People's Pilot, Volume 6, Number 24, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 December 1896 — MAKING CORN A KING. [ARTICLE]

MAKING CORN A KING.

THE THIRD OF THE GREAT WESTERN MONARCHS. Oat on the Prairies They Have Been Bnsj Celebrating Bit Greatness Tragedies Connected With His Beign—This Year ; Items Fortune Has Smiled. There bar* been three kings in the West—King Wheat, King Cattle and Bow King' Corn. Once the through passenger trains in crossing the prairies stopped that the travelers might gaze on the stretching fields of wifeat that covered thousands of acres in a single body. Then there' were excursions to celebrate the opehing of new stockyards 7 where the cattle by the herd were to be 1 shipped to market. Now there is a new' sovereign, atKflhbplains people are having "corn carnivals” and making the yellow and white ears that are bo plenty emblems’of rulership proud to be called the vassals of King Com. They sing pretty verses, which say : (The rolling prairie’s billowy swell. Breezy upland and timbered dell, Stately mansion and hut forlorn— AS are hidden by-walla of bora. Th*^’rebid Andneld by these walls of corn, j Whose banners toss in the breeze of morn. . “ Chit hi -tihti’ Kfctisak prnirieSa tnbnth ago they were busy celebrating bis greatness. There was a day of rejoicing and a night Of jollity. The people ’threw kernels at each other, and the girl with ibef red ear was kisted when caught. It awoke pleasant thoughts in the minds of the older ones to"observe this latter custom-—thoughts of the younger dayi in'that halcyon world "where everything seems beautiful and of gOod repute as they look back at the joysofit all—■“back east.” Com was then king in a way about this time of the year, and Abe husking bees were the delight of the countryside. No oamival of these latter days can compare with that time for real delight, but the attempt to put the grain on its pedestal is commendable. The western farmer has seen too many failures not to appreciate anything that is of promise and that is likely to give a permanent prosperity. Corn does this and is the one great solaoe of the settler. In the long rows that are so beautiful in the spring and so fruitful in autumn (if the hot winds do not blow), there is inspiration to keep him and his family happy through many a day and night. Its possibilities as ah implement of jollity have been a new discovery. The corn carnival is one of the outshoots of the flower festivals of the Paoifio coast that have turned the tide of amusement for the multitude from the old fashioned fairs to the more modern methods. It is surprising what can be done. Corn was even drawn into politics the other day in one of these celebrations out on the plains. It was a two days’affair. On the first the white corn was the mler and the decorations were all of that variety. The people who entered the gates paid as a toll one car of white corn each. This was silver’s day, and the speeches were of that stripe. The orowds yelled for the white metal, endeavoring to outdo all records. The next day gold had its inning. Yellow was in the ascendency, and an ear of yellow com was the price of admission. The decorations and the speaking •were of a nature to please the opponents cf those who attended the day previous. It was a stem rivalry, and the countryside for miles around was drawn upon to make the crowds as large as possible. Dreams of good times are always connected with the com oropon the plains. Wheat is so low and its price is so little changed in the course of the year that it is considered as a crop that will be of little speculative value to the settler. But the com crop is all right for a splendid gain if it tnrns out well. It comes to maturity in a few weeks, comparatively, and the settler can plant it after the wheat is seen to be a failure or after the oats are blown out of the ground by the spring winds. He knows, too, that if the price' is low he oan feed the grain to the oattle and hogs, and so have another Chance to recoup himself. Indeed, the most prosperous farmers nowadgykiare those whd do not sell their com in the grain, but feed it and take it to market in the more condensed form of pork and beef. Said a western farmer to a visitor the other day, ‘‘We took this country from the Indians too blamed soon!” Perhaps we did, but the redskins left a beneficent ‘ gift in the maize that has' been the foundation of so many a home through the passing years. As the settler looks back on the times when he was straggling to make the mortgage lessen he remembers that it was the corn that gave him the most help. It was this that made the batter cakes on which the family lived in the dull day* in ' the prairie oabih. He’ thinkß of these things, and if yon talk with him you will find that he is still loyal to the grain as the best of them «1L t . v But there ate tragedies of the com as well. When the summer has come to its height and the July sun is making havoc ih the Cities, fchbre come into the newspaper offices speoiai dispatches that tell of the dreaded "hot winds” opt on the plains. ‘‘Com is suffering,” they say, and the next night they add, ‘‘Com ia severely burned and will be only half a crop if the county does not have rain eoOn. ” That does not tell it all by any means. In : tbh settlor’s family there we anxious eyes 16oking for tbfc cloud that does not come. The days go by, and the fields are parched, the stalks’ bent to the north by the furnace heated breezes that come up out of the south. Then the leaves begin to twist ’ and dull; and the oars that were ready to fill are seen to be dried. The corn crop is hurt. It means that the profit is gone for the year’s work, and that it is a question if there will be enough for the necessary feed. It doles not thkb muoh to do it—a week will spoil the whole crop—yes, three days of the dreaded winds krill make the fields ystasleas if they dome' at the right, or fames the wamag time. It is pitiful when tM| baggßto, and the farmer is not to be kbgbed if he looks •t the cloudless sky and offers a few

forcible remarks that are more spirited than elegant. It is pretty hard lack, for cam culture is by no means an easy task. It is only possible to win by doing the work well, and that is by the route of early rising and long days of following the plow, harrow and cultivator. But when there comes a crop! Then the farmer is happy. That iB the case out on the plains this year, and that is why they are celebrating the kingship of the grain. When corn is a success on the prairies, it is very much of a king. Along the lines of railway in northern Kansas and Nebraska there are yet the big cribs in which the speculators at'the last crop time put up the grain for a rise. There were hundreds of thousands of bushels stored in long sheds, ready for market, and the piles had a great attraction for all who saw them. The trains passed between these sheds as between the lines of freight oars on the side tracks in city yards. Bat as to profit, there is little in these years of plenty. Oorn sells out in the western counties of Kansas and Nebraska for 6 cents a bushel. That tdeahs small return for the days spent in the fields. Still, it is better than to be out altogether, and it makes certain the proper care of the cattle and horses of the settlers. Jewell county, in western Kansas,' this year has oorn enough to make a fence around the entire state of Kansas if it were piled in a long row. Over 9,000,000 bushels of it will be gathered. Com has a foreign cousin that is coming to the front rapidly in the west— Kaffir oorn. Over 100,000 acres will bd garnered this year in Kansas—twice the acreage of last season. It .grows where the old variety will not and is sure to make a crop if it has half a ohanoe. It makes fine feed, and the cattle are fattened on it as easily as on the Indian maize. It bids fair to help revolutionize the farming of the semiarid region. And it strengthens the power of the principal ruler—strength giving, prosperity bringing King Corn.—O. ML Harger in Chicago Times-Herald.