The Washington herald., 1913-08-24

bonds drawing per cent have been SELL
ing at par and over for long time.
Good lands, the very basis of our ma
tional wealth, are just as safe as rail-
roads or Office buildings. They will be
producing crops when many Of the tall
buildings will be out of fashion and prac-
tically empty.
But 1 cannot tell you all that We shall
try to accomplish" DIR. Carver con-
tinued 1--WE are thinking OF our work.
The farmer. we hope, will be shown how
to improve his business methods. Fur
thermore, he ought TO live better. He
and his children should find that 1t Is
profitable and desirable for them to re-
main where they are instead OF moving
into towns and cities. A full return for
his labor. sanitary surroundings. modern
schools and recreation for his family will
do much toward keeping him in the -coun-
try and making him a contented Amer
ican."
"WiT you advise farmers to hold their
crops back when prices are low?' I in
quired.
mo; that would be immoral" DR.. Car
yer replied. Nor would such scheme
work Holding back crops would turn
the farmers into spectators. The pub
lie, too, would suffer. Prices can be
stead.cd in a much better way. Compe-
tition between crops would prevent
periods of depression in an average agri-
cultural region. II 4he price of cotton.
for instance. should go below the cost
of production, plus a reasonable profit.
the acreage could be reduced and more
ccrn planted. Thus corn would COM
pete with cotton and the price of cotton
would advance. Crops can be balanced
commercially.
Hay Raised the Price of MIX.
There are a large number Of dairies
near st. Albans, VT. Milk dropped in
price and hay went up. The farmers let
their cows go dry and sold their hay.
Milk then worked back to the former
value. Hay competing with milk restored
the balance. An intelligent scrutiny
OF production and market conditions will
ordinarily prevent the oversupply of one
crop and the under-suppfy of some other
crop"
"Is there any response to those who
are calling city people into the country -
THE call when heard and answered
commonly turns the city man into a
gardner. 1t Is argued that the clerk
or small tradesman can be coaxed onto
abandoned land and transformed into a
producer. Now land is abandoned in
most cases because it will not support
those who are living on IL. Land that
can be economically cultivated is not
vacated. Good land. easily plowed and
rich in plant food, by the law of com
petition, drives poor land out OF busi-
ness. An experienced farmer cannot
make poor land pay. He moves and
confesses his failure and the failure of
the land. Let me ask what chance an
inexperienced city man has IL he buys
or rents such a farm? Worn-out land
can be rehabilitated. of course. but the
process requires time, money, and skill.
Let US suppose, however, that an
amateur in Boston, New York. or Phila-
delphia buys a really fertile farm in
Iowa. What happens? The former
owner OF the land. selling at a high
price, moves to Canada where land is
cheap. The United States loses a capa-
BILE agriculturist. and in return gets a
novice who is just as likely to fail as
to succeed. The problem is not to lure
city people into the country but TO keep
the country people just where they are.
There are already too many ineffi-