Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1886-06-19

/ farms pay better than they do ct present
They want to keep not only more but
better stock. In order to enable them to
do this they require more barns and sta
bles, and a larger amount OF grain and
tame grass. Lumber and other building
materials are expensive, and the wages
of carpenters are high There is a press
ing demand for all kinds of farm ma
chinery, which holds its price though
the price of all farm products is very
low. Drills for planting wheat and ma
chinerv for harvesting it cost as
much with wheat 90 cents per
] bushel as they did when it sold for more
/ than twice that sum. Machines for
/ planting and cultivating corn command
/ the same price they did when the price
of the grain they are used TO produce
was double what it is at present. The
/ like is true of almost every machine and
tool used on a farm.
Crops are very low, but singularly
enough, farm implements are high, and
there are no indicat ms of decline In
price. Interest is low la al great money
centers, but it remains very high Ia all
parts Of the country where there is not
capital enough to make necessary I'M
provements on farms and TO properly
stock and manage them. While this
state of things exists farmers must eZer-
else much discretion and Judgment about
mortgaging their land in order to raise
money. They should carefully consider
whether they can invest the money so
that it viii be profitable for them Manu-
facturers and mercantile men state that
it does not pay to hire money at even 6
or s per cent. to put into their business.
Still farmers in many parts of the west
and south are hiring money for which
they promise to pay 10 per cent. interest,
and TO obtain which they pay 3 per cent.
commission. A business must be very
profitable that allows the person engaged
in it to pay Is per cent. for the use Of
money. Very few farmers can produce
enough on their places to pay 10 per
cent. on the capital invested This rate
of interest would soon drive them from
house and home.
Many farmers IN those parts of the
western states that have been longest
settled have placed mortgages on their
places that they can never LIT except by
the aid of another one. The incomes Of
their farms at the present low prices Of
grain and meat, do not pay the interest
on the money they owe and the running
expenses Of the family. One failure Of
leading crop, the visit Of a contagious
disease among animals, one prOtracted
sickness in the family, would result IN
ruin or great sacrifice Of property &C
quired by long years Of hard labor and
self-denial In the south, where cotton
and tobacco are the leading crops, the
system Of getting advances on crops has
become general The farmer mortgages
what is only in prospect. As great risk
attends the production of the crop,
money IOaners demand eXOrbitant rates
on the sums they advance. Advancing
money on growing crops of wheat has
also, 1t is said, become quite common IN
California, Oregon, Minnesota, and Da-
kOta- Loans on growing crops are
generally made to parties who have
mOTtgaged their land or who have not
yet acquired a little to it.
Raising money on stock has become
very common, not only in the territories,
where there are numerous quantities of
land that is only valuable for grazing
purposes, but in most of the northwest
ern states where stock raising is the lead
ing industry. Men are constantly en-
5o5S- IA --'-A--i5 gu. anu A00o------5
chattle mortgages Many farmers have
given a mortgage on the team they drive
and use to do blowing, on the COWS they
milk, the sheep they shear, and the
young cattle that are grazing on the
prairie. These farmers have placed
themselves at the mercy Of men who
have the reputation of being entirely
destitute Of mercy. Should there be a
failure in one Of the leading crops this
season; should there be a visitation of
destructive insects, or should a conta-
giOus disease appear among cattle, thou
sands Of farmers would be hoPelessly
ruined. This is a poor time for farm
ers to get in debt. The way into debt
is very easy, but the way ont is very
hard