The Salt Lake herald-Republican. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1909-1918, 1910-05-28

Senator SmOOt said: Il desire the
attention of the Senate for a few mo-
ments to present a few facts with ref
erence to the present condition of the
farms of our country, as compared
with their conditions in the year 1886
While the prices of practically all
commodities have shown some advance
during the past few years, the products
of the farm show a much greater ad-
vance than do the prices of the products
Of mines and factories.
Farm land itself has advanced in
value rapidly, and everything produced
on the farm has also advanced ma
terially. The financial condition Of
the grain raiser of the northwest, the
general farmer of the middle west,
the cotton planter of the south, is bet
ter than ever before. Instead of
having TO market the grain as soon
as harvested and the cotton as soon as
picked, the producer is now in a posi-
ton to hold his crop and market it to
the best possible advantage. Finan-
cially the farmer has become indie
pendent The rural free delivery and
the telephone have placed him in touch
with the world, and he is as familiar
with current events as is the city
dweller.
THE real value of any article is its
exchange value. The real worth of
farm products is measured by their
value when compared with the value
of articles which the farmer desires to
purchase. No comparison of retail
prices for 1910 and 1896 is possible,
bus the retail price Of any commodity
follows, in a general way, the whole
sale price. Without retail prices 1t is
impossible % measure the exact pur-
chasing power Of farm products, but
the proportionate change in purchas-
ing power is practically the same when
wholesale prices are used as when re-
tail prices are used.
where the Farmer Gains.
Ten bushels of corn equaIled in
value seventy pounds Of Rio coffee in
March, 1910, and twenty-One pounds in
March, 1886 Ten bushels of corn
eqUalled in value, sixteen gallons OF
New Orleans molasses in March, 1910,
and eight gallons in March, 1896. Ten
bushels of corn equalled in value 131
pounds of sugar in March, 1910, and
fifty-nine pounds in March, 1896. Ten
bushels of corn equalled in value eighty
yards of brown sheetings in March,
1910, and fifty-one yards in March,
1896. Ten bushels of corn equalled in
value sixteen yards of cashmere all
wool dress goods in March, 1910, and
fourteen yards in March, 1896. Ten
bushels of corn equalled in value
thirty-five bushels of anthracite stove
bushels in March, 1896. Ten bushels
of corn eQualled in value fifty-three
gallons of refined petroleum in March,
1910, and twenty-five gallons in March,
1896. Ten bushels of corn equalled in
value 337 pounds of wire nails in
March, 1910, and ninety-five pounds in
March, 1896. Ten bushels of corn
equalled in value 1,G4O brick in March,
1910, and 519 in March, 1896. Ten
bushels of corn equalled in value four
barrels of Portland cement in March.
1910, and one barrel in March, 1896"
The senator produced tables showing
the purchasing power of ten bushels
of wheat or flaxseed and of twenty
! bushels of oats, rye, barley and pota-
toes, 500 pounds of cotton, one ton of
timothy hay, 100 pounds of hops, a
1,2O0-pound steer, a 300-pound hog, 20
pounds of dairy butter and so dozen
of eggs.