Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1915-05-15
WAS THE OLD MAN RIGHT?
IWallace,s Earmer.l

IWallace's FarmerJ
The demonstration train stopped to
educate the 200 farmers gathered
around the Mud Creek station. Out
hustled a professor onto the platform
and started a rapid fire talk on in
creasing the corn crop. ~
Pick your seed corn before the mid
die of October. Store it In dry, airy
place. Test it ear by ear. Hundreds
OF experiments have proved that it is
easily possible to raise the yield ten
bushels per acre. There are 10000
900 acres Of corn in Iowa. At 50 cents
a bushel. that means s50,0o0.00o in
creased wealth for the farmers Of Iowa,
secured simply and easily by little
care in handling the seed corn. VIII
you men do your part? All who Will,
hold UP your handsl'
A few sheepishly held up their hands.
Sandy Mcpