The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1912-09-05
FIFTY BILLIONS
FOR FARMERS.
Correct Methods Would Increase
Yield Of Acres.
THE SUGAR BEET INDUSTRY.
Growing These 9ssts Is the Basis Of
Scientific Farming and tho Most
ProftabIe-crop Rotation a Great
lmprover of the Soil.

| oCIehtHlc FarmIng ana tho Most
Profitabls-crop Rotation a Great
lmprover Of the Soil.
Between forty and fifty billion dol
lars year is what the American farm
er should be getting out of his acres
instead Of the present sum of eight bill
lion, according to the statement of w.
| X. Winterhalter of San Francisco, a
crop expert. who has adopted the
unique profession of consulting agri-
culturist" BY the exact study of
soil and crop possibilities and the ap-
| plicatiOn o. correct methods cf farm
management" he declares. the yield
of American farm lands can be multi
| piled fvefold.
| Mr. Winterhalter believes that Amer
leans will be compelled to make both a
science and business of farming in
view Of the fact that consumption is
| increasing SO much more rapidly than
| production 81 far as foOdStuffS are con
cerned. He insists that the day will
come when each farming district will
have its expert agricultural adviser. a
man with the entire chemistry of farm
| ing ut his fingers ends. and under such
conditions the present farm acreage
will yield several times the present pro
| ductiOn.
Mr.. Wintcrhalter'S profession is un-
doubtedly the rareSt in the United
| States. but he expects it to grow rap
idly. He asserts that the consulting
agriculturiSt bears the same relation
to the prospective farm purchaser as
the mining engineer bears to the pro
Spective mine owner or as the bond
expert bears to the prospective in
veStOr
I'VE are pioneers" explained Mr..
Winterhalter. "but the time is soon
| coming when Il man would no more
think of purchasing 4 large tract of
land without getting professional
opinion than he would think of going
through an attack of typhoid fever
without doctor Competition has
forced on the farmer the realization
that he can no longer buy piece of
land at haphazard. scratch it and Sc
cure d decent living. To be sure of
his crops he must have expert advice
on the quality of the soil and the eli
mate and the nature of the agricul-
tural products he may properly pro
duce.
"MilIionS of dollars are lost annually
through capitalists and farmers igno-
rantly yielding to the SeductiOns of
the land boomer Sometimes there is
an abundance of water. but this mere
ly brings out the Hlkali. which renders
the land useless. Again. the soil proves
to be so clayey that the farmers dis
cover it can produce nothing but
bricks-not even gold bricks. 1t is the
province Of the consulting agricultur-
list to enable the farmer to avoid such
| hopeless and unprOductive lands and
| to teach him how to rotate his crops
| and get the best results from his par
| ticular tract of soil"
Mr. Winterhater. who has been an
agricultural expert for twenty-five
| years. has been instrumental in spread
ing the culture of the sugar beet
through the west. not only for its own
agricultural value. but because of its
great usefulness as consepver of the
soil
"The sugar beet" he said. SIS the
basis of scientific farming and the most
profitable crop rotation. Its culture
raises the standard of intelligence in a
farm community 1t opens new ave
nues for labor. 1t necessitates the use
of the most modern farm machinery.
Moreover. Il great advantage of the
sugar beet to the farmer is that IT
makes him independent Of the snecu-
lator. He knows the price he will get
before he plants And the beet crop is
great soil improver, owing to the
intensive cultivation it requires.
This is Il most important point, be-
cause we are rapidly getting to the end
Of our additional available government
and state lands in those sections of the
United States where intensified agricul.
ture can be practiced with good profit.
or course there are extensive dry farm
areas left. but we do not know how far
we can go with these. So far it is
most essential that our farmers should
learn to get two or three times the
present yield from one acre and con
centrate on smaller areas. We must
get away from the erroneous idea that
1t takes 100 to 300 acres to support Il
family. In Europe Il family is sup
ported on as little as ten acres.
The average American farmer does
not yet appreciate the benefits of in
tensive cultivation. but he Is rapidly
learning However, he has still much
to learn from his European brother
about the preparation of land and the
care and cultivation Of the crop. This
Is true of the sugar beet crop as well
as others But on. the manufacturing
side of the sugar beet industry our
methods are generally equal or superb
or to those abroad. The business is
younger here. and therefore we have
the most modern machinery. And our
sugar beet factories have labor saving
devices not used in Europe because OF
the low cost of labor there"