Smyrna times., 1896-10-21
Price of Wheat, of Labor and of
Fertilizers and Their Effect on Pro-
ductiOn.

The EastOn, Md, correspondent of
the HUn in late issue of that paper
had the following terse remarks on
growing, labor etc:
although the price of wheat and grain
growing is no longer remunerative ac-
cording to the view of the agriculturist,
1t Is nevertheless a fact that the out
put and use Of commercial fertilizers
for wheat increases in quantity year
after year. The sales to Talbot wheat
growers are doubtless larger this wear
than they have ever been, and this is
not entirely owing to an increased acre
age sown to wheat, but also to heavier
use of fertilizer per acre, the thrifty
farmer having concluded that what he
loses in price he must make up in
yield, as it costs much less, of course,
per bushel to raise thirty bushels of
wheat to the acre, which is not an ex-
traordlnary crop now, than itdoes ten,
which was maximum crop some years
ago. What is said about the increased
use of commercial fertilizers applies to
the quantity used and not to the money
expended for it, as the price has fallen
correspondingly with the price of grain.
Manures which are now sold for twelve
dollars or less a ton brought from
from thirty-six dollars when wheat was
Sl.5O a bushel, and when from fifteen
to twenty bushels an acre was a good
yield for wheat the growers paid fifty
dollars ton and upward for their
tertlllzers. A few years ago, when
corniwaS at price satisfactory to the
growers, the use of phosphates and
other bought manures was never con-
sldered; now, with the price of corn
lower than ever it was, their use is
general and the corn-grower who does
not use them is the exception. These
manures have also come to be used ex-
tensively, almost universally, in truck
farming, which is the outgrowth of the
experience of the last few years, start
ing among these truckers, business
like enough to see that increased pro-
duction at decreased cost must make
up for falling prices. 1t is coming to
pass that each variety of truck stuff
will have its own particular brand of
fertilizer.
The ratio of this locality between
the price of farm labor and the price of
grain is anomalous. There has been
little if any reduction in wages. Now
it takes five bushel of corn to paw a
farm hands work, and a weeks work.
will furnish him with all the cornmeal
he will need, or will want to consume
for year. Two weeks work will sup
ply him with wheaton flour for year
to use along with his corn bread, and
IN two or three more weeks the farm
labor will come to enough to buv his
pork and bacon for a year; thus hv
working six or eight weeks he can Law
in a sufficient supply of necessary food
for twelve months. But farmers are
obliged to do with just as little animal
labor as possible, and the invention of
machines and the adoption of machin-
cry to farm work enables them To do
with much less man power than for
merly. 1t is not as easy as it once wos
for young man who wants to hire ont
on a farm to make contract bv tbo
year, binding for winter and summor
Tor busy and idle seasons alike. Tboro
are not enough day labors to supnIv
the demand at the busiest periods Of |
Pltchlng, working and gathering crons
mere are, IN these farming commnn;.
ueS' more laborers than there is a de-
mand ior to hire ''by the year" This
circumstances sends every year numbers
VI young countrymen to the cities for
employment, who would otherwise ra.
'uain on the farms. They are for the
most part strong, healthy and trust
worthy young men, whom city life will
not corrupt if they get employment
anu : keep irom adleness. Positions on
sne s'reet cars as gripmen or conduc-
TORS are much sought after by country
men, and the superintendent say they
are numbered among their best men.
other things being equal they are
likely to have the preference. The
policeman's is also much sought after
and 1t is known. that some of the best
men ON the police force in Baltimore
are countrymeIl. But the number who