The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-11-09
ADDRESS Of DIR. s A. KNAPP tn
THE NATIONAL FARMERS CONGRESS

acres eliminated from standard crops
to the production of everything for
which there is a home market. either
upon the farm itself or in the neigh
boring towns. That is. each farm
community must become just as near
a self-supporting unit as possible. 1t
is a constant establishment to the in
NestlgatOr to note how closely the
average cost of producing farm crops
approaches the gross ncome, and in
many cases it overlaps and the books
are balanced only by reduction in the
~conVenlenceS and comforts of life. or
by placing too narrow a limit to i'm
prOVementS and education. In the
Southern States it has been estimated
that If all the peple who work upon
the farms, were properly fed, clothed,
housed n given the advantage Of
improved highways and a good COM
mon school education, the total crops
due the producers, under the present
system Of agriculture, would not pay
the expenses, that the present net
gains Of the masses are vital things
flched from rural society, and from
the bodies and the brains of the men
who toll for the support of
that they are parts of a greater man
hood nodded into dollars and count
ed as gain, because they car be
taxed.
IN A1sN pa VI Ills lSdtS pIOD-
lem is to secure from every acre ill
led, two, three and fourfold the crop
now at a reduced cost for
tillage, and at the same time reduce
the nunnbe of acres planted to the
standard cash crops to an extent that
the total yield will not be IN exces.
Of the market.
The second part Of the problem is
to produce upon the farm all the
meats, cereals, fruits and other foods
necessary for the people upon the
farm and a surplus for the local mar
ket; also to produce all grass, hay
and grain for the stock. the farm
should carry. Reduction Of expenses
by producing home supplies is the
safe policy for increasing net profits.
Failure to do this has been the bane
Of the Southern States. They ought
to have been the richest States in the
Union, but, instead of producing tn,
foods required for the farm, they
have preferred to raise sugar, rice,
cotton and obacco and buy at 800
to 1900 per cent over the cost of
Fhome production the s~ustenance for
men and work stock or the farms.
LAS an Illustration Madison county,
Mississippi, in one year terminating
July 1, 1909, imported food and feed
stuffs to the value Of $500, 600, and
mules to the alu Of $4,000, making
a total of $3.50 900, in one year. The
planters paid $3.50 for a mule that
could have been raised at home fOc
$50, a margin of 500 per cent for the
privilege of buying something. This
is only a fair sample Of average ON
ditions. The Southern people are the
most generous in the world. They
like to do business, but they so adjust
it that outsiders will make all the
money. It appears to be a philosophy
to let money slip through their fingers
without sticking. The aggregate is
an enormous annual expenditure for
food supplies hat their idle lands
could produce and for which there
would be ample labor by using bet
ter teams and implements in tillage Of
standard crops. / call this indus
trial unthrift, and it is gradually
spreading it's poisonous veins among
Northern farmers
This amazing industrial unthrift is
not limited to farmers. The most
striking examples are to be found
among the mechanics and factory
employees of the United States. In
a former period the mechanic pro-
duced his living or a farm and sold
only his surplus labor. Then he lived
in the country and the family made
the living: now he lives in the city
and buys everything required with the
income from the vac and the chill
dren are young people Of leisure.
In this country Of cheap lands and
rapid transit all manufacturing
should be done in the rural districts
or in our smaller cities and every
should have a country
home with land to supply the neces-
sary family foods. With his change
in our manufacturing policies a re-
duction of twenty-five per cent. could
be made upon the cost Of most arti-
cles and labor be the gamer. This
wall of protection can not always en-
dure. We must ultimately face COM
petition both internally and externally.
The leading nations Of the earth are
drifting rapidly towards Industrial
war. They are already chatting under
| Industrial friction. In the end the ma