Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1914-08-04
The " "sinxle.crop" Dalryman.

The " Single.Cr0p Dairyman.
Did you ever hear of the "single-crop''
dairyman? The single.crop wheat farm
or, cotton planter, and tobacco grower
have been very much discussed and from
every hand diversification has been ad-
vocated. But what about the "single.
crop" dairymau, the man who has moth.
ing to sell but milk for the market, who
scorns the calf, depends upon the stock
dealer for his fresh COWS, and the feed
dealer for the bulk of his feed9
Is he any more intelligent In his opera
tious than the wheat grower or the cot
ton grower? We think not. 1t is barely
possible that he shows even less business
sense than they, for with bis greater op-
portunities to become real high class
farmer, he fritters his chance away.
The production Of milk for market,
like wheat or cotton growing, Is an hon
orable business. We must have milk,
and wheat, and cotton, but why should
the production of these crops destroy all
sense of proportion and make the pro-
ducer slave to one ideaT
On the average milk farm furnishing
milk to contractors in our large cities,
the farmer, as a rule, there are e1cep-
tions, does not study bis soil and the
possibility of making 1t produce bis
feed. He goes to'the feed store; that Is
easier. 1t requires less planning and
thinking. At the feed store he buys
ready mixed feeds because 1t requires
less planning and thinking. Now feed
stores and ready mixed feeds are a ne
cessity and when rightly patronized are
a great convenience and often time and
money saver. What We are here trying
to get at is the man who does not use
these things with intelligence, the man
who does not think, the man who does
these things because by doing so be Is
following the line of least resistance.
Such man, dependent though he is on
the feed store aud ready mixed feeds, is
not as good customer of these places as
the man who thinks and has thorough
understanding of what he does.
This type of dalryman goes to the cow
dealer and buys fresh cows. This also
requires less planning and thinking. He
sells any calves he may have to the
butcher and sends the dry cows to the
butcher because it requires less planning
and thinking. He sells bis interest in
the local creamery or cheese factory be.
cause by simply signing q contract for
his milk every six months 1t relieves
him of the necessity of planning and
thinking about his creamery or cheese
factory.
Presently he finds himself swapping
bis milk checks for feed bills. Some
body makes an investigation and shows
that it is costing him more to produce
milk than be Is getting for it and fight
is on for better prices.
On this point Hoard's Dairyman has
no quarrel. The dairyman should get
better prices than he is getting in most
of the territory tributary to our large
cities. But this, we claim: the farmer
who has followed the "one-crop" milk
idea has something more fundamentally
wrong with him than prices. The dead
ening effect OF following one idea has
placed him where prices will not help
him, no matter how much they may be
boosted. This we believe to be a fact
that can not be controverted.
The man who has bred his own milk
ing herd and is growing as far as possi-
Olo uiS oWu toouS, wno ooo outP P,uS Va
stock to sell, is producing milk today as
cheaply as it was ever produced. Feed
and labor have advanced In price, it is
true, but so has the skill of the wide
awake dairy man until his herd Ia pro-
duciug with greater efficiency and his
soil is growing greater and better crops
for his herd. This man, instead of find.
ing the present conditions grinding him
down, is getting greater profit than
ever from his dairy farm.
The "one-crop" dairyman, like the
wheat or cotton farmer who puts all of
his eggs in one basket and has but one
outlet for his crops. is the lowest type OF
dairyman. He can change his condition
If he will. Will he?-Hoard's Dairy
man.