The gazette-times. [volume] (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925, 1914-11-12
EHERE are men in my neighbor-

Chant, WnOm / call enuleSS
chain farmers while there are 9th
ers whom l call Breakers the lat
ter so called because know that
there will be certain periods Of each
year in which they will have break
In their incomes. The first always
pay as they buy, while l look out
that the second only buy as they
pay"
This merchant was not a farmer
himself, but he had grown rich do
ing business with them. and he knew
the financial standing and the farm
methods of every man in his COM
munity. In little speech which
he once made he explained his end
less chain theory.
Farming" said he, "entails every
law Of political economy ever men
toned by John Stuart Mill. There
Is unearned increment, margin of
utility, the law of supply and de-
mand, the manufacturers profits.
consumption of raw material, plant
depreciation, and the labor Ques-
ton. Over some of these economic
principles the farmer has present
control, while over others he has
none. He can more or less control
raw materials, manufacturers pro-
fits and plant depreciation--in fact.
his success as farmer depends on
the way he handles these three fac
tors. Taking the corn crop for ex-
ample, his raw material consists of
his corn and fodder, and his manu-
facturers' profits are determined by
the way his cattle and hogs turn
this raw material into marketable
beef and pork, and his plant depre-
citation depends on the disposition
he makes of the humus in building
up his soil. A farmer who sells his
corn as he harvests it, leaving his
fodder to shrivel up in the field,
who gives no thought of replacing
the plant food which each crop takes
from the soil, makes profit only
from his ray material. and when
that is sold his income ceases.
"On the other hand, the farmer
who saves his fodder, shredding it
for the NOW or chopping it for his
silo, has cheap raw material where
with to feed cattle and hogs, who
manufacture it into butter fat, beef
and bacon, the sale Of which bring
in a steady all-year income. These
in their turn provide fertilizer.
which next year makes the soil rich
er, SO that there is more raw ma
terial for feed, more cattle and hogs
to sell, more money constantly COM
ing in, and so on, year after year.
These are what l call endless chain
farmers They are the ones who
live comfortably, enjoy farming, and
send their boys and girls to col
lege."
Comfortable Farmers.
Probably the most comfortable
farmers of this country are the corn
raising farmers, because, as the lit
tie black dots on the government
map show, they have more hogs and
more cattle per capita than the
others. There are approximately
100,000,000 acres Of corn to be har-
vested this fall-the richest, most
productive crop our country knows
and yet, in connection with this
harvest, there is an equal probabil-
ity that fair per cent of the value
of this crop will be wasted. Sad
as 1t is, it required centuries to find
out that from 80 to 40 per cent Of
the nutritive value Of the corn is in
the stalk, leaves and husks, and 1t
has not been learned entirely yet
that even without a silo the corn
stalks on the farm, when properly
shredded, have feeding value prac-
tically equal to timothy hay and
prairie grass and fertilizing value
far in excess of either.
All farmers do not have silos, but
more are seeing the light, and each
year thousands Of these profit-get-
ting obelisks are being erected. The
value Of the corn stalk is being
widely advertised, but still there are
those who do not realize that 1t is
fhA finest auxiliary rouphape when