The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1911-11-22

NNOAA w NSCuA1R AS Tic AOuA4udnt UOle
Of his address. G. J. Whellams Of st
Paul spoke to the members Of the
Fargo Commercial club last night on
the subject Of The Community Plan
The speaker showed that he was thor
oughly familiar with his topic and
gave a number Of his own observa-
tons which had been gathered from
his own experience in this northwest
ern country as an immigration COM
missioner above the Canadian border
line before his removal to the Until
States
Mr.. Whellams called at the offices
of The Forum yesterday afternoon be-
fore his lecture and told a Forum
representative of his own experiences
Ia driving through the Red river val
ley from Winnipeg to Fargo and
Moorhead I'm a stage coach more than
thirty years ago. He said that PEG
pie today who knew only the luxuries
OF a Pullman car when travelling, lit
tie realized what 1t was for the
pioneers out In this region to make
long journeys several hundred mills
In the cold, driving in a stage coach,
with hotels. villages and farm houses
few and far between so that the travel
er had little chance to get warm.
Following Mr.. Wheelams' address,
short talks were given by Professor
Waldron Of the A. c. and Colonel
Matthews of Larimore
He made strong plea for organiza-
ton on the part Of farmers - eh6
northwest and gave some splendid
practical Illustrations of the bad re-
suits Of marketing crops in a hap
hazard manner. When the farmers CO.
operate In marketing their crops they
will get much more for them, he said.
Colonel Matthews enlarged on the
idea of cooperation, showing the tre-
mendous loss sustained by Canadian
farmers because they could not get
their crops marketed.
At the meeting last night President
Hardy presided and introduced the
speaker of the evening to a fair Sig
ed audience which listened attentive
~ to his address.
The keynote of Mr.. whellams ad :
dress was his simple but emphatic
statement:
ITO build and enlarge your city you
must build UP your rural districts-and
W w NAA5 yO0 IuQ6N new
methods"
Then Mr. whellams continued in
part: Agricultural experts here are
agreed that the yields of grain, roots,
meat and dairy products. potatoes and
fruits from the fields and farms Of this
state may be increased easily fourfoId
CT more without adding an acre TO
the acres that are now or have been
under cultivation. what is the diff
culty7 The want Of proper teaching
in the rural schools-and a rural la
Dor famine. A few years ago there
were evidences Of thrift, prosperity
contentment and happiness. Today a
different condition prevails. Noxious
weeds are gaining ground and are over
running the most fertile fields; much
land is in grass; many orchards arc
seldom pruned and are Infested with
disease; crops are put in too late and
harvested late. Insufficient prepare
ton of the soil. poor cultivation, late
planting and late harvesting mean in
ferior yields both as to quality and
quantity. The farm buildings and
fences showing Enthusiastically the re-
suits of long use, coupled with neglect
There are thousands of acres Of land
| in this state that need drainage. There
are countless numbers of good farms
in the state which are yielding to their
owners scarcely more than bare liv-
| ing, simply because one man cannot
do all the work needed to make each
| Of these farms profitable One may
drive for miles through the best farm
| Ing districts and count the men at
work and the average will be about
one man for each farm of 125 to 200
acres. The people in the country are
already land poor. Their hands are
tied. They are helpless, notwith-
standing their better knowledge Of ag-
riculture and their increased desire to
develop their holdings.
Need of FERN Labor.
Without an adequate supply OF
farm labor agriculture is a hopeless
industry. The major portion of she
money now being spent on agricultural
education or farmers Institutes, OF
short courses in agriculture, field
| demonstrations, ETC. Is largely wasted
Everyone who has investigated the
| problem OF farm labor agrees that its
scarcity is In a special and compre-
hensive sense, very largely due to
the farmers themselves. The home
surroundings have not been what they
should--consequently the young mel
have left the farms and flocked to the
large cities These young men would
have remained on the farms OF this
state and would have been able to ac-
quire greater wealth than has been
possible for them elsewhere
1.-The situation is critical, owing 20
the labor scarcity 1t Is impossible for
the farmer to keep up with the de-
mands for farm products, which is in
creasing rapidly each year. as the
population increases. The farmers
themselves must deal with this ques-
ton. They can do so by taking steps
individually and collectively to work
out solution to the question. The en-
gagement OF labor on the farm should
be by the year. and should be made
continuous as long as the men give
satisfaction. Farm work should be
adjusted to the keeping of live stock.
SO that there viii be work for the
hired man to do throughout the year.
Wherever possible, married men should
be employed. Each farm should have
its cottage and garden for the use OF
married man. A COW should he
kept and fuel supplied free for sach