The Dickinson press., 1911-12-09
SECOND ANNUAL FARMING
CONGRESS AND MIb-WlN-
TER FAIR At DICKINSON
Continued from page y

which must exist before capital enters
industry in the in which it is cal
led capitalism. The chief actor is
machinery. It does not require any
special powers of observation on the
part of men to note that wonderful pro-
eress has been made in the use of
in the field of agriculture.
While it is true that the steel plow did
not come into existence until 1870.
nevertheless. the growth of machinery
in this particular branch of mems &C.
equations has gone forward by leaps
and bounds. and what is still more
noticeable is the introduction of the
traction engine as a substitute for horse
puwer. An example or two of just
what this means may be worth while.
On a thousand acre farm in Kansas,
by the use of traction engines, the cost
of blowing, drilling and narrowing wal
reduced from 81, 800 to 5000. In anoth-
er instance where the cost of putting in
the crop by the use of horse power
amounted to SIS, $50, when tractors
were used there was a saving of So, 819.
The two-gang tractor pillow is now able
to break up three-quarters of an acre in
an hour, while the seven-gan9 tractor
pillow has an acre and t%wenty-nine one
hundredths to its credit in'the same per-
iod of time, and a recent experiment in
the use of three tractors and ffty-seven
plows resulted in the breaking up of
fourteen acres per hour.
These examples which have been
cited of the introduction of power
machinery in agriculture mean the re-
organization of agriculture al a conse-
quence. Out of this is likely to come a
decrease in the relative number of az
ricultural ]aborers employed. with a ma
terial increase in the acreage farmed,
and a much larger and better crop as a
consequence of deeper blowing. There
will result also a lower cost per unit of
product, and further a systematizing of
methods of organization and of business
conduct which will promote the central
izing of management and the continuity
of production. Thus will come about
what might be termed the fac,orizing of
agriculture.
1t is also a matter of observation that
capital, or rather the owners of capital
on a large scale, having exploited nom
poles and having steadily accumulated
more capital, are now seeking new fields
of investment from which reliable re-
turns may be had. The introduction of
the traction engine makes agriculture
today the largest field in which capital
can find an opening. and one that has
the promise of most satisfactory returns.
A summary of present conditions indi-
Gates high prices of land, especially
since 1900. high prices of food, a de-
crease in farm labor and the payment of
higher wages, together with a possible
extension of the acreage actually cult
waited. All of the conditions are ripe
for the introduction of machine produc-
ton, for we now have high price of pro-
duct, efficiency of machinery. and a
possible concentration of management.
The effect upon the individual farmer
will vary al the conditions vary. but
generally speaking the margin of land
values as he enters into the. field later
on will be against him, and on the rent
basis there will be a heavy payment
demanded if he enters agriculture as a
tenant. Moreover, the margin of profit
is against him. and this will become
greater and greater was the efficiency
of machine production continues. and
it is unquestionably true that the en-
trance of capital into agriculture will
mean a larger control of margins for
the producer rather than for the farmer.
To me all Of this indicates many
things, and most OF them serious.
Larger areas undoubtedly will be farmed
in many instances, and the tendency
will be to hold down the inhabitants to
small numbers, but beyond all of this
is the possibility of the creation of what
might be termed a %peasantry class,
located on the land and working for
wages. A condition of that kind would
mean a loss in the social life of the
community, a lowering of it's dignity
and incentives to progress. There is
only one alternative for this situation,
and that is for the farmer himself to
own the machinery and use it on a
large scale. as shown in other industries
that have been organized on a capital
istic basis. We ought to have every
where thriving communities, with the
very best facilities for marketing the
product, and a sturdy independent
people who have their own views and
opinions about matters of state and
local interest. A result of this kind can
only come about where there is a farmer
on each quarter section of land, but the
trend seems distinctly away from this
condition, as shown by recent figures in