Heppner gazette. [volume] (Heppner, Morrow County, Or.) 1892-1912, 1909-12-09
THE BUSINESS SIDE OF FARMING
Professor Bexell Gives Some Valuable
and Interesting Pointers.

|
Oregon Agricultural College, Corval'
lis, Dec. 6.-The Oregon Agricultural
college has just issued a bulletin for
free distribution emphasizing better
business methods on the farm.
Professor Bexell, the author of the
bulletin, says in his introduction:
cit is truism to say that the finan-
cial side of farming is of the utmost
Importance. But the 4act remains that
this side of the worlds greatest indus
try is almost entirely neglected by both
the farmer and the schools. Professor
Bailey says on this subject: In visit
ing practically every farm in one of
the counties of the state (New York;
we did not find one man who knew
how much it cost him to produce milk
or to raise any of his crops
''The secretary of agriculture, in re-
cent year books, points out the remark
able prosperity of the farmer; that the
export of farm products is vastly in
excess of all other exports combined;
that million agricultural debtors
have been transformed during the last
ten years into the same number of sur
plus depositors; that contrary to his
reputation, the farmer is great or
ganizer, and he has achieved remarka-
BILE and enormous successes in many
lines of economic cooperation in which
the people of other occupations have
either made no beginning at all or have
nearly if not completely failed He
points out that most farmers live bet
ter than the average merchant or me-
chanic.
"The business of farming assumes
two distinct phases: the productive
phase and the exchange phase. The
one aims to extract the treasures from
the soil; the other to place them in
the hands of the consumer. It is i'm
portant not only to raise abundant
crops, but also to sell the products to
advantage.
'The importance of the exchange
phase is often lost sight Of. A farm
may be forced to yield to its maximum
capacity, labor may be managed prop
erly and waste reduced to a minimum;
and yet the net result may be loss
at the end of the year. AS general
economic proposition, it might be said
that large crops often result in serious
loss to society as a whole. If the net
value to the consumer is less than the
labor and capital expended ON the crop,
society is the loser by the difference
Hence the Importance of thorough
understanding by the farmer as well
as by the merchant and manufacturer
of the laws and methods of exchange
or commerce.
THAT farming is science has been
emphasized so much that the fact that
it is also a business is often lost sight
of. 1t is a real business, and one which
pays the United States close to eight
billion dollars annually. 1t has been
demonstrated repeatedly that no legit-
innate business pays better than farm.
ing. 1t may be a little more uphill
work at the start, since most farmers
begin business with small capital, but
it is incomparably safer in the long
run, and will insure a competence for
old age with greater certainty than any
other occupation. But let it ever be |
borne in mind that the condition for
success is that farming must be con-
Quoted on business principles.
Not many generations ago it was
considered sufficient for the average
manufacturer merely to record his cash |
receipts and expenditures and to keep
a tolerably accurate check on the cash |
balance. In many instances the left |
trouser pocket served as the debit side |
and the right as the credit side of the
ledger Modern business methods and |
sharp competition have changed these
notions until today it is necessary to
know the cost of production in ad-
vance to the smallest detail. Ancient
business methods prevail yet, very gen
orally, on the farm. The wonderful
progress of the American farmer is due
to marvellous natural resources, labor.
saving inventions, and natural inge.
nuity, rather than to wise and prudent
"ln certain respects a farmer must
combine the methods of the manufac-
turer and the merchant. He must learn
not only how to increase production,
but also how to facilitate the profitable
exchange of his products. He must re-
duce the cost of production to the min
imum by increasing the quality and
the quantity of his products, and by
getting full value out of labor He
must manage so that his working force.
farm hands, children, horses, all are
employed. This requires
most skillful management in the rota
tion of crops, in the division of laoor,
IN selecting seeds, fertilizers and stock,
md, above all, it requires general pru-
lence in purchasing equipment and
and in marketing products.
This class of farmers require a variety
If records to assist in the proper man
lgement of their business. A first =
lass set of books is just as indis- .
'ensible to them as to the banker or +
o the manufacturer 7
The bulletin is illustrated with 20 =
ull-page engravings. 1t will be sent {
rec on request. Address Professor J. h
Bexell, Corvallis, Ore. n
Strikers Fire on Guards. il
Bridgeport, O., Dec 6.-Martial law a
onight holds sway here, where 1000 a
triking employees of the Aetna Stand =,
rd plant of the Sheet and Tin Plate 81
ompany, subsidiary of the United
tates Steel corporation, have been
oting since midnight Friday. A reg