Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1890-05-02
HIS RECOMMENDATIONS

His
SECRETARY RUSK'S IDEAS OF THE
AGRICULTURAL SITUATION.
Quality Should BE the AIM OF the FAR
mer in His Products-The Mortgage In
c"bus-other Practical Suggestions.
Hon. j.. NJ. Rusk, secretary of agriculture,
has issued the following circular:
For months past from all parts of the
country there have reached me many com.
munications, many of them from large
bodies of men, all of them from persons
deserving consideration, md all Of them
deeply IN earnest respecting the present
condition of agricultural depression. In
most cases the communications suggest
the conviction OF the writer's, not only as
to the gravity of the emergency, but as to
its cause or causes and possible remedies
aud all of them appeal to me for some
expression of my views on the subject. To
answer each one of these communion
tions separately would be more than any
one man can undertake to do, and, more
over, I am reluctant to send out On ex-
preston of my views in letters covering
merely q phase or portion of the questions
involved. Such q course would be unjust
to myself and to those who address me. I
can only consent to express my views, such
as they are, on the entire question, review
ing the whole subject and considering it in
all its various phases.
The present agricultural depression, it
seems to me-, can be traced to q combina-
ton of many causes. so many that prob
ably no one man can enumerate them all.
l will only endeavor to point out some
which seem to me more directly RESPONSE
BILE. They may be divided into two classes.
First: Those causes inherent to the farm
ers themselves, and for which they alone
can provide a possible remedy. Second:
those over which the farmer himself has
no direct control, and the remedy for
which must be provided, as far as remedy
is possible, by law, and for such legislation
the responsibility devolves upon the legis-
lative bodies of the state and of the M.
ton.
What the Farmers Must Do.
L will confne myself to a mere enumera.
tion of the first class of causes indicated.
On many farms I regret to say we find a
depreciation of the productive power of
the land due to careless culture. We find
a want too often of business like methods.
due to the fact thai in earlier times bust
ness training was not regarded az an
essential preparation for the farmers work,
whereas to-day with altered conditions,
when every penny, and I may say every
moment of time has to be proftably &C.
counted for and in the face of world wide
competition, q successful farmer must be
as we'll trained and careful in business as
the store-keeper, and his equal in intelli-
gence and general education. Nor are the
important questions of supply and demand
of market prices studied with the vigilance
which characterizes the methods of our
merchants and manufacturers. These
last moreover have the advantage of
transacting their business in i'm
mediate proximity to trade c%enters,
where the widest information in
reference thereto is readily %obtainable.
Our farmers organizations are wisely seek
ingto supplement this want for the farmer;
the agricultural press is earnestly working
in the same direction and one of the most
important duties devolving upon this de-
part1nent, consists in gathering and
promptly distributing reliable information
on all those subjects which are essentially
interesting to the farmer. 1t remains for
him to avail himself of the information
thus supplied as his chief protection not
only against over-supply of certain pro-
ducts, but against possible over-reaching
on the part Of purchasers. The farmer
must look with suspicion upon any at
tempts to abridge the sources of his IN
formation. His advantage will always be
in the fullest knowledge of the facts. He
must carefully study the character and
the quality of his products rather than
mere quantity, and always bear in mind that,
whether prices are high or low, it is always
the best goods ct the best obtainable prices
that pre- the most readily sold. Many of our
farmers have been land greedy, and find
themselves the owners of more land than
they can properly care for in view of the
comparatively high price of labor in the
rural district, and in view of the fact that
but a small portion of mankind, compare
tave]y. can profitably control the labor of
others. The prule nt farmer vii! limit his
efforts to that which he can efficiently per-
form. Again. more attention must be
given,- especially to our western farms, to
the raising by the farmer for his own use
everything that may be utilized by himself
and household as far as soil and climate
will permit.
Farm Mortgages. .
The burden of mortgages upon farms,
homes and lands is unquestionably dis
couraging in the extreme, and while in
some cases no doubt this load may have
been too readily assumed, still in the ma
jority of cases the mortgage has been the
result of necessity. l except, of course,
such mortgages as represent balances of
purchase money, which are rather evil
dences of the farmers ambition and en-
terprise than of his poverty. On the other
hand, those mortgages with which land
has been encumbered from the necessity of
its owner, drawing high rates Of interest,
often taxed in addition with q heavy COM
mission, have to-day, in the face of con-
tinued depression in the prices of staple
products, become very irksome and in
MANY casaa fhraatan tho farmer With