The Bourbon news., 1913-09-30
THE FARMERS OF
UNITED STATES
Do Not Properly Balance Nations
Rations.


[By Peter Radford, Texas Farmers
Union.l
Fort Worth, Texas, Sept.21.-The
problem that cOnfrontS the American
farmer next in Importance to distri-
button is diversifeation, for what is
needd is as necessary information to
the farmer as where it is needed.
Many States and countries boast of
their powers of diversiication, but
very few of them exercise it. In this
article l shall use Texas to illustrate
codintions which exist in all other
States.
l have before me a balance sheet
of Texas production prepared by the
Texas Commercial Secretaries and
Business Mems Association, showing
that out Of thirty-three agricultural
products which we produce, and of
which we also consume, we have
surplus production in only twoc, otton
and rice. We lead all other States in
the Union in production of cattle, yet
our live stock statistics show net
loss in consumption over production
of $2,000,000 per annum, due to heavy
consumption of pork and other meat
products which are shipped in from
other States. What is true of Texas
applies with local variation to all
States and to the Nation as a whole.
Texas Globes the World But Buys
Bread From Other States.
Our civilization has charged Texas
Co fho oil nf
clothing twenty per cent. of the pop
ulaion of the globe, but the burden of
providing raiment for 300,000,000 peO-
pie is not a valid eXcNse for our beg
ging bread from door to door of our
neighboring States. l hold that ev-
cry farmer should live at home. We
can and should, as a rule, produce
on the farm all the things we con-
sumo, as well as supply home mar
kets, and when this is done, we
have made rapid progress toward
eliminating waste and inefficiency in
living. AS farmers, we must study
the pantry of our community and ma
ton and see that it's wants are sup
Piled
Empty Shelves in Nations Larder
The farmers of the United States
do not properly balance the Nations
rations. Our farmers cultivate larger
areas and produce larger quantities of
products per capita than the people
of any other Nation on the globe. We
live in waste and luxury and send a
surplus of over a billion dollars of
agricultural prodcts per annum to for
eign lands, and without our exports
the world would go hungry and shiver
with cold. We export 10,675, 900 bales
of cotton, 40,000,000 bushels of corn,
30,000,000 bus. wheat; live stock and
its products $186,000,000 and miscel-
laneous products valued at 1927, 7,000,-
600 per annum. But Notwithstanding
the enviable record of the American
farmer as producer, the Nations
! larder has empty shelves, as we'll as
those that overflow.
We call upon foreign countries for
| approximately quarter of a billion
dollars of agricultural products an
! nually which can and should be
raised in the United States. l will
mention a few of them: Vegetables
| $1S,000,000, itemized as follows: Po-
| tatoes $7,000,0O0; canned vegetables
$5,O0O,000; beans $1,857 900; peas ST.
516,000; onions $1,234,000; other
vegetables $1,726,OOO. In dairy pro-
ducts we imported last year $10,O30,-
600 as follows: Uheese $8,807 900;
cream $924,OO0; butter $237,000 and
milk $4,000. In sugar and molasses
our imports reached $116,000,0OO In
miscellaneous products our rice i'm
ports are valued at $5,000,000.; to-
bacco $31,00O,0O0; liquor $21, 900 900;
currants $1,500,0OO; grapes $2,331 900;
lemons $3,369,000; olives $2,303,OO
dates $4,000; figs $685., 900; miscel-
laneous $2,000,O00.
l will repeat that l have listed
only our agricultural imports which
should be raised in the United States.
| now want to discuss a few of
these products with which l am per-
sonally familiar. While these yege-
tables were being imported in the
United States and sold at fancy pri-
ces, better qualities of the same pro-
ducts in many instances were rotting
on the ground for want of a market.
To my personal knowledge, carloads
of beans and peas were left unpicked
in the gardens of the Rio Grande Val
ley; and tons of onions in fields of
Southwest Texas for want of a mar
ket. Each individual item in the list
is a challenge to our system of dis
tribution and proves the wisdom of
Congress in appropriating funds for a
market bureau.
The American farmer has solved
the problems of production and he is
now confronted with the question OF
marketing his products. While he is
selling staple articles on a glutted
market and his perishable products
foul the air with stencil for want OF
a buyer, the consumer is improving
his supply abroad or living in want.