Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1909-10-02
IN THE FARMERS DEFENSE.

IN THE FARMERS DEFENSE.
Possibly it has been the custom
of individuals and frequently the
newspapers and their corresponding
to criticise the wasteful methods OF
the farmers of the country and re-
Gently with pork soring above the
50 mark, butter and eggs command
ing almost a prohibitory price in the
cities of the east, the farmers sys-
tenn, or lack of system, is complained
of by the consumer as being respon-
sible for the high prices he is re-
quired to pay for the necessaries Of
life. A correspondent of a promi-
nent eastern paper makes the follow
ing pertinent observations regarding
this problem in defense of the Amer
lean farmer, which will be appreci-
.ated by Tribune readers:
am not a farmer, and may not
be justified in speaking for worEdng
farmers, but 1 was born on farm,
saw it from the inside, worked on
the farm until I reached manhood,
and some seventeen years later had
another tussle with the soil for
fourteen years as fruit grower, gar
dener and chicken breeder, and con-
:sequently feel able to write at
least as learnedly on the subject as
those editors who never heard a
rooster crow-except long way off
nor saw a potato, except on a fork
as it passed to the place nature de-
signed for potatoes to 60 to and be
useful.
Are farmers wasteful in their bus
mess? Yes, in many cases, possibly
in most cases. In the first place
their farms are too large for the
capital invested and the skill used
in managing them. One-half or
.two-thirds of the land sold at any
price, or in some cases given away,
and the rest cultivated on the Gin
tensive" system. and the owner
would have more money and more
, credit. Shallow ploughing is a
wasteful system, elaborate fencing
and pasturage near cities or grow
ing village are wasteful; the neglect
to keep accounts of sales and pur-
.chases involves waste; the needless
exposure of farm machinery and
tools to the weather. is wasteful; and
.dairying is sure to involve waste
when the owner neglects to find out
which Of the cows pays it's own
board and which does not. There
are other leaks, lots of them, which
collectively are sure to keep farm
,er out of the income he needs unless
he stops them, practises eternal vigi-
lance, and remembers that life is too
short to learn all that a farmer
should know. .<s.
It is the routine farmer. the man
who runs his farm just as his father
did before him and just as he was
taught to do, who deserves the CEN
sure of the press. His mind is not
open to conviction or study. He
stands in the way of progress and
brings discredit on his calling. When
a man has, no other reason for his
course than that his ancestors follow
ed, that course he shows narrow.
ness pretty sure to, bring him to
poverty If persevered in long enough
Now as to prices, what has the
farmer to do with prices? Somebody
else makes the prices. Who does it?
It is always mystery how or where
prices originate for either necessar
les or luxuries. They go up and they
Y go down. Who sets the prices we
pay or what justifies them is not
Il known. It is easy enough at auction
Il sales, but not in the case Of that
vague and elusive thing we call the
4 market. Certainly 1t is not the
farmer. 5..5 5sssza2. H. !. ~ IN
Supply and demand govern prices,
it Is said. Not always. Corners do
1t sometimes Bnt IL supply and de-
mand is the rule, why complain
II might be inferred from complaints
\ in the newspapers that most farmers
are getting rich, II 80. why do not
the poor OF the cities make 2