Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1910-06-02

JAMES WILSON the Z various big
railroads In the east. AS an outcome
Of the discussion a permanent organi-
zation was formed, on, which the rail-
roads are represented, to educate the
farmers Of the state of New York in
the best interests of production and Of
inducing residents In cities to 20
'back to the farm" A..
1--WE cannot afford to buy food from
foreign countries" said Mr.. Wilson.
"We must see to 1t that our western
farms produce enough, not only for
home consumption. but also to, sell
abroad and square up the balances of
trade.
ut costs more to get anything done
In our country than In most others.
Production does not increase as fast
as population. Prices go up. 1t costs
more to pay carriers, dealers, manu-
facturers. all classes. The farmer gets
big prices now, but 1t costs him twice
as much to grow things as 1t did ten
years ago
Cannot Afford TO Buy Abroad.
"The fact that population Increases
faster than food sets us thinking We
cannot AFFORD to buy food from foreign
countries. The balances OF trade for
goods bought and sold since the civil
war, independent Of farm products.
have been heavily against us during
that time and have been paid by ex-
ports from the farm o.
Most Of our people in the east are
being fed from the Mississippi valley,
and the states from the south draw
much from the same source. For the
last half century the young people Of
the farms have been educated to leave
them. No teacher until recently taught
scholar the way to make more Of his
days work on the farm or how to
make the acre respond better. and for
very good reason. The teacher had
never learned 1t himself. Education
flows downward from the university
regarding everything but agriculture.
II applied science along this Hne is not
understood at the fountainhead there
will be no stream from which to
drink.
Ignorance permitted the soil to be-
come unproductive. The highest intel
ligence Is required to bring back fer
tility. Generally speaking, our farms
are managed with too little capital or
the farm is too large for the means Of
the operator. Help Is dearer than 1t
has been, and 1t is scarce in all Sec
tions of tho ctRntry. Higher prices
for farm products will justify more
pay to the farm hand and have tend
ency to keep workers on the farm.
The cheap food of the past has been
one of the great advantages the manu-
facturer has had. He has 1t no longer
Neglect of the soil Will very soon inn
press itself on all classes.
g. Soil Conservation Urged.
"Importatlous of food will bring
about change In our economics, a
revolution in our policies. which may
be avoided by better farming and
comprehensive view of the situation
by those who deal In big things. wheth-
er carrying commerce, manufacturing
or finance. II the America we know
today is to continue with its opportu
skill and labor. home ownership for
every Industrious man, education for
every child. an easily acquired COM
petence for every frugal. Industrious
family, we must look to the soil and
Its power of production. Other ma
tions prosper by commerce and manu-
featuring, but their working classes
are not as comfortable as ours.
Every state should organize to con-
serve fertility of its soils. The depart
ment of agriculture would gladly CO.
operate with all of them. This de-
partment has corps of scientists that
could be made useful in this regard.
There is no kind of conservation that
compares at all in Importance with
soil conservation. while all are impor-
tant We are late in beginning, but
high prices are impelling and insistent
from every standpoint
Some political economists tell us
/ that boys leave the farm because land
values are so high, but land values
east of the Alleghenies have gone down
because the boys left the farms and
rsnters without capital got possession
TO grow grain and hay for sale"
The Approaching Comet.
The astronomers now tell US there's a
comet I'm the sky
Which will quito soon be apparent to the
nude observant eye.
But here's a question we in all humility
propose
| Will the coming comet leave us CONNIE
fl faut or comatose?
Are tho scientific telescope comet finders
sure
! That the comfy of comets will eternally
endure?
For IL it's just gamble # is certainly q
whale.
This stalking our existence on the hazard
Of q tail.
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