The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1909-11-06


YOU can measure. and it cannot in
crease. But our people are increasing.
They are using 12,OOO.OOO bushes
more wheat this year than last. They
have increased scarcely at ell their
acreage for the past decade. They
have decreased their export OF wheat
in that time from 222,O00,O0O to less
than one-fourth that amount. The
wheat fields have been moving west :.
ward as the tide of settlement set
toward the Rockies. When that
movement ceases, where will the new
wheat fields be? Where will the
wheat for our own consumption come
from. leaving out of the account ex-
port to foreign countries?
New Methods Coming in.
And with the old wheat fields with
their broad acres, their cheap methods
of farming, their small returns in
gross, but large net returns to the
fortunate, will go, and forever, the old
type of agriculture. Land will adj
vance, better methods of farming
must and will replace the old. Skill
must take the place of mere willing
ness to work; forethought must take
the place of luck
The Farmer Must BE Specialist.
The farmer of tomorrow muse meet
the new conditions prepared for his
work. You can train man on the
farm to be a breaker of Sod and a
sower of grain, but the man who is
to handle the farms Of the future il
to be a business man, one killed ia
breeding, one who understands tho
nature of the soil with which ne
works, man who can face the bust
ness side of his problems with a clear
understanding of their intricacies and
of their obligations.
The Man Who Goes Down and Out
And the man who can't meet the;
sort of test is going to go down and
out. The land remains the same In
amount; the men calling for that land
are going to increase; the demand il
going TO become keener; and the sol
will go to him who can make the best
use of it. The new kind of farming
is going to be a test of business man
agement quite as well as of willing
ness to work
New Leaders in Farming Demanded
And here is where opportunity still
| opens her doors, and gives new outlets
into broader ways of usefulness. The
/ agricultural education open to the
i young men of this and other states
means more than a mere training IL
crops, and soils, and stock. It is the
preparation of new leaders for the
new agriculture that the conditions
are forcing upon us, whether we like
i it or not The farm hand, wor4xina
out at $40 month, stands little
show In the future to become an
owner of good farm. But the young
man who can add to his ability to
j work, the ability to manage a farm on
4 a paying basis, has broad field open
to him--a field almost untouched, and
one where the rewards are great.
His Hands Are Tied.
The boy on the farm, knowing only
the traditional matters relating to his
/ business, may in time take over his
] parents property; but to make that a
sure thing for himself he needs the
\ broad training that enables him tc
farming In it's relations to other lines
! of business. The new agriculture, like
every other economic revolution thai
has preceded it. is bound to be bat.
tie, in which the fittest will survive
and fitness is a matter of being able
to meet the new problems of farm
life little better than half way.
What Was Done for Us.
These are some OF the reasons why
/ would educate the boy along agri.
cultural lines. If / wanted him to sue
coed as farmer / would do as much
for him as my neigLbor in town, whC
for that boy. would send him to 6
school where he might learn the broad
lines of his business, as my neighbor
the mechanic sends his boy to schoo
In order that he may be something
better than a common helper.
would give my boy the same chanct
in life that had-and a little better
II could. Back yonder in the years
when we were young tn reaper re.
placed the cradle, and the mower tn,
scythe; the gang pillow and the drill
took the place of the walking pillow
and the broadcast seeder. Our father,
worked without these better tools
why not we2 They saw the advan
tage of the newer things: we got tn,
benefit Today the tools OF the farmel
are not altogether those one can touc'
and handle. The new tools that will
transform the agriculture of America