Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1879-03-14
Making the Farm Pay.

TIE year 1878 blessed the farmers
of the West, as 8 rule, with prolific
CROPS. The granaries are full, and the
4" hocks upon q thousand hills'' and
countless prairies have not suffered for
wsnt of feed. And yet all this abund.
ance has not brought to some farm
ers great profit. They complain Of
prices. Farm products are too low for
profit. Some crops hardly pay to gath
er. These facts invite candid discus
sion of the causes and possible RENE
dies. We have not the space now to
consider the subject in all fullness, but
we desire to have q little talk with
farmers upon one feature Of this ques-
ton of low prices, which we believe it
will be profitable to both producer and
consumer to thOughtfully consider. It
may as well be accepted as q fact in
practice as well as theory, and acted
upon SO far as this countyis concerned,
that corn cannot proftably be made
the exclusive crop. Nor any other ce-
real. DesMoines County, to which We
make local reference now, may be IL
Illustrative of the condition of other sec
tions of this and other States. Des-
Moines County is no longer 9 prOfta-
bic corn or wheat region. Il may pay
to raise little wheat for home con-
sumption, and every farmer will raise
enough corn If he can to provide for
his stock. But every sagacio3s agri-
colist sees that the best profit hereafter
Is to be obtained from the dairy, the
orchard and vineyard, the vegetable
garden and few specialties.
"But," says q country reader Of the
HGDbeys, "none of these things have
been particularly profitable the past
year. Fruit was so abundant as to be
drug: and butter dropped away down
to nothing. Why, here it is midwin-
ter, and we can get only about fifteen
cents pound for butter. That don't
pay for the extra feed required to
keep stock in order this cold weather,
and the extra and unpleasant labor"
Let US see how this is. Of course
there are seasons when an unusual
Weld may overstOck the market; but
these are exceptional, and ought not to
be considered in this connection Next
year fruit prices may, and probably
will be, much higher. But Just here
let us inquire whether real choice fruit
was a drug? 1t certainly was not in
this market. The best apples, the best
cider, the choicest small fruits always
found ready buyers and st remuners-
tive prices. And then there is the but
ter question. For that article our gro
GERS paid as low as seven and one-half
cents last fall, and retailed it at ten.
ANY one can see that there is no profit
in butter to producers at that price.
Indeed, some farmers quit making but
ter, preferring to feed the milk to the
hogs. There are two remedies for this
state of things. Farmers ought not to
depend upon butter-making alone for
the disposal of surplus milk and cream.
The multiplication Of cheese factories
would introduce an element Of compe-
tition for marketing milk. 1t would
give the coW-owner two chances where
he now has one. If butter declined in
price to figure that made it unprofita-
bic to manufacture, the milk could be
disposed of at the cheese factories, and
Uice UerSG. These two competing lines
of demand would regulate prices better
than is possible with only one outlet LOr
the surplus dairy product.
But there is still another aspect Of
this question which it is important to
consider, and that is the quality OF the
butter that is placed upon the market.
This is important. ''Let me set out two
tables in my store" said q Burlington
grocer, yesterday, Zone filed with
common butter, such as is usually
brought in from the country, and mark
it at ten to twelve and half cents per
pound, and the other table with extra
choice butter, at twenty cents, and the
latter table will be empty first" We
think this judgment of the grocer viii
be cecSSrmed BY every man in the busi-
mes d.hY the general public. For,
ao1 EtEavagance or not, the
NOW snoughl ErY are great butter
Journey 3 end - II mt +ls