The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1909-12-04

Hoh RiNN1 us AAS lAlEbSHAu annual re-
port concerning the work of the de.
partment of agriculture and the con.
dition of the industry with which thai
department deals, throughout the
United States, and IL contains figures
that are almost fabulous.
Most prosperous of ala years is the
place to which 1909 is entitled In
agriculture" he says. THE yield has
been bountiful while most crops and
prices have been high. Advantageous
lv situated as he is in most respects
the farmer is less and less gnerally
compelled to dump his crops on the
market at the time OF harvest. He does
not need to work for ais board and
when prices were so low as to be UNI
profitable.
THE agricultural production of 1909
must add 10 the prosperity of the
farmers. The record is unexampled in
wealth produced and tells of abund-
ance in quantity. Year by year the
farmers is better and better prepared
to provide the capital and make the
Expenditures needed to improve his
agriculture and to educate his chill
dren for farm life and work"
Revenue of $s,76o,ooo,Ooo.
In those mild phrases Secretary viii
son restraints his enthusiasm over un-
precedented conditions Of volume and
price which have brought the farmers
Of the United States a revenue of S.
700 O000 900 for the current year. II is
true, as the secretary says, That the
value of farm products is SO incompre-
hensibly large that 1t has become a
row of figures. Ten years ago the
total value of all the farm crops pro-
duced in the United States was little
more than one-half of their value this
year. The compensation of the farm
ers for their labor has more than
doubled since James Wilson began to
make these reports, This year it is
$3.50, 100000. The gain over 1908 is
100000, and during the last eleven
years the total has been $50, zoe, 000,-
900.
No wonder Secretary Wilson says:
1T has paid off mortgages; it has
established banks; it has helped to
make the farmers a citizen of the
world; it mas established banks; it has
helped to make the farmer a citizen
of the world; it has provided him with
means for improving the soil and MAX
ing it more productive"
Farmers Buy Safes.
/ had letter the other day from a
merchant in central Illinois, who said
within a year, / nave sold over 400
fireproof safes to farmers within a
radius of fifteen miles of my home"
Secretary Wilson's report explains the
reason for such purchases. 1t also ex-
plains where the farmers got their
money to buy automobiles which are
becoming as common as buggies. At
the time William Mckinley was run
ming for President there was an agita-
tion in the west for law authorizing
the federal government to loan money
from the treasury to help the farmers
buy seed and tools. Today the farm
ers are loaning money to the business
men of the east to carry on their en-
terprises. A large proportion of the
used to carry on the ordinary
in New York city and
other financial centers comes from the
farmers deposits in the village banks
Of the agricultural sections fthe
Prices of all kinds of produce from
the field from the pasture, from the !
garden, from the barnyard and the |
poultry house are advancing steadily |
The more the farmer produces the |
higher the price he receives for it, |
which is a reversal of the ordinary |
laws that have hitherto governed trade |
and industry.
No country in the world, no period |
in the history of mankind, ever saw |
such a prolonged or remarkable pros
perity as the farmers of the United |
States have enjoyed. They are the only |
class of the population whose advance |
in wealth has been without Interrupt |
ton for a period of thirteen years.
The census of the United States for |
1900 reports 5,739d57 farms, which |
have undoubtedly 10 per cent in num- |
Der during the increased of nine years,
and today there are probably $500, 900 |
productive farms in the country. On
this basis the average production last
year was about 81, 400 per farm.
Corn Crop Value $1,72o,o0o,ooo.
Secretary Wilson gives us some in
teresting details. THE most striking
fact in the history of the worlds agri-
he says, sis the value of the
corn crop of 1909 in this country,
|