American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1909-01-02

Every school in the land should teach
at least the elements of agriculture.
The young man and the young girl
should be taught something of that
great study which is the backbone of
of the nation, that is honorable, that is
ennobling and inspiring, that calls for
the best efforts of the brightest minds
and the greatest intelligence of man
kind.
If the teachers of the state really did
this they would become power which
none can measure in turning the cur
rent of the ordinary farm life into
better, more profitable and more digni-
fled channel by starting the young
minds out with the right ideas and the
right thoughts with regard to the dig
nifty of the farm and the wonderful pos
sibilities that lie therein when intelli- |
gently applied to every phase of farm
life.
Had there been ten good farmers In |
the east where there is now one it
would have resulted in corresponding
increase in demand for farms that would |
have kept up the price of farm lands.
Take some of the European countries,
Holland and Belgium, where the lands !
today are richer than they were 1000
years ago. What a lesson this should
to the haphazard skimming methods of
so many of the American farmers. All
over the world wherever the farm lands
have been kept in fertility and maxi
mum crops are grown, prices have
steadily risen until today some of
these lands have reached as high as
$1,000 per acre.
The farms of Twin Falls and prices
of land on the Twin Falls tract are, or
should have been, based on crop produc-
ton, and if the people of the Twin
Falls tract expect land to rise higher in
value they must follow better and more
up-to-date methods in the rotation of
crops and maximum crop production.
These facts should interest not only
the farmer but the merchant, the bank
er, the lawyer and the real estate man,
because their prosperity depends upon
the prosperity of the farmer. So we
should take to studying our lands and
so conduct ourselves on our farms and
in our community that we can raise
/ (which we CAM maximum crops every
year of the highest quality and receive
the highest price for these products.
| may ask question. What ails the
men who have not produced maximum
crops? They are simply ignorant of the
true condition of things. They are hit
Tor think they are), bruised and hurt.
They fail to get the revenue that they
desire, and they cannot see why they
do not get along better; but never in
their lives probably has it occurred to
them that they actually do not know
sufficient about farming to do it well.
The president may organize thou
sand commissions to look into and study
the conditions of farm life in the
country, but what good will it do these
men unless they study their own condi-
tions and apply those right principles,
properly rotate their crops, produce and
ship such products as the world demands
and then and only then will they sue
ceed as they ought to.
Let us, then, as farmers do business
on the farm. Keep records-find out
what is paying and what is not. If it
does not pay, why does it not pay?
Seek information that will shed light on
all these things, which will not only
bring remuneration, but result in a
happy, well spent life, benefiting our
selves and our children and our country
for all time