Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1913-06-23

l6. England has made her showing on
land that has been titled for centuries.
While Canada and the United States
had much fresher land. Every bushel
that could be produced and is not pro.
duced is tax on the cost of living.
Rex CrossdeIl, in the Canada Month.
ly (Winnipeg), sounds this note of
warning to his countrymen:
=" And what is the end! Look over
the forty-ninth parallel and see. Soil
that yielded 80 bushels of wheat under
a too easy system of agriculture, ten
years ago now begrudges a scant aver.
age of nine and the Dakota farmer has
to sweat to get that"
Mr. Crossdell is simply trying to con.
vince the Canadian farmer that, in
spite Of his greater stretches of virgin
soil, it is not wise for him to follow
along that line In the United States
with little new land left it is far more
serious matter, as many an American
farmer has discovered. Mr.. Cressdell
also pays his respects to the Indifferent
farmer. "The generation before him
mas done the same thing in the East,
Dut the lesson craven deep across the
barren acres of New England's 8 ex.
hausted farms meant nothing to him..
James j. Hill, of the Great North
ern, and W. j. Spillman, of the Ma
tional Conservation Commission, have
given similar warnings. Mr.. Hill says
IN 20 years production has been cut
more than so per cent. Mr.. spilman
estimates that fertility of soil has
been lessened so per cent.
1t is all charged up in the bill.
The department of agriculture at
washington asserts that efficient
farming would increase, in many cases,
wheat crops 200 per cent. In 1912 the
United States devoted 45,s14,OOO acres
to wheat-if we had Canada 3 average
we would have added 100000, 900 bush
els, and If we had done as well as Eng
land we would have doubled the crop.
This represents quite a bit of money
that the farmer and the rest of us
might have had, but who got it'
somebody will probably answer,
'Nobody-it is thrown into the waste
basket" Perhaps some, not all of it.
How much was thrown away or can be
'aved from the basket in the futureS
The farmer has followed the lines Of
east resistance, just as many of us
laVe done in our own line of business.
land was cheap and plentiful and he
.oul" move when the land became inn
'overished' He could then-not now.
Inc farmer, it is said, raises all he
an market. What more can Won OK.
'ect Of himl
lhere are great many people be.
ween you and the farmer. The clio.
ator man gets the wheat first and
axes his profit, then going to the mil.
'r the railroad, takes its profit. then
ne miller, then the railroad gets an.
ther chance on the way to the iobber,
ne lobber takes his profit and passes
on to the retailer, and the retailer
axes his in selling to the consumer
erhaps the banker and the speculator
'ay ligure in on the deal. It riyes ma
a. II not eight, people taking some.
nlng from sack of flour before IL
'aches you, and it sometimes bappeus
'at even more levy a tax on the fond.
.utt that come to your table Some
your money goes to the cold storage
'ople' Even with their help there is
ueh loss of perishabe sturf in tho
arket and all of it is charged on the
III you pay but you don't know what
'u pay.