ingleside Farm"

E. S. Bayard, Ed. in
Chief (listed for one
issue only); Wermuth,
Man'g Ed.; Milon Grin-

changed to CappeP-nell, Assoc. Ed.;

Harmon—Slocum,

Leonard, Household Ed.

Inc. Capper, Pram Wilken no longer on

T. D. Harmon, V.
Pres.; George M.
Slocum, V. Pres.

staff

 

‘ . ~ , \
V a V I
, - ‘ l a . ‘ r
) . . n '1) 1 . .
A L: 'v ‘ - 9 '
4 .
J 5 l / ' E k
v“
. . I u !. d ‘
.‘
I 1 . P P U a
.

1

~ K
e u -
I l
l
a U I . C (
I . .1 . n J .
i
1
\
J .I s .a . V
I . . 5 ' ‘ : '
a.
- I'
A, ’ H \ '
'1 - _ V
J . , ' ,.
A 1 J

   

(Date)
1928,

1928,
1928,
1932.
1932.

1933.

1935.

1936.

1936.

1937:

1938.

1941,
1941.

1942,

Sept. 29

Nov. 17

hmel8
Dec. 1

Jan. 7
April 27

Jan. 4

Nov. 21
May 22

Oct. 8

April 26
July 26

Feb. 7

226

(Publisher)

(Editor and staff)

Waterbury listed Herb Nafziger began

as Manager

Death of Water-
bury (1869-1932)

Wermuth named
Manager and
Editor

Wermuth named
General Manager

Wermuth retired

"Orchards and Fruits";
V. 0. Braun began
"Chats with the Agr'l
Teacher"; L. W. Meeks
began "Broadscope Farm
News and Views"

Wermuth listed as
Editor

Grinnell, Man'g Ed.;
John C. Cook, Service
Bureau Editor

Cook no longer on staff

Minard Farley, Jr.,
became Service Bureau
Editor ,

Marjorie T. Whitburn,
Assistant Editor

Whitburn no longer on
staff; Barbara Lucas,
Assistant Editor

Ila Leonard no longer
on staff; Barbara Lucas
Household Editor

Grinnell named Editor;
Farley, Assoc. Editor

Wermuth, Field Editor

Leonard Westrate suc-
ceeded Farley as Assoc.Ed.

Lucile Smith’succeeded

Barbara,Lucas as House-
hold Editor

 

.
v .
l
I
A .
. u I e
‘ - )
, r, a ) - 4
. .. A . e .
. ,
7 " . " ‘ 7
t
o
v ‘I ' r ‘ ' 7
l
L
‘ U \7 I
l
'9 :1 :- ' ~
, ,
l ( ,
\4 V
I
~. \
. y - . ,- ,_ ,
, M
‘- l \
, , ., u ,1 , r , ,

 

(Date)
1943, Feb. 13

227
(Publisher)

Capper-Harmon-
Slocum, Inc.,
publishers.
Arthur Capper,
Pres.; George
M. Slocum, Vice
Pres.; James
Milholland, Vice
Pres.; Frank X.
Gaughen, Sec.
Neff Laing,
Treas. and Gen.
Mgr e

A. K. Ungren
(on leave), Ad-
vertising Mgr.;
Homer R. Thurs—
ton, Acting Ad-
vertising Mgr.;
J. W. Jordan,
Circ. Mgr.

(Editor and staff)

Milon Grinnell, Editmz
Leonard Westrate, Assoc.
Ed.; Lucile Smith,House-
hold Ed.; Burt Wermuth,
Field Ed.; Herb Nafziga;
Orchard and Garden Ed.;
R. Conolly, Poultry
Ed.; Dr. C. H. Lerrigo,
Rural Health Ed.; Rev.
N. A. McCune, Religflms
Ed.; Dr. Samuel Burrows
Veterinary Ed.; Myron
David Orr, Fiction Ed.;
Gilbert Gusler (on
leave), Market Ed.;

E. S. Bayard, "Here's
How I See It“;- L. W.
Meeks, "Broadscope Farm
News and Views"; Stan-
ley M. Powell, "News
and Views from Ingle-
side Farm"

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Articles

Anon. "Robert F. Johnstone," Re ort 2: the Pioneer
. Society of the State 0? Michigan (Pioneer

0 ectiEHsTt—VOI. IV_T1383), p . A36-h38.

Applegate, Tom S. "A History of the Press of Michigan}'
Report of the Pioneer Societ of the State 2;

Michi afi_(P§3neer Collections):-V0I. VI
(I335), p. O.

Bardolph, Richard. "Agricultural Literature and the
Early Illinois Farmer," Illinois Studies
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pp.-II4, I53.

Brown, Hubert M. "Chess or Cheat," Michi an agri-
cultural Ex eriment Station Quarterlg
Bulletin, 0 . 1950), pp. - .

 

Fitch, W. "Reminiscences of Detroit," Refiort g£_thg
Pioneer Societ of the State 0 c i an
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Holmes, J. C. "The Early History of Horticulture in
Michigan," Collections and Researches Made by
the Pioneer andHHistoriEEI Societ g; the
State of Michi-an (Pioneer CoIIectionsTT-
VoI. XITIEEB), pp. 75-79-

Kedzie, R. C. "Sugar Beet Raising in Michigan,"
Michigan State Farmers' Institutes, Institute
Bulletin 3 (1897), pp. h8-50.

