Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1908-12-11
the statistics on which 1t will base it's
roport va nrocticallv all in hand

the statistics on which 1t will base it's
report are practically all in hand.
Two exceedingly interesting ques-
tions upon which the section is
gathering data. are whether the ten
dency is towards larger or smaller
farms and whether soil productive
ness per acre is increasing or decreas-
ing. The answers to these questions
are not only vital at present, since
they will indicate whether there is a
noticeable trend towards monopoliza-
tion of the soil and whether the
diminution of fertility which is known
to have taken place in some districts
is general, but they are peculiarly
significant in connection with the
prediction that within half a century
the population Of the United States
will reach 200, 600, 600.
James J.. Hill, the railroad organ
izer, who presented some startling
figures on soil waste at the White
House conference Of governors last
May, said recently that all the nat
ural of the country put to-
gether will not be able to furnish
profitable employment, for such a
population without conservation of
the soil. With the maximum possible
acreage Of wheat in fifty years, he
predicted that with a continuation Of
present methods of cultivation the
nation would be about 1864, 600, 600
short of the amount necessary to pay
its annual bread bill. This deficit,
he declared, could by no possibility
be met, even partially, through sell
ing raw products or manufactured
articles abroad. The only hope will
lie in agriculture. But agriculture,
he said, would amply furnish both &C.
cupation and a food supply, provided
proper methods of farming were en-
ployed and that all agricultural land
was brought to its full usefulness.
A half century is SO short a time
that the problems of fifty years hence
are almost the problems Of today.
People now alive will actually meet
them and have to solve them. Thir-
ty-six out of every hundred Americans
are farmers now, and last year Amer
lean farms yielded crops worth $7,4l2,-
DOC, 1000. Any advance or retrogres-
sion in agriculture affects not only
the leading industry of the country
and the largest number of workers
directly, but all others as we'll, since
it is the source Of their food supply.
Since there is comparatively little
public land left suitable for agricul-
ture, the mere increase in popula-
tion from now on, even If the proper
tion of farmers remains SO per cent
and does not greatly Increase as Mr..
Hill prophesies, must resultin a sub
division Of the present farm area Of
the country among a larger number Of
workers and a more intensive cultiva-
ton of the soil.
The farmers themselves are awake
to the Importance of preventing fur
Their losses of the most fundamental
of all the natural resources and Of in
creasing the efficiency of that which
remains. Hardly a meeting of far
mers' organizations this summer and
fall has failed to pass resolutions en-
dorsing the work Of the Conservation
Commission along this line. At the
close Of the recession of the Farm ers'
National Congress in Madison, Wis
consin, at which representatives from
all parts of the country were present,
the first resolution adopted was the
which is typical of many
others:
THAT we hereby favor the nov
ment for the better conservation of
the natural resources of the country,
the conserving Of soil. The
movement to stop wanton waste has
not commenced a moment too soon
commend the farsighted states
manship of President Roosevelt in
the conference of Governors
to consult on this important subject
and endorse the aims and purposes of
the National Conservation Commits