The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1907-01-15

W iCS7 iieatA 4IltS the
ef can do only by the aid of the most
efficient and up-to- date labor saving
machinery and the more improved and
perfect the machinery, the less per
acre will be the cost of raising the
grain Every farmer should therefore
study the machine question and learn
If he is using fairly good machines or
whether he is using machines that are
expensive of labor and effective to a
less degree than should be found In
farm machines.
Nearly all important inventions in
agricultural machinery have been made
since 1910, and the Importance of ag-
ricultural machinery and its vast In
flHence upon the economic conditions
OF our country is made plain by COM
pairing the farmers producing power
prior to that date with what he can
accomplish now In the beginning OF
the past century only 8 per cent of the
population lived in cities, while the
remainder were engaged In agricul-
tural pursuits, and yet, despite the rich
virgin soil which they worked they
were as late as 1S45 unable 10 raise
enough wheat to supply this country
with bread AS a result of the great
inventions made In the decades follow
ing the year 1840, q great change in
the farmers producing power took
place. Our food suppl increa ed de-
cade by decade from the 4s3 buslell
Of wheat per person In 184g. Ii hal in
creased TO $50 bushels in 1853 to 745
bushels In 1869. and 10 bushels per
person in 1891. 1t is estimated that
Of this amount S h bushels are con-
sumed per person, thus leaving nearly
one-half OF. the production for export
This remarkable increase in the
productive power Of the farmer, which
modern farm machinery has made
possible, Is much greater than even
these figures indicate, for the per cent
OF our population engaged in agricul-
tural pursuits has decreased as rapid
" as the producing power has increas.
ed. From the 81 per cent of people
on the farms in 1900, the number de-
creased to 80 per cent in 1850 and in
1900 to 33 per cent; the farms are to-
day, therefore. producing with less
than one-third OF the labor of the
country sufficient not ONLY to feed the
people upon them, but also the 81
per cent that live in the cities. and
the exports of the farm food and food
products during the year 1900 make
the enormous volume OF $3.50. .000, 600
out Of the total Of s1.400. 900, 600 that.
was sent to foreign countries
Perhaps some are inclined to as
cribe part of this remarkable increase
to other agencies than that of farm
implements. and, no doubt the unpar-
alleled richness of our prairie soil, the
stimulating influence of a liberal gov
ernment, and the efficiency of our rail-
road and educational systems have
done their apart in bringing about
these great results. But to show
how preponderating has been the inzy
fiuence of farm implements along this
line, it is only necessary TO compare
what a PERSONS labor produced before
the advent of modern machinery and
what his labor will produce now
Reliable statistics inform US that, in
the aggregate, over three hours labor
was required in 1880 to produce one
bushel of wheat, while in 1896 only
ten minutes per bushel was required.
In other words 1t took eighteen times
as much labor to produce bushel OF
NAScb III lcoo riS II 0iI II hio~O, anu,
estimating labor at 20 cents an hour,
the cost of labor per bushel has been
reduced from so cents to 31s cents. In
1850 the labor represented by bushal
of corn In the crib was four and one
half hours as against forty minutes,
or about one e-seventh as much in 1896.
so that estimating the cost of labor
at the same rate per hour as for
wheat, the cost Of labor has been re-
duced from 80 cents to 1874 cents per
busheE
1T is no wonder" says a writer in
an agricultural magazine" that sew
enty-five years ago wheat sold at So
per bushel, but the farmer was not
making as much out Of his wheat at
81 per bushel as he now makes at 80
cents a bushel The results" contin-
ues the same writer, show the Wis
dom of using farm machinery. Man
must succeed because of brains, not
so much by his physical force. This
Is true in farming as 1t Is true in all
other lines of human effort. What the
farmer has accomplished In the past
is an evidence of what he will accom-
plish in the future. He cannot afford
not to study machinery and purchase
the best. He may vet reduce the cost
of growing bushel to FIVE minutes
labor If he does. the benefit neces-
sarily passes to the whole community
For If competition is left free there is
no possibility OF the farmer selling
all the benefits himself"
1t Is evident that the American
farmer of the day owes his supremacy
In the agricultural world not SO much
because he has been endowed with
some of the worlds richest soil and
enjoyed the benefits Of a good gov
ernment as because conditions have
been such as to often force him
against his own will TO adopt new
machinery and inventions. Had he
continually refused to adopt new ma
chimes as have farmers in some other
countries he would probably be little
better than his peasant ancestors and
our nation would still be poor and un-
developed. That the new machinery
and radical departures in agricultural
methods that have been introduced
within the past century were often
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