Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1914-05-01

the merchant profit to get the sup
plies he needs.
At the present time, according to
the speaker, it costs as much to get a
consumer for goods as it does to
manufacture and ship them. He critl-
cized the mail order stores, the de-
partment stores and chain stores as
being detrimental to retail business.
The speaker also dwelt upon the
value of having an efficient retail es-
tablishment. The merchant should
keep a stock which is large enough to
supply the trade, and should have
trained clerks, who can explain the
merits Of the goods he handles. At
the present time most clerks are in
efficient, he said. The merchant should
also be able to fully guarantee his
goods to his patrons, without having
to wait for his manufacturer con-
sent, The manufacturer is the one
who makes the big money, and the
merchant is blamed for it,. He really
gets the high prices but must in turn
give them to the manufacturer. Good
buying, good craftsmanship, careful and
consistent advertising, proper systems
Of accounting and honesty are the
basis of efficiency, the speaker said.
Advertising, especially, is the stlmu-
lus of concern. This made the big
mail order houses, the companies
manufacturing breakfast foods, and
other large concerns what they now
are. Newspaper space is the best as
set that business man can have.
Local dealers should cooperate as
much as possible, said the speaker:
They have the advantage over the
mail order houses in that they can
show the goods when they come to
buy, whereas the patrons Of the mail
order houses must send their money IN
advance and do not know what they
are getting at the time they place the
order. By cooperation the local mer-
chants will down the mail order house,
he said.
Prof. j. S. Klinka Of the High
school spoke on Agricultural fossi"
bilities of Morrison County,
He said in part:
The early settlers of this county
tried to develop the agricultural posi-
bilities of this county by raising
wheat. 1t was cash crop, easily
raised and required but little labor
and capital. These qualities made it
favorite with the early settler. So
well did it answer to his pressing
needs that he continued to raise 1t al
most exclusively and ultimately ex-
hausted the fertility and humus OF
the soil.
This depletion of the soil made it.
self evident in the decreasing yields.
AS the yields decreased the one crop
system was gradually replaced by
clover, corn and cows.
With the raising Of clover the nj
trogen and humus that had been ex-
hausted began to be restored. The
clover left large root system in the
soil which gradually decayed and thus
prepared the soil for both clover and
potatoes. It heated the soil and thus
made the corn mature earlier and also
conserved the moisture and enabled
the plants to live through droughts.
We are often told that Minnesota
is not corn state, yet this year
Minnesota had the largest yield per
acre in the union. The Minnesota
average was 40 bushels per acre and
that Of the U. S. was only 25 bushels.
In our own corn acre yield contest the
yields ranged from so to II bushels
per acre.
With the manufacturing of corn
and clover into dairy products by
means of the dairy cow we see the be-
ginning of a permanent agriculture. A
ton Of oats contains $50 cents OF fer
tility. When the oats is sold upon the
market this represents an actual loss.
A ton of butter contains only A cents
worth of fertility. BY the conversion
Of feed into dairy products they are
actually retained upon the farm for
dairy products are largely composed
of elements that do not deplete the
soil of it's fertility.
The physical possibilities Of the
county were unlimited. However, if the
county. is ever going to attract and
keep the best men and women its
social, intellectual and spiritual life
must also be developed.
At the present time the social and
intellectual life of this county is be-