Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1910-10-02
THE FARMERS AUTOMOBILE,


The purchase of large numbers Of
automobiles by farmers is declared
by The Iron Age (New York; to be
one Of the most significant incidents
of the year. The farmers motor-car
says this paper. instead of being an
expensive toy. like the city mans, is
an economy-an investment bringing
adequate and satisfactory return. To
quote:
"To the average man in the city
the automobile is merely a luxury,
and very expensive one What he
is obliged to pay simply for storage
is a formidable item. Accidents on
crowded streets are frequent and
costly Repair men are quick to take
advantage Of a customer who is I'M
familiar with machinery. 1t is prob
ably not unfair to say that there are
now in use in the large cities more
automobiles than there are people
who can really afford the outlay for
a mere luxury.
I'm the country, however, The city
mans toy becomes an economic in
vestment. which brings satisfactory
returns on its cost. The farmers
time is valuable Nature allows him
only a few days in which to harvest
any particular crop. and his season
is correspondingly short in planting
and seeding. In critical period
when conditions are most favorable
for planting or harvesting. the time
that the automobile saves in neces-
sary errands makes it an economic
agency of production. The mere saw
ing Of time, however. is only a small
part Of the usefulness of the autOmU-
bile in the country. A few years ago
there was much pessimistic talk
about the tendency of farmers to
retire and live in small towns on the
rent received from their land. The
is now keeping the owner
on his land. His family. who wanted
TO live in town for social advantages,
has discovered that it is more salts
factory to enjoy the full income of
the farm and own an automobile
which can run to the city in the time
that would be spent in walking a few
blocks. than to pay rent and other ex-
penses of living in town. The rural
mail delivery. the telephone. and the
automobile give to the family in the
country, owning a good farm, the
of social advantages that
are enjoyed by only a few of the peo-
pie who live in cities. The field Of
trade that has thus been opened to
the automobile manufacturer is al
most unlimited.
"The remarkable success of the
automobile makers in selling their
product to the farmers may suggest
an opportunity to manufacturers in
many other lines who have overlook
ed the possibilities of agricultural
trade. The American farmer of to-
day is not the man of even twenty
five years ago. In the period that
followed the Civil war. until about
1890, the area under cultivation in
creased more rapidly that population
in the United States. Overproduction
during this period caused a disas-
trous decline in prices, which was &C
CELEBRATED by large expansion of
wheat-growing in Russia Argentina
and India. Since 1890 population in
the United States has increased fast
er than the area under the pillow. and
during the past fifteen years the
farmer has profited by an almost con-
itnuous advance in the average of
agricultural prices. The demand for
farm products is increasing more rap
idlv than the supply, and the farmer
will profit more and more from this
condition in years to come. Farmers
who have paid cash for automobiles
this year may have needed credit on
8 $15 rOad-cart twenty years AGO and