The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1910-01-21
Farm Management With Relation to Waste
Is Subject Of Pres. Worst'S Annual Address

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IA profitable enterprise and of sufficien
, importance to insure dividends upol
the capital stock OF the ore company.
Antwerp once paid $4,000 a year t
get rid of its refuse. Later on the cit.
received 100000 year for It's refuse
1t was calculated in 1872 that the an
nual loss of valuable material through
the sewers Of the United States equale,
a sum sufficient to pay half the interes
on the public debt.
Patrick Cudahy Gays: 1.-THE offa
which the packer makes use of, anC
which the country butcher or farmer
lcould not use. such as hair, castings
tankage, and glue, amounts TO from Ii
to 20 cents per hog. The cattle offa
Is worth about 80 cents per bullock.
Chapters could thus be recited show.
ing the profits that are made from
things that once were wasted, anC
though the farmer cannot saw in the
same manner, yet when he takes ac-
count of the forces he employs and
studies them as carefully as manufac.
turers have studied their opportunities
he will find many leaks that may be
stopped and much wasted energy thai
can be put to profitable service.
French Economy.
The French could live on what we
throw away. BY avoiding waste and
saving the pennies and making invest
ments, the people of France are rapid
ly becoming the wealthiest in the
world. They create an average annual
surplus of $500,000,O 900 which her peo-
pie are investing wisely in securities
throughout the world, having now to
their credit $4,000, 600 900.
1t is said that the breakfast in France
costs but 2 cents, which, because of ex-
cellent cookery is better eating than
ours which costs an average of 10
cents.
If these figur, are correct, and /
have no reason to believe they are not,
we could save more than $4,000, 900, 900
annually on our breakfasts alone and
lose nothing in the enjoyment of our
morning meal.
Americans Naturally WastefuI.
AS to our natural resources, Ameri-
cans are exceedingly wasteful Presi-
dent Roosevelt summarized a few of
the leading items of waste in the Uni
ted States for the year 1907 as follows:
Waste of mineral pro-
DUCTS ...,......,..... 100000, 900
Damage by floods. $500. 23S,0OO,O 900
Loss by fire ..... 100000, 900
Preventable loss by fire. =. 365, 900
Loss to farm produc.. by
animals ,...,,......... 100 600, 600
Loss by insects ...... $4,000. 900
Waste by natural gas 49,. 81, 900, 900
Forests destroyed by fire.
yearly, acres ... $4,000. 900
Daily waste of gas, Gu. it, 1000 900, 900
Waste of coal, per year,
tons ................ 100000, 600
Many of the above items of loss
doubtless, could not be avoided, but
most of them were very largely pre-
ventable. But whether wholly or large
ly preventable or not, nevertheless they
represent tremendous, and in most
instances, useless waste of our natural
resources. To the above item of loss
and waste must be added the value Of
the soil constituents that the farmers
of the United States gave up to produce
the corn, wheat, oats, barley, flax, rye
buckwheat, potatoes, and hay, together
with the waste incurred through the
destruction OF organic matter in the
soil. For the year 1909 the prodigious
sum of 1884. 1872, 800 must be added to
the other items of cost, or loss, or
waste. We may from these figures
form some idea of the tremendous nat
ural wealth of this country and also
the annual drain we maze upon our
natural resources.
True, much of this drain is legiti-
mate and a vast amount of fertility is
returned to the soil each year One
upon the productive forces of the coun-
try to produce agricultural products
to the value of $S,76O,OOO,OOO in a sin
gle year, to take no account of the
needless waste arising from negligence
and carelessness.
This Is Not Pessinisn.
Do not set me down as a pessimist.
My purpose is rot a sinister one. but
to set before you facts which lead
farmers and others to be more careful
of the natural resources of our county.
In sense we are the stewards Of
future generations and while we have
a right to the best the earth affords,
we are also morally bound to protect
the heritage of our children. 1t is an
easy matter for an individual or ma
ton, owing to the east with which
money can be made while natural re-
sources are abundant, to become
spendthrift. AS nation we are that
very thing, now, and the sooner we
begin to study and practice more sem
slble national economy, the better
Four dollar beefsteaks on the dining
cars cannot ALWAYS endure
Let us now take into consideration
some OF the concrete causes of waste
that farmers can very largely prevent,
for their own and for their country's
good.
Losses on Account of Weeds.
The National Fruit Grower estimates
the loss caused by weeds in the great |
Northwest at 100000, 900 annually. I'll
says: THE destruction caused sim |
ply by the weeds in a crop, viewed |
from the standpoint of the weed seed in
the grain causing dockage and thereby
lowering the value of the crop, as has
been shown, Is not the only injury to /
the crop. Wherever there is a weed |
plant there cannot be a wheat plant, so /
the yield is lessened, but further, the
weeds remove fertility from the soil
and exhaust the moisture supply.
Weeds will remove per cent more
moisture from the soil than where
here are no weeds. Weeds by shadow
ng the soil deprive It OF the necessary
air and sunlight"
The Journal of Commerce saws:
Weeds teach us that we must culti
vate better l. is certainly profitable