The Washington herald., 1913-09-07
We FARMING BEST, SAYS BEET SUGAR EXPERT

tensive'' farming, which means indiffer-
Crnt farming. but on the contrary. all
have condemned II and pronouE' II:
favor of intensive" farming.
Economists, agronomists and other
men of science. have devoted their lives
to this work and the world pays Its
greatest tribute TO him who makes two
blades OF grass grow where one grew
before. Multitudes there have been, and
are, who have failed 10 profit by the
teachings OF Pliny and Cato and other
learned agriculturists Of ancient and
modern times but 20 far as know, Mr..
Carver is the first TO question their wis
dom and condemn their teachings.
The farmer who practices extensive
farming, Is drawing upon his principal
as he reaps his crops and eventually his
farmer who practices intensive" farm
ing reaps only his interest and his Prin-
cipal remains intact.
Wearing Out the Land.
Extensive" farming, which Mr.. Car
yer advocates, has received universal con-
demnation, not 30 much because of low
initial yields, but because the extensive"
farmer Is a gravel pit farmer who
takes from the soil and returns nothing
to il, eventually wearing il out and NOV
where he repeats the operation and moves
again IL not overtaken by death.
Extensive" farming requires a mini
mum amount Of live stock, thus yield
ing the minimum amount Of manure.
on the other hand, intensive" farming
requires the maximum amount OF live
stock with which to operate the Iarm,
and requiring a hoed root crop in the
cycle Of rotation. II furnishes ample food
for the work animals. for the dairy COW
and a surplus for meat animals, all of
which supply manure, the best fertilizer
known for enriching and building up the
land. thus increasing the yield from year
to year and keeping pace with the ever
increasing population which must be sup
piled with food.
Complaint is made of the price Of beef.
but il results from the natural law of
supply and demand. During the last six
years the number of beef cattle in the
United States has decreased from
81, ,jO0.CJO to 35,OOO 900, a decrease Ct 90 per
cent, while the demand has increased
and naturally the price has risen, as
might have been expected.
Touches Cost of Living.
Intensive farming. by increasing the
supply of bread and meat, will cheaper
the price of both to the consumer. or at
least. will check the rise in price, and
hence consumers as well as farmers have
a direct monetary interest in 'inten-
sive" farming. the lower price per unit
helping the consumer, yet returning the
farmer a greater revenue per acre
In extreme cases, where the market is
glutted by an Unexpectedly large crop,
the entire benefit has been absorbed by
the consumer. as was the case with the
1912 United States record-breaking crop
of potatoes. In 1912 from $1,000 less acres
planted to potatoes than were planted in
1911, our farmers harvested l37,0OO,OO0
more bushels than they harvested from
the larger acreage the preceding year.
with the result that the price per bushel
declined IS per cent. and the farmer re-
ceived less money for the 1l3 bushels per
acre which he harvested in 1872 than he
did for the eighty-one bushels he har-
vested In 1911. While il is unusual for
the consumer to absorb all the advan-
taGe resulting from heavy yields, under
normal conditions, he always receives a
portion Of II.
II intensive" farming and the conse-
qUenr heavy yields are not a blessing TO
humanity and our farmers are to be
taught extensive" farming and the con-
scquent low yields, then centuries of ef-
fort OF learned men has been in vain.
While We seem destined to experience
4 college professor administration. II Is