The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1905-12-06
One-Sided Agricultural Develop
ment.

There is no difficulty in growing
large crops of most fruits and vege-
tables in Florida. The only serious
trouble is to market them at a profit
Often they sell for a high price but
the expenses eat up all the returns,
leaving not only no profit but an
actual loss of the expense of growing
and sending to market How to
market our crops so that we may be
able to live from the proceeds of our
labor is a problem not easy of solution.
The Farmers Call has an interest
ing article on the subject which we
quote:
In every state of the Union an agri-
cultural college and experiment station
and inSeveral states two agricultural
colleges and experiment stations are
now open. In these colleges there are
more than a thousand professors
whose work it is to teach some branch
of agriculture. Every one of them
teaches or endeavors to teach how to
produce more. Every experiment con-
Quoted at the state agricultural ex-
pertinent stations has for it's object
how to produce more or at a less cost.
Our agricultural experiment stations
has for it's object how to produce
more at less cost. Our agricultural
college and experiment stations are
devoted completely to the productive
side of farming.
During the next three or four
months there will be thousands of
farmers Institutes held throughout the
United States. 1t is safe to say that
at these institutes greater production
at less cost will have at least ten
times as much attention as the market
ing of farm products after they are
produced.
During the fall there were held,
doubtless, more than a thousand
county and state agricultural fairs
The object of these fairs was alto
gether to teach farmers how to pro-
duce more or at a less cost Agricult-
ural fairs do not concern themselves
about the distribution of farm pro-
ducts.
There are large number Of farm
erS' clubs in the United States and it
is safe to say that in their discussions
ten times as much consideration is
given to production as to distribution
i'm farming.
AS it is now so it has been always
We consider only the productive side
of farming We neglect the distribu-
tive side and yet one is as important
as the other The prift of the farmer
depends as much upon marketing his
products to the best advantage as upon
producing them at the least cost
We have not infrequently called at
tentiOn to this before. This one-sided
agricultural development presents a
problem of so much Importance that
we feel justified i'm calling attention to
it again Ond again.
1t is only stating truth to say that
our legislation has been dominated by
the manufacturing, transportation and
commercial interests With spasmOdic
exceptions our tariff legislation for the
past fifty years or more has been clear
ly to the advantage of the manufac-
turing interests. There has been no
attempt at cOncealment of this. The
avOwed object of our protective legis-
latiOn has been to give manufacturing
the advantage.
The intelligent reader need not be
told that the transportation and COM
mercial interests have been shrewd
enough to maintain their attorneys not
only i'm state legislatures but in the
rational congress and to keep in close
touch with legislative bodies, state
and national, a well paid and very
brainV lobby