Kedzie, R. C. "Domestic Supply of Sugar for Michigan,"
Collections and Researches Made b the Megan
Pioneer and HIEtoricaI Societ ( ioneer o -
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Shoemaker, Michael. "Historical Sketch of the City of
Jackson, Mich.," Report of the Pioneer Societ
of the State of Michigan‘TPioneer CoIIections),

V612"? T'Tzn e37,'1'96fi_, . 32a.

228

 

   

 

 

 

229

VanBuren, A. D. P. "Memoir of Lois B. Adams--- Poet,
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Made by the MichiganPioneer and Historical

Society (Pioneer 0 lections), VoI. XVIII
, pp 0 312-318 0

Books and Pamphlets

Beal, W. J. History_ of the Michigan Agricultural
College. ast _Lansing: Michigan Agricultural

CO IIege, 1913.

Butterfield, I. H. The Introduction of Improved Breeds
of Livestock 1n Michi an. East Lans1ng:
cfiigan State *CoIIe e, Animal Husbandry Depart-
ment, 1926 (pamphletI.

Chase, L. A. Rural Michigan. New York: The Macmillan
00., I9???

Clark, Dan E. The west in American History. New York:
Thomas I. Cro weII Co., I937.

Demaree, Albert L. The American A ricultural Press,
1812-1860. New York: Columbia University Press,

(Iowa) Staff of Iowa State College and the Iowa Agri-
cultural Experiment Station. A Century_ of Fanw-

in in Iowa l8§6~12&6. Ames: Iowa State
50 Ilege Pr 8S8,

icMurtrie Douglas C. Earl Printin in Michigan.
Chicago: John a om CIu B, 1931.

(Michigan) Histor of Coo erative Extension Work in
Whim lEIQ- IQSE. East? ansing: Michigan

State allege xtension Divisibn, Bulletin
229, l9hl (pamphlet)

Quaife M..M. and Glazer, Sidney. Michi an: From Primi-
' tive Wilderness §g_IndustrIaI CogggnweaItH.
New York: Prent ice-Ha II, Inc., .

Stuntz, Stephen Conrad. List of Agricultural Periodi-
cals of the Unite 3 States an ana a PuEIisHed

Durin— the-Centur mgIU, oJul I9IU.
Washington: D. S. Departmento of_Agr culture,
Miscellaneous Publication 398,1941 (pamphlet).

’Q

 

w.“
d-rm

 

 

230

Wentworth, E. N. America's Shee Trails. Ames: Iowa
State ColIege Press, I52

Periodicals

American Agriculturist. New York. 1862.

Michigan Farmer. Jackson and Detroit. Feb. 15, l8h3
through Feb. 13, 19h}.

Rural New-Yorker. Rochester and New York City. 1859,

Western Farmer. Detroit. January, 1841, through
December, 1842.

Western Rural. Detroit. 1864, 1868.

Public Documents

(Michigan) Eighteenth Annual Re rt 22 the Secretary
. of t e State Hort1cultura Societ g_
Michigan, I888. LansIng, I885.

(Michigan) Reports of the Secretar of the Michi an
State Board of I ricuIture, I868, 1878, I8§4,

1506:1967: mm

(Michigan) Statistics of the State of Michi an Com-
piled from the-Census 9: I888. Lansing: Secre-
tary of State of the State of Michigan, 1861.

U. S. Bureau of the Census. United States Census 2;
Agriculture, 1 , VoI. I, Part 8. Washington:
Government Pr1nt1ng Office, 1946.

U. S. Bureau of the Census. Ei hth Census of the
- United States: 1860, gr1cu1ture, V3I._I:

POpuIation, Vol. III; Ninth Census of the
United States: 1870, PopuIation, Vo T‘I:-
Statistics of the Wealth and Industry of the
United States, Vol. III; Twelfth Census of
the United States: 1900, AgricuIture, VolT'VI;
ThIrteenth Census of the United States: 1910,
Agriculture, VoI. VI:-§Ikteenth Census of the
United States: lQhO, AgricuIture, VoI. I: PET I.

231

U. S. Department of Agriculture. Agriculture Yearbook,
132%. Washington: Government Printifig Office,

U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Agri-
cultural Economics. Agricultural Outlook Charts,
1 , Book II. Washington: Government Frinting

ice, l9h6.

U. S. Department of Agriculture and Michigan Depart-
ment of Agriculture. Crop Re ort for Michigan
Annual Cro and Livestock Summarx, IQQQ. Lansing,
I9KE.

IvilCIl O ,

Miscellaneous

Audit Bureau of Circulations. Report £93 Twelve Months
Endinngarch 21, 125;, Michigan Farmer; Report
£25 gig Months Ending March'll, lgtg, Michigan
Farmer. Chicag : udit Bureau 0 irculations,
I05 West Wacker Drive. March, l9h4; March, 1950.

 

Duncan, Joseph G. "Content Analysis of a State Farm

. Periodical, lQOh—hh." Unpublished seminar paper,
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Michigan
State College, l9h5.

Michigan Farmer Rate Card, No. 9, February 18, 19A2.
Detroit: Michigan Farmer, 19h2.

(Michigan) Office of the Agricultural Statistician,
Michigan Co-operative Crop Reporting Service,
Lansing, n. d. , n. p., mimeographed agricul-
tural statistics.

 

33 mm l‘ii\
-.. ;;

1. 971.917!

 

 

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