The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1913-01-11
AGRICULTURAL. PROGRESS AND
PROFIT.

In a recen, ISSUE 81 the M!nneapo-
lis Journal a communication from
Devils Lake, y. D, farmer vas pub
lished, in which The writer . ex-
ception to James J. H!!rs plan for in
creasing the wheat yields OF the north
west. An excerpt from his %coanlun:-
cation will explain his contention. He
says:
The article published in The Jour
nal OF January s. under the caption.
u. J. Hill displays revolutionary
farming results" like other siH.iia:
items. has been read You might say
by the whole Of North Dakota. Thu
nub of the thing. looking at il from
the view of the farmer. and in a Sc.
fish light. is how much more money
will il put in the hands OF the farm
er: Now in going down the list OF
comparative yields l find tina, under
the new scientific methods the yie.d
IF wheat. barley and oats IS increased
SO per CEN or Whereabouts. II by
means within the ability OF the farm
ers 10 adopt the new revolutionary
methods Yields could be increased
even half as much as the ar,ic!,
states. 1he question IS what would he
onle of the farmer"
In 1911 We had A moderate weld
OF wheat and the price was so near
a dollar. sometimes slightly thov@,
that :. was = dollar wheat year. Flax
hroass, from So 70 s3.25 per oushei:
ha-le.. - 10 IS cents. with the for
mer agure about the average: oats. IN
to so cents. In 1917 We had the hell,
Of heaven without the additional cos.
of phosphates. Yields Of everything
but flax were much better than in
1911. End the result, is that the price
We COY FIR wheat is about IS TO 20
c>a.S. fax s1.o7. barley so. oats 90.
Without figuring in the decirals. VT
81 per cent less for wheat. 80
pc ant less for fax and oats, and 60
ner cent less for barley, for the sole
r.-,s"n that We happened TO increase
or iia!Gs in 1a1o over 1911.
"l:.; We are getting at is this: II
hv > :rntitic methods our farms are
rad. 10 produce any where near the
yields given in the article alluded 20,
what would become of Us farn.erso
Her" 8 something that goa perhaps
de- Mne know: ON OF the low
I'r.o-a the farmers are unable 20 pay
thei, debts this year. the TN. !nsr-
chants are away behind in their pay
ments. II sou do NOT believe this, ask
any Minneapolis jobber Or agriculture
al implement dealer. AS the farmer
pays, so these men are paid.
Commenting on this communica-
ton the editor says:
\ farmer correspondent at Devils
Lake. n. D., raises serious objection
to the experiments and efforts of Mr..
j. ]. Hill and others 10 increase the
productivity Of northwestern farm
lands. on the singular ground that i,
means increase in total product and
consequent lowering Of prices realiz.
ed by the farmer. He points out in
his letter printed elsewhere on this
page that the crop of 1911 was small.
and that in consequence farmers re.
allied top prices for their grain,
whereas in 1912 the crop was large
and prices have in consequence Sc
ricuslE declined-to the great loss Of
The farmer.
y moments thought will convince
our farmer friend that hi. argument
is untenable. Eel when considered
from his own individual standpoint.
Suppose by intensive farming meth
DDS he is able to double the yield per
acre Of his wheat fields. Suppose his
neighbors do likewise, and in conse-
Guence the price Of wheat drops to
half its former price. Still he would
be making greater profit. For Il
would cost very little more to raise
the increased yield per acre than to
take OIL the present inadequate crop.
AS the Yield per acre increases. in
other words, the cost Of production
per bushel steadily decreases. Thus i.
Is more profitable TO raise thirty
bushels of dollar wheat on an acre of
land. The honey received in each
case would be fifteen dollars, but
iAuS1A 1SsS "oo1O nave 10 Oe taken OUT
of this for cost Of production in case
of the high yield than in case of the
low one The tifty-cent wheat would
give a greater net profit.
But. as a matter Of fact, increased
production in h northwest would
have no such depressing effect on
prices as our farmer friend fears. The
fact is that the world is producing
less wheat and other grains han
there is demand for. American grain.
exports are steadily declining, because
We eat up at home nearly all we raise
The problem Of the not distant flu
ture Is going 10 be. how 10 raise
enough food to feed the world? Tn.
der these conditions prices must con-
tinually tend to be high. The wise
farmer Is he who raises the utmost
possible from his land, and who a,
the same time restores its fertility
continuously by proper soil treatment.
His profits will be larger and his lan%
will continually become more valua
BILE.
Progress in agricultural method.
means more money for the farmer ev.
cry time. There 10 nc escape from,
that.