Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1913-09-17
DISTRIBUTION is THE ........
AGRICULTURAL PROBLEM
A Pertinent Point Made by Peter
Radford Of the Texas Farm
erS' Union.

Fort Worth, Texas, September Is
The resolution of friendly criti-
cism passed by the National Farm
ers' Union in convention at Salina,
Kansas recently, against the Bulle-
tin Service of the Federal Depart
ment of Agriculture is plea for
more rigid economy in distribution
and a more practical selection and
discussion Of agricultural subjects,
but the fundamental error is in
spending all the funds available on
the production side of agriculture
and giving little or no attention to
marketing.
The man who plows has his view
point, and as the Department of Ag-
riculture was organized to assist us,
certainly we have a right to discuss
it's work, if indeed we should not
have voice in it's councils.
While the Department Of Agricul-
ture has been dumping tons Of lit
erature on the farmer, telling him
how to produce, the farmer has been
dumping tons Of products in the Ma
TONS garbage can for want Of a
market.
4 While many wealthy corporations
and individuals processing a desire
to aid the farmer have been telling
US how to pillow, the farmer has been
suffering from lack Of distribution.
The real farmer has little or nc
voice in the disbursement Of the ap-
preparations made by the govern.
ment or Of donations made by pub
Gc-spirited citizens to promote agri.
culture. The work is all done on thu
basis that the farmer does not know
his problems.
III We not only resent the suggestion
that the farmer is incompetent, blu
/ have for years asserted that the far
i mers Of the United States are tn
/ most intelligent farmers on earth
/ Thy have solved the problems O
/ production and the assistance nov
= most needed is in marketing. TIL
trouble all along has been in fault
!. distribution. In support Of this po
, sition I shall offer in defense of tn
National Farmers Union Of America
series Of articles to the press.
= want to say here that I follow tn
pillow and that I am not welding a
= alien pen.
l. The consumer has always feare
that the producer would not suppl
him, and his fright has found ex
preston on the statute books of GU
States and Nations, and the farme
~ has been urged to produce reckless
ly and without reference to a marke
- and regardless Of the demands Q
lie the consumer.
x BACK TO THE SOIL.
80 The city people have been urgin
each other to move back to the FARM
but very few Of them have moved
We welcome our city cousins bac
to the soil and this earth's surfac
lie contains 1902, 100000 idle acre
Of tillable land where they can max
a living by tickling the earth with
. forked stick, but we do not nee
them SO far as increasing productio
is concerned; we now have all tt
| %
has very erroneous ideas Of agricu
tural conditions. The commonly az
ct cepted theory that we are short Q
production is all wrong. Our ir
10 crease in production far exceeds thu
s. of our increase in population.
A. THE WORLD IS A FARM.
" Taking the world as one big farm
le we find two billion acres of land ]
d, cultivation, representing one-fi1
ne teenth Of the earth's surface. {
ne this amount there is approximate
I'd 750,000,000 acres on the weste1
IN and 1,250,000,000 acres on the cas-
re ern hemisphere, in cultivation. Tn
in estimate, Of course, does not mclu6
he grazing lands, forests, etc., whe1
of large quantities Of meat are pro
he duced.
ed The worlds annual crop approx
D. mates fifteen billion bushels of Gel
calls, thirteen billion pounds Of fb1
- and sixty-fve million tons Of meat
. The average annual crop for tt
Z past five years, compared with II
! previous five years shows an ave.
Z age increase in cereals Of ID pt
! cent, while the worlds populate
] shows an increase Of only p,
I cent.
! The gain in production far e,
I ceeds that Of our increase in populs
I ton, and it is safe to estimate tn;
! the farmer can easily increase pro
! duction~25 per cent if remuners
! tive market can be found for tt
! products. In textile fbres the wor]
7 shows an increase during the pa!
| ho1f 1oooIo ~, ,,ro1,,o4;op of TX ~