The Washington herald., 1912-01-14
THE MIDDLEMEN VS.. THE FARMER,
AS DR.. WILEY SEES CONDITIONS
"A Penny for Farmers, and FOrty-two Pennies
to Others Before Wheat Reaches
Consumes" He Says.

the figures on the 200 bushels Of wheat
grew last year. They likewise are IL
| Illuminating Some OF the wheat was sold
for 81 cents, some for 81 cents, and some
remains In my barns. estimate the
average price as being 30 cents. The aver
age yield was eighteen bushels to the
aero. Ninety times eighteen are $l6.eO.
The cost of growing an acre Of wheat
was as follows: Interest on the land at
per cent, S.; taxes, 80 cents; upkeep OF
| fences, barns, and other buildings, 81:
seed, and / bought the best, $50; fer
tiIizer, $3.50; plowing and preparing the
| land, 50; planting, 80 cents; harvesting,
$50; thrashing and hauling, 81; taking
wheat to market, 3 cents a bushel, OF 81
cents Adding the items: Four is. a four,
five. ten. fifteen, twenty, twenty-five and
three are twenty.eightF put down the
: eight and two to carry, and that is
| three. four, six. nine, ten, eleven. and
I fourteen-makes the cost per acre ex-
actly S1464 Subtract that from S16.2o,
and a producers profit of S1.36 remains
! That very wheat, said. brings $40
\ bushel when sold as bread and SO on in
hotels and restaurants. II is clear to
me, II to no one else, that the farmer Is
not getting his share of the money Of the
consumer"
"Oh, 1IyP' Said the Good Doctor.
| I had written about DR.. Wiley before
as q chemist and also as q college pro-
| fesSor, who rode a bicycle and played
baseball and was accused to the trustees
| Of being irreligious IN that he did not al
ways attend morning prayers, and Of be-
| ing frivolous and undignified in that he
wore a cap and kuickerbockers while
astride his ''cartwheel," as It was on
ciaIly described. On telling him I had
come to chronicle his own experiences as
an agriculturist, he looked at me oblique-
ly out of his slightly slanting eyes and
merely said: ''Oh, my!' putting 6 shade
of emphasis on the last word. Yes"
continued, "A sort of developmental
narrative. starting with the farm on
which you lived as a boy and"
Plenty of people" DIR. Wiley inter-
rupted, think I should have remained
| there"
And" I went on, touching only the
! high spots"
That's the old Indiana homestead, all
right. 1t was nothing but nigh spots"
Until by a process of industry, fru-
gality, and perseverance" I proceeded.
you were evolved into a wealthy land
owner"
The adjective as you use II is an in
suit TO a respectable word and veiled
assault upon myself / am a landowner
that wantonly confess-but l am not
rich. Were I wealthy I should buy mort
cages, not land. Mortgages pay per
cent. I am getting 2 per cent less from
my three farms.
'Three2"
Yes; one Of go acres in Maryland,
almost in sight OF Washington, and two
aggregating LOO acres in Virginia, sixty
miles distant. as the crow flies"
why do you buy land? Are you afraid
OF savins banks?"
Because I am a farmer and have beer
one all my life. No; I am not q can
didate for office, though i was born in a
log cabin and have other qualifications
I am bold enough TO think. becoming to
the personality and the biography of the
President of the United States. The first
money ever earned, I want you e
know. was wrenched from the land.
wrenched away for fourteen hours and
was paid Is cents in cash. Then / ran a
mile and a half TO show the money &c
my mother. That was also my first ex'
perienee as a teacher.
A Celebrated Corn Planter.
Il could lay off a field in straight rows
with no other marker than the swinging
rump of the horse I drove, sighting
along his backbone and between his ears
whenever 1 was in doubt as TO direction
Marking the field one way, I'd mark II
the other. Then with a bag OF seed
across my shoulder walking swiftly anG
steadily, with an eye and hand as Ger.
tain as a squirrel hunters, I'd droI
three kernels of. corn. no more or less
precisely at the spot where the line.
crossed. Coming up in due season. th'
green rows of corn were as straight a:
a surveyor could have made them with
tape and transit Such being my tai
ent, was solicited by a rich neighbol
to instruct his sons in the art Thu:
was earned. as said, my first 25 cents
II worked on my fathers land until
was twenty-one years old and my owl
boss. I go into details to prove that
have always been an agriculturist. Dur
ing the next nine years 1 worked 70
myself, spending all that earned for al
education. At thirty years OF age I OweI
debt Of $50. Paying the debt, / be
gan Immediately to save money Will
which to purchase farm. 1 was thel
| teaching chemistry at Butler University
I The first land 1 bought was in Bentol
, County, near the eastern edge OF Illinois
1t was sold many years later at a hand
some profit. Farmers said that whea
would not grow in that latitude. Will
the prophets laughed at me among them