Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-06-17

so long q period OF time, it would seem, ought
to be needed more generally than it is. Why
DO farmers pillow and SOW at all ! Is it not to
secure compensation for their labor and out.
lays? Why, then, not 30 direct that labor
and SO expend their money as to insure the
best returns? Why go on from year to year
psrsistently cultiyating the soil in an inferior
when it is well known that
this mode Of cultivation will bring only
inferior crops and inferior profits! Why
will men who know the right, the
wrong pursue? Why will men go manage
their business affairs that they can obtain but
two per cent. on their capital invested, when
they can just as well have four per cent. for
the same investment? This ia not the way
successful business men manage. IL Is not
the way farmers should manage. we often
wonder why agriculture does not keep
abreast with other industries in the way OF
improvement; but when We see farmers
year after year, and century after century,
so reckiessly careless Of the teachings OF ex-
periencs there is, we confess, no reason to
wonder. Nature is especially the farmers
teacher, and yet natures teachings are habit
ually disregarded and treated with indiffer-
enco by those whose interests would be served
by paying strict attention to those teachings.
In this State, IS early as 1868, the first dry
season after the general planting OF wheat
commenced, the advantages of summer.fal-
lowing were brought very directly to the at
tention of farmers by communications
called out by the writer from the few
farmers who had that year, as an
experiment, sCwn few acres in this manner,
and harvested good average crops from the
held SO cultivated, notwithstanding crops OF
winter sown grain were very generally total
failure. 1t is useless to discuss the philosophy.
al & Ian vNrn
duces much better than winter-plowed
land. Every farmer knows that it does SO,
and every farmer knows the reasons why, aud
yet more than half the wheat to be harvested
this season was sown on land prepared only
by winter blowing, We sometimes think
that an entire failure of all wirtef.sown grain
would, notwithstanding the great immediate
loss to the farmers, prove benefit, by EN-.
phasizipg the lesson OF nature in this regard /;
and yet we are not certain that even such
striking emphasis would do any good. 1t Is
not that every farmer does not know the
value of good cultivation, but knowing, they
carelessly neglect their own interests.
Failure CT the wheat-Growers' Association
About year and half ago few wheat.
farmers who were holding their crops fer
more satisfactory prices, and who believed
that dealers in and transporters of wheat
were exercising an influence to keep down
prices, and thus take an undue advantage of
them, met in this city and drew up and sent
out circular letter to the prominent wheat
farmers of the State, asking them to meet
in Convention on certain day at San
Francisco for consultation in regard to the
situation A large number of those addressed
met in accordance with the request, and
organized themselves into permanent
Wheat Growers Convention. They ap-
pointed committees to inquire into the
amount of wheat in the State; to look into
the matter of transportation to market, and
as to supply in other countries and causes of
depression of prices. The committees acted
in their several departments and reported
at subsequent meetings of the Convention.
But the action of the Convention and its
committees were in ali things such as to place
them completely in the hands and under the
influence Of those whom they suspected of
The Association during its
entire existence never undertook to learn in
an independent manner and through chan
nels of their own creation che real causes of
the evils they complained Of, and consequently
they were never in a position to apply
remedy. They continued to meet and con-
suit, however, for nearly year. as often as
oncs month, but during all the time their
meetings and consultations were practically
open and public. and all their movements
end plans were known TO those at whose
hands they complained of i'll Treatment. As
a result, when the last meeting was held
there were but few present and they ad-
journed sine die. The entire effort was
failure, because they never took the proper
measures to put themselves in possession of the
proper information to render the Association
Of service to its members. In the meantime
several of the most active members of the
Association sold their wheat at rates that
caused them great losses. The first object
of organization among farmers should be to
place themselves in possession of knowledge
upon which to base action. This knowledge
must come through independent and reliable
sources in no way connected with the char
mel used by the dealers. There was no real
head to the Whest-G-owers' Association, and
there was never a clear comprehension of
what was needed. Hence confidence in the
success OF the Convention was never estab-
lished among its members, and failure was
the necessary and natural result.