Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1913-05-30
ARE We FARMERS
OR RANCHERS HERE
ON PUGET SOUND?
No Farmers Around Here-Just
Ranchers," Says One "City
Feller" of This Country.
SELL WOOD AND BUY FEED.
Wouldn't Know a Hay Stack if
They Saw it, He Says-How
About It? Is He Right?

You can sit out here on the porch
all day and you will Sc one farmer af.
ter another,-no, they're not farmers,
they're ranchers-drive into Olympia
with load of wood or something of
the kind and drive right out again
with load of feed for his stock.
"It's a funny thing but there isn't a
farmer around here" the speaker con-
tinued. They're all ranchers. There
isn't one Of them that raises the feed
for his own stock. They'll cut up a
load of wood and take it to town and
bring back load of feed but they
won't raise it themselves.
Fright there's the big trouble with
this country. We need some farmers.
The ranchers will do-they're a mighty
big help in opening up this country
but we need some real live farmers,
rot the 10 or the 20 or the 4O-acre
kind but the 100 or 100 or 200-acre
kind that will make things grow out
here, hay and corn and wheat and
oats and barley and fax and every
thing else, and will really develop the
country.
Every time see rancher drive in
with load of wood and drive out with
load Of feed it makes me mad"
And so he went on to tell of what he
thought this country ought to be, a
country Of big, prosperous farms, not
small ranches where what the farmer
Ieeded the farmer raised, and the
whole scheme of farming as 1t Is
known back in Minnesota, Wisconsin
Iowa, Indiana and the other Middle
Western states. He was just an ordi.
nary, every day ''city feller"-this
speaker-a successful business man,
blessed with enough of this worlds s
goods to keep him out of the poor
house and enough ideas and opinions
TO keep his mind working all the timt.
His ideas of farming, not ranchins
but farming, may not agree with yours
but to him the struck the nail right on
the head--he saw what he thought is a
big mistake.
And anyhow, much of what he said
is true. "A lot of these ranchers
around here wouldn't know hay
stack if they saw It," as he expressed
it, "and straw stack-well, it's worse
than Greek to them. Then you talk
about SLOWLY, if you'd say silo to
any of those fellows they wouldn't
know what you were talking about"
Is he right? Aren't there any farm
ers in this country? Are we making
a mistake by ranching in and 10 and
Is and 2O-acre tracts? Should we
raise something besides berries and
apples and pears and prunes? And
do we?
The STANDARD would like to know
what the farmers of Thurston county
think about it, would like to know
whether this "city feller" has hit the
nail as squarely on the head as he
thinks he has, whether he has struck
weak point in the development of
Western Washington. Write the edi-
tor Of the ST.NDARD letter and tell
him what you think about it, tell him
If you think there is anything wrong
with the present rural development of
this country and what can be done to
help it. in fact, take up the cudsel
where this city feller" has thrown it
down and talk about the farm and the
ranch from the standpoint of the man
who owns one and is trying to make Il
living off of it.
Also, the STANDARD would like to see
this same question put up to farmers
and ranchers throughout all of West
ern Washington by the newspapers of
this section. Certain it is that there
must have been some cause for this
mans argument and certain it is, too,
that there must be some reason why a
farmer drives in with a load of wood
and out with a load of feed. Is it a
condition that should prevail? Does
IL prevail? Those are the questions
the STANDARD would like to have an
swered by the farmer or the rancher
himself.
Sit down and write the editor a let
ter.