The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1909-10-18
M'VEY TALKS TO
A. c. STUDENTS
ADDRESS DELIVERED
ON SUBJECTS THE BUSINESS
ORGANIZATION or AeRIcuL-
TuRE; AT coNvocATIoN ExER-
cIsEs THIS MORNING.

u
dent Franklin L. Mcvey Of the state
university addressed the students of
the A. c., at the regular Monday con-
vocation in the gymnasium auditorium.
The subject Of the address was the
Business Organization sof Agriculture.
President McVey spoke in part as
follows:
THE keynote OF American history
Is the winning OF a continent and the
spreading over vast territory OF
great people. In this contest the till
ing OF the soil has been the most fun
and their analysis, the enlarged rota-
ton of crops, uhe development OF ag-
riculture appears to be almost mar
velous.
con another side, however, agricul
ture has not made the progress that can
be noted in the fields Of business and
of manufacture. Even as 1t stands to-
day, with the notable achievements
just spoken of, some writer's and speak
ers are so bold as to say that agricul-
ture is fifty years behind manufac-
turing. Two things, IL one can select
two elements in the development of
any great industry, appear to be marked
in the krowth OF manufacturing and
business organization. Two things are
the Standardization OF the product and
the evolution OF the cost system in ac-
counting and business organization. 1t
remains today TO apply these to agri-
culture The whole point of view Of
farming has changed. The old days of
the self sufficing farmers have passed
by. Foods were preserved by drying
or smoking, but now they are prepared
in factories or laboratories by the most
improved methods. Refrigeration and
distribution of products has followed
the growth OF the factory method of
preparing and preserving food. The re-
suit of this has been to materially en-
large the market for the farmers pro-
ducts, and as consequence of this
change in his business he is confron-
ted with the question of costs and Of
comparative expense in carrying on
his work. Little attention has been
paid to the cost of farming in the sense
OF knowing what each crop actually
costs, what labor costs, and the wear
and tear of machinery. The Depart
ment of Agriculture has attempted re-
Gently TO work out some of the costs
of producing crops, and they have
shown conclusively that with the in
creasing price of lands it becomes less
and less profitable to raise certain
crops. 1t has been found that the labor
| day for men and horses is very much
| shorter than is usually supposed, and
| the average now for men on farms,
| through the year, including the long
hours of the harvest months, is scar
cely over eight hours, while that for
horses is rarely more than three. The
cost of utilizing team Of horses for
farm labor is not less than $3.50 for
damental occupation. The pioneer has
depended upon the ground for his
maintenance, and the farmer who has
followed him has been the mainstay
of the nation. .s
Like everything else, agriculture
has passed through an evolution. From
the days when the ground was stirred
with sharp stick to that Of the gang
pillow, from the fail to the thresher
from the sickle to the reaper, from the
three field system TO the rotation o.
crops, agriculture has constantly NOV.
ed on towards better things. The ac'
complishment of today as compared
with one hundred years ago stand on
In remarkable contrast, and when com
pared with three hundred years bacl
the results of modern agriculture seen
almost lige the workings Of magic.
"Davenant, an observer of agricul
ture in England In the seventeenth
century, calls attention to the weigh
Of cattle and sheep. and make the re
markable statement that a beef ami
NAL weighed about $50 pounds. Tn,
old proverb of the tailed OK, which ha
come in these days but synonym, hat
an original meaning. At the end of TIN
winter and in the spring days the oxel
that had been held in the barns wer
so weak from lack of proper food tina
it was necessary to draw them out In
to the fields to the fresh grass by tn
tail. And Arthur Young, speaking O
7 the agriculture in. one Of the countie
. OF England in the year 1910, says tina
it was beneath contempt.
! But looking back within the lac
: twenty-five years, 1t will be found tha
: a large number of inventions in tn
> field of agriculture have been devel
. oped In that period. The gang -plol
! was used perhaps for the first time
. 1894 and the disk harrow In ohe sam
: year. The steam pillow came into vogu
] only in 1895, though 1t had been use
!" slightly in England before that dat
The chilled pillow, itself an evolution {
the old wooden and iron pIows OF ear
. Her days, was not created until 1877
The modern machinery now used 1
the planting Of the crops and TIL
reaping OF them saves the countr
not les than s700,00o.000 year owe
the old ways or doing these thing
\ When you ad to this list OF notabl
achievements the selection of seed an
It's careful generation. the uses of soil
each day Of the year. This means dc
probation, in terest ON investment, an
forage.
"A few examples of what it cos'
: to produce certain crops may not
out Of the way. In the case OF sprin
: wheat the cost per acre liz not les
: than 81. The average yield OF whea
however, In Minnesota, for the yeal
1897 to 1906, according to the Depar-
ment of Agriculture, was Thrice
bushels with a farm value per acre
Vt 1886. There is left for the farmer wi
q produces wheat on land which cos
In the neighborhood of $50; but ST.
an acre Barley costs 1921, corn, $40
70 4s. flax, $3.50, hay $3.50, oats. $s.s
d potaties $26,36 wheat $7.24.
: On the prices prevailing for III
u years, from 1909 to 1907, 1t is nece
sary for the farmer, In order to ps
t. these costs of production, to secu
st 30 bushels Of barley, az OF corn. tn
I flax, 30h OF oats, 6S1b Of potatoes