The Snyder signal. (Snyder, Tex.) 1887-????, 1913-07-25
INTENSIVE CULTIvA-
TION IN EUROPE


be understood at this time as favor
ing the same kind of intensive cul-
| tivation that Is seen here. / will ex-
plain'why Intensive cultivation here
is the result Of, First: Cheap labor;
Second: High rents; and third: High
prices OF farm lands. The whole OF
Europe. so far as we have gone is
not a farm, but a garden in which
every inch OF soil is cultivated and
most frequently with the spade. the
rake and the hoe. Nothing is wasted.
All the straw is made into manure,
whether eaten by cattle first or trod-
dren underfoOt. The grass by the
roadside is cut and carted in and fed
to the cattle and then gathered as
barn yard manure and put on the
plots Of ground called farms. Every
farmers wife and daughter makes
hand In the field. The hard work of
these women make them short
stocky. coarse of feature, with
hands, feet and muscles similar In
size to those of men. But the chill
dern are not seen in the fields they
are In schoOl-the law cOmpels at
tendance Of children at school be-
tween the ages of and II in most
European countries.
Back to the question of intensive
culture of farms. One looking at the
farms from car window will no
doubht become enthusiastic for inten
sive cultural methods There is no
division fences between farms. The
whole area presents the appearance
Of big farm There will be strip
of oats, strip of wheat, another of
rye. another OF barley, another Of
hemp, another of hops. another of
sugar beats. another of beans, etc
These strips vary in width from thir-
| ~ 10 one hundred feet, and there Is
nothing between them except a mar
row furrow. / was much puzzld to
know why these little strips Of land
varying In width and In length
should be planted to different kinds
70 products Maybe one strip will ibe
in wheat. the next I'm hemp, then
wheat again and all the hemp and all
the corn en- the farm together Why
Put them in several little plots. ! ask
ed members OF our Commission, Who
had travelled In Europe and was told
that such methods were adopted Ia
order to secure proper rotation OF
crops and conservation of soils. j
doubter this statement so ! went into
the country and talked with the
farmers. learned that each Of
these little strips was separate
farm. A farmer might own several
of these farms scattered widely in
the community
rs to Tenant Farmers.
If "a farmer owns say five of these
plots varying In size from half an
acre 10 an acre and half, and he
should have five children he viii
beuucath one plot &C. each child. 10 he
has more children than farms, pre-
sumo ne divides the strips into
smaller strips so as to give each a
farm
These lands sell here In Germany
at from 5000 TO $1,000 per acre, ac-
cording 10 location and productivity.
They rent for from $50 to 500 per
acre. but no houses are furnished TO
the tenants. But there are no tenants
such as we have. All farmers own
their own homes or rent on In the
village. such as do not own as many
little plots of ground as he and his
women folks can cultivate, rent 9th
er plots Of those who may have more
than they wish 10 cultivate. a farm
laborer. if man. receives so cents
/ and meals and IS cents without
meals per day. n a woman. 30 cents
and meals and so cents without
meals per day, and boy the year "a man
receives about 500 while a woman
gets from $40 TO 500 per annum
So / am forced TO the conclu-
sion that intensive culture Is the re-
suit of cheap labor. high prices Of
land and high rents.
You may not feel interested in
these details which / have mentioned
butifyouare going to understand the
rural banks and rural finances of
Europe YOU must wade though these
little details. Whoever thinks he can
understand the principles Of rural
credit here and undertakes to adapt
them 10 American conditions will be-
nm unsafe leader and instructor un-
Jess he also understands the farming
conditions which gave rise TO and de-
welcomed these rural banks