The Mankato free press., 1912-06-28

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together and unite all interests. He
said that his league was organized
after having read the census reports
which showed such decrease in
population. The main interest OF
this league was agriculture.
BY a systematic way the league
was organized to boost West Central
Minnesota. This league also worked
for immigration and stop-over rates
as well as more intensified farming.
The work for the officers was
hard and he urged the members of
the league to help and cooperate
with the officers. The committees
were divided up to look after differ
ent matter. one man for agriculture,
another for railway rates, etc. He
also told what the school of agricul-
ture was doing at Morris One man
was appointed secretary for each
county to look after furthering the
Agricultural part of the league.
The league tried to get permis-
sive law to get the board of county
commissioners to assess the farmers
to pay for this county man"
This county man is an everyday
man who goes among the farmers
and demonstrates to them the best
way of farming. Sometimes he will
spend several days with single
farmer helping him out. But it is
hard e to get the right men. The
schools are turning out men as fast
as possible. Hence not enough men
can be secured at once.
| Secretary Ball read the report OF
the committee on railway rates and
stop-over privileges. He read
letter recently published in The Free
| Press, received by the committee
from the railroad company which de-
clined to give homeseekers rates or
stop-over privileges.
D. M. Neill of Redwing said that
it was useless to send a petition to
railroad companies. The only way
to handle the railroads is to go down
in person to their head offices and
argue the case out with the OFFICIALS
From Farmers Viewpoint.
The general topic of the present
meeting was: Benefits to Be De-
rived From the Southern Minnesota
Better Development League" From
the viewpoint of "The Farmers,
and w. F. Schilling discussed this
phase of the question from the fol
lowing viewpoint:
"The benefits to be derived by
farmers through the efforts of the
Southern Minnesota Better Develop
ment league are many and a sys-
tematic effort should be made to
enlist the cooperation of all who
are interested in the better ,deve-
opment of agriculture in it's many
forms and phases. There seems to
have been, within the past few
months, great awakening in the
interest manifested by all classes in
the welfare of the tiller of the soil
This was brought about mainly by
the recent reciprocity agitation
which brought to light many facts
that were hitherto allowed to re-
main hidden to the world. We well
come this agitation because it has
in a measure arrested the ambitions
of the public along other lines and
turned attention to the man who is
to in the future feed the American
people. The time has gone by when
a great surplus of food stuffs is to
be produced in America. There are
many kinds of farmers interested
in the various phases of farming in
this state but the phase that inter-
ests each of you is that of produc-
ing good crops and at the same
time conserving the fertility of our
farms.
I've in Southern Minnesota are
alive to the fact that there are three
Df 20 oh
the present time. One the man who
received his land by grant from the
government, or purchased it for
small sum per acre, is just now
retiring. He has bit of money,
if he has sold his farm. He mas not
made great deal by his hard la
Dor, but he has realized from the
sale of his farm that has increased
in value from year to year with the
development of the community in
which he lives. There has been no
bookkeeping to his proposition. no
invoice taken of the resources of
the soil. He took the fertile soil
handed him by Providence and sold
the products therefrom in the open
market at whatever the buyer saw
fit to give him. He improved the
farm in the way of putting up
few buildings. many of them tenn
porary. and we can safely say that
this was taken from the land. There
was no special effort made to ro-
tate crops, to keep back weed pests
and improve soil conditions because
it was not necessary. Today, how
ever, 1t is different. In many in
stances the farm is rented. The
tenant age is upon us and the ten
ant, like the first farmer, is inter
ested in getting the most out of the
land from year to year. The system
of renting from year to year makes
it imperative for the renter to do
this. He robs the soil to be sure,
as his home there is temporary and
he wants to get out of the land all
that he can. ''.
Next Generation Of Farmers.
But it is the next generation Of
farmers that this nation is the
most interested in at the present
time and the one that the work of
this association is supposed to en-
courage and develop. 1t is the farm
er who comes in and pays a good
price for the land and hopes to so
systematic his farming operations
as to make profit off his large
investment. This is the farmer who
must apply business principles to
his farm operations. He is going to
pay less attention to the amount of
grain he can raise to haul to the
fohH IL