The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1914-05-19
AMERICAN FARMING
STATISTICS SHOWN
Representative Hulings in Rural
Credit Debate Brings Forth Figures
Showing Existing Conditions.
MOST FORTUNATE OF WORKERS
Tiller of SOIL, In Splits of His Strug-
gle, Has An Enviable Lot-Av-
erage Proves Reason.

By Congressman G.. H. Tavenner
Washington, May 19.-In the de-
bate on rural credits in the house,
Representative Hulings, of Pennsyl-
vania, a progressive, brought out
some statistics on American farming
that have not often been summarized
SO clearly.
These figures show that American
farming on the average is not a pay
ing business. These figures are worth
preserving in scrapbooks, and so I
set them out even more briefly than
they were given by Mr.. Hulings.
Areable land in crops, 81, 100000
acres; improved land not in crops,
l67,451 900 acres; woodland in
farms, 190,S65,000 acres; untitled
lands in farms, 209,4S2,000 acres;
tillable land not in farms, 261, 202,-
900 acres; pasture and orchard land
not in farms, SO 100000 acres; USE
less land not in farms, 4O2,2S9,OOO
acres.
Value of. farms, buildings, stock,
machinery and entire national farm
ing plant, 1,OOO,OOO,OO0. Annual
production, $9,75O,OOO,O 1000, valued at
farm; of this Sc, 100000 is
''crops' and $3.50, 100000 is animal
products. Deducting value of pro-
duets consumed on farms, cash sales
from farm products amount to
$5,S47, 100000.
Averages: 100000 farms aver
aging 1873 acres. Average cash in
come, 1886. Average cost of fertili-
zers, SIS; employed help, $102;
maintenance, $50; feed purchased,
S47; taxes, $50; miscellaneous ex-
penses, $44 Net cash income, $547.
Total farm debt, $6,5OO,O 900, 900.
Average interest rate, rs per cent.
Average interest paid per farm, 81.
Net income left, $40.
Average farm investment, S6,443.
Allowing five per cent interest on in
vestment, the farmer gets $153 for
his years labor. From this he must
buy his clothes. Allow minimum
wages for the labor of his wife and
children, and the farmer gets moth
ing at all for his own labor
These, of course, are averages, and
averages are not very reliable in des-
cribing the general condition of
farming. Averages mean that some
farmers are very prosperous, while
others fall below the averages, and
are failures.
Mr.. Rulings wonders why anybody
stays on the farm in the face of these
figures. The answer is simple. It.
needs only the averages for other oc-
equations to show why the farmer,
in spite of his struggle has en- envia-
bic lot.
There are plenty of figures to
show that failures in mercantile pur-
suits are far more numerous than
those in farming. The average
farmer gets net income nearly
equal to the average wage paid in
the industries. of the country. But
the farmer gets his house and his
food in addition to this income, while
the wage workers must pay for their
house and food out of their income
Above all, the farmers house and
food are secure, depending only upon
his willingness to work. Whereas
the laborer, though willing to work,
may be thrown out of employment.
The plain fact is that all of us,
on the average, receive living and
nothing else for our work. The vast
majority get a bare living for piling
up wealth for few, through privil-
eyes Of one sort or another are in the
positions of power The farmer is
relatively the most fortunate OF
workers.