Newark post., 1911-11-01
+, THE BUSINESS OF FARMING


| iiuuStTv Vi agriculture tnat one VINO
thoroughly. appreciates the intelligence
Of his audience should have chosen this
topic for discussion.
/ am aware that at least large per-
centage of the farms represented here to-
day are conducted by business men,
That most of the farms of our State.
however. are suffering from a lack of |
twhat may be called business manage
ment. no one will deny. And most of
you will also agree that until the man
twho! tills the soil knows in detail whether
or not his operations are conducted on a
money making or Il losing basis,
Agriculture can never reach the position
it should occupy in the progress of civili-
rzation.
There is no business that is so com
EpeX as farming. How many merchants
would think of buying a store and
stock of goods without knowing in detail
the condition of the store. the adapta
! tion of its location for certain kinds of
trade, the business this particular store
4 had done in past years. the exact condi
tion, the amount and kinds of goods on
the shelf or in the ware rooms! If the
store was run down he would make a
close estimate of the capital it would re-
quire to put in on a paying basis, and
~
would meet the demands of its patrons.
How different with the farmer. be he
tenant or proprietor who contemplates
going on to Il new farm. Does he take
any steps to ascertain the amount of
available and potential plant food in his
land! Does he have any idea of the
amount 1t should contain to be clnsSed
IL rich or poor farm? Does the average
farmer have any exact information in
reference to the soil requirements of the
crops he expects to grow? Or does he
SOW and reap in the dark a. did one
farmer knew who came t. the southern
I"rt OF the Stat" from the barley section
f North Dakota He had grown barley
= in the northwest and he thought he
could grow it in the southwest. He >oWed
+ but the harvest scarcely returned the
! ~e"d that was put int" til" ground.
. II is not impossible for any one who j.
l in need OF til" exact information pertain
= ing to the soil to obtain it from some
z cne Of the many public service inetitu-
! tiOn- that are accessible to every one.
However, in spite of the fact that Il far
p mrr'- welfare and that of his family i,
, dependent upon this sort OF information.
= he does not rs yet appreciate its i'm
. portauce. and cent nue- in. the same old
= Tut that his father and grandfathers had
before him.
- What ! have said applies with special
. force to the tenant farmer Under eX-
- i-ting condition, he * playing losing
, game from financial point OF view. Be
= cause the tenant farmer does not realize
the value of technical knowledge and Of
: business methods in his work, he and his
| family are forced TO overburden them
i selves to produce crops that must com
pete unfairly with those raised by far
S lners who have higher standard ot Iiv-
ing. Furthermore because he doe, rot
e appreciate his responsibility to the soil
e he cultivate-. it i, becoming depleted OF
4 its fertility. the most valuable natural
! resource we have. In this connection it
= may be said that but few farmers con-
n slider the amount of fertility that is
taken from the soil with each crop They
n dc not appreciate the fact that the avail
= able plant food in the soil and the physi.
q cal condition of the soil is similar to Il
e bank account. and should be treated a.
o such. Whenever a certain amount is
drawn out. it is necessary to make IL de-
d post if the balance is to remain the
S same.
4 It i also known that certain crops a.
corn. timothy hay and millet. remove
much more of the elements of plant food
v than do other crops. such as fruits for
: instance. 1t is but reasonable. therefore
= that one should make study of the va
'. riouS crops that can he grown ON his
!. farm from fertility point of view. to
;. the end that he may grow those that
. are most profitable. considering the fer
. tility removed as well as the labor. cost
. of growing and marketing.
= Many consider this a minor detail. but
. it is Just such minor details that make
N for the success or failure of those who
u follow us on the land we now occupy. a.
u whole sections in the so-called dairy belt
t of New York State can testify. To
y leave the land he tills in as good. if not
in better condition than he found it
should be the chief business of every
man.
One reason why many are not more
business-like in their methods j. that
they have no fixed definite working pol
q icy. 4 manufacturer decides upon the
y goods he shall produce only after d great
: deal of deliberatiOn. When once the de-
cision is made. he equips himself for his
y particular line of work, and no other
e Hi, plans are fixed. and he throws his
= whole energy into the task of carrying
= them out. The result is that about 50
per cent. of the manufactuIingxytsnter-
prisps are Il success financially
If a farmer would lay his plans as
: carefully as the manufacturer then stick
to them As tenaciously, | am sure that
more of them would succeed.
1t IS so easy for man to grow a lit
=, tie of this and Il little of that with the
: idea that if some should fail some of
the Others will net. and so he will be
slre of little crop of something any
+ way This State is one that is particu-
t larly adapted to special farming. If we
+ will but glance over our acquaintances
n who are successful. we see that 90 per
cent. or more of them are centra!i2ing
their efforts upon one or two main crops.
; The reason this kind of farming sue
b ceeds best is obvious. In the first place
t the specialist, like the manufacturer can