Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1914-05-18
FARMERS MOVE TOO OFTEN.

| FARMERS MOVE TOO Or LEN
Do farmers in the United States
move from farm to farm, from home
! to home, as much as city people? II
they move every few years, are they as
efficient farmers. and can they know
their farms as they should? Would
constant change mean low yields OF
crops. and little interest in the COM
munity? These are some of the CUES
tons affecting rural communities that
are coming to the foreground. and for
the first time a partial answer is offer
ed by the department OF agriculture.
During the agricultural census OF
1910. the following questions were sub
mitted TO each farmer in the United
States for answer: How long have
you lived on this farm" OF the 6,361,-
SOP farm operators in the United
States. April Is, 1910, 5,794,16S, or 81
per cent, answered the question salts
factorily. From the data obtained from
the answers to this inquiry, bulle-
tin will be issued soon by Director VIII
liam J. Harris of the bureau of the
census, department of commerce. 1t
was prepared under the supervision of
John Lee Coulter. expert special agent
in charge OF agriculture.
The statistics in this bulletin will
show the length of the periods of oc-
cupancy of farms in the United States
by states, geographic divisions, and
sections. for different periods of time
ranging from less than one year to ten
years and over, and these data are fur
Their classified according to the char
acter of the tenure and OF the color of
the farm operators. The statistics are
given for 1910 only, as no correspond
ing data have been collected hereto
fore.
One OF the most important facts to
be shown in this bulletin is that ap-
So per cent OF all the
farmers who answered the question
had occupied their farms
less than five years This percentage
applies to all farmers, white and col
ored, whose answers were recorded,
and for the entire United States. This
short period of occupancy for over half
Of all the farmers in this country be-
comes all the more significant when IT
is taken into consideration that It re- |
quires three or four years for farmer |
to become acquainted with the various |
on his farm, such as soil, |
etc, and put 1t in good condi- |
ton for raising crops.
The showing of greater stability of |
by the farmers in the north |
as compared with the farmers in the |
south and the west is more significant |
when comparisons are made of the pro- |
duction OF farm crops. Corn is grown |
both in the north and in |
The south and probably is the best crop
% use as basis Of comparison. Ac-
,ording to the figures from the reports
" the census. the average yield of corn
Der acre in 1909 in the New England
states was 45 bushels: in the middle
Atlantic states. 80 bushels; in the east
North Central states. 80 bushels; and
n the west North Central states. %
while in the South Atlantic
itates. where the farmers shifted from
arm TO farm more than in the north
md west, the average yield OF corn per
ere was 16 bushels: in the east South
CENTRAL states. 10 bushels: and in the
vest South Central, Is bushels. These
igures seem to show that in those sec
ions where farmers generally have op-
rated the same farms for periods OF
We years and over, the yield OF corn
S considerably larger than in the sec
ions where the period of occupancy is
lore unstable. or for shorter periods
Z time.
This frequency of moving from farm
o farm, or instability of occupancy,
cry likely forms one of the chief
auses for the decline of rural pros
Gritty, or is a hindrance to greater
rogress. Frequency of removal of far
ers results in general shiftlessness,
lie roads and bridges are generally in
poor condition because the farmers,
owing at frequent periods, are not
articularly interested In their up
eep. Farm buildings of such farms
e not usually kept in good repair, as
e farmer who is about TO move will
ave the repairs for the next tenant
make. The same reasons will ap-
Y for lack of interest by the "unsta-
e" farmer in the schools, churches,
Id general welfare of the communi.
. They move frequently; they do
Vt remain on a farm long enough to
It the best results from 1t, conse-
lently they are usually in a poor
lancial condition.