The Glasgow courier. [volume] (Glasgow, Mont.) 1913-current, 1915-05-21
the LABOR PROo.cM Is {
MONTANA FARMERS

During the past few years an ave
age of $4,000 families are reclaimiE
almost a million acres of our Montan:
lands each year. They are changing
the face of the state from sod and
pasture land into homesteads and fer
tile fields. So far, in spite OF this
unprecedented migration, the federal
census returned less than four million
acres as improved lands"
There are, in round numbers, 10000
acres of land in this state capable Of
becoming high-grade, crop-bearing
farms. Hence, the migration Of the
past years could continue for the next
thirty-tive years before our u~noccupied
lands would be exhausted.
Last year, according to our Com.
missioner j. M. ,Kennedy's Report,
10000 acres were in wheat, 100000
acres in oats, and 400, 900 acres in fax.
In that same report is the prophecy
that the time will come when Montana
will raise 400, 900 900 bushels of wheat
a year, 100, 0O0, 900 bushels Of oats, and
10000 600 bushels of FAX. This all is
within the reasonable accomplishment
of the kind Of men who come here to
make their homes, but it is not pos
sible In the present generation unless
the most efficient methods of crop pro-
duction are adopted and the transition
more emphatically made from the
shackled procedure OF elementary
farming to the more productive syS-
tenn of mechanical operations.
From figures derived from the De-
partment of Agriculture, the cost Of
raising 10000, 900 acres of wheat would
amount to over 1920. OOO. OOO. 90. or to be
exact, Sill per acre. The cost OF rails
ing 100000 bushels of oats would
approximate $40, 600, 100000, or $l0.9l
per acre. OF the various items of
expense figured in this total cost, rent,
interest and overhead charges are
insignificant compared with the main
item of expense-that Of labor. In
raising wheat, the labor cost alone is
1913 an acre: in raising corn, it is
practically 500 an acre, and in rails
ing oats nearly $500 an acre. This is
the stumbling block which the pioneer
farmer must overcome and which for
generations has been the economic
Sword of Damocles over the head of
the worlds ag~riculturists.
We are better off here in this state
than in most places, because of the
tremendous fertility of our land. Our
farmers find themselves more worthy
of their hire than farmers in other
states. The Crop Reporter shows that
an acre Of wheat was worth to the
Montana farmer, in 1912, Sl5.42. as
~contrasted with only $l2.42 to the
North Dakota farmer: corn to the
Montana farmer was worth Sl7.S5 pei
acre, as opposed to only $l6.4O per acre
to the Illinois farmer; barley was
worth 1884 to. the Montana man
yet only ST. .56. or not much more thar
half that to the Minnesota farmer
all OF this in spite of greater %transpor
tation Charges which Handicapped
slightly the Montana producer.
Notwithstanding the more favorable
returns to us, the demarkation line
between the cost of raising our crop.
and the price we sell them for is toe
narrow for pleasant contemplation
Our efficiency experts have here al
opportunity to apply industrial
methods not only with profit to tn,
individual farmer but to the stat,
itself.
Power farming, whether on a tract
OF 100 acres or on a section, seem!
ultimately to be the only form O.
economical farming. We no longeI
cut our wheat by hand nor thresh GU,
grain with a fail. neither should W,
pump our water by the sweat of on.
brow, nor have our horses do tasks 70
which flesh and blood were neve
designed. The motor-driven machine
in factories have practically elimin
ated muscle-requiring jobs for men
Beyond that, mOtor-driven vehicle
in cities have released, from years 0
servitude, thousands of overworke'
horses.
One hundred and sixty thousan,
motor trucks have been manufacture,
in the past very few years, and Of thes
fully 100000 are now in service, wit
the demand increasing faster than tn
supply.
Following In its suit. the same ter
dency is seen in carrying on tn
] heavier jobs on tbs farm. Bot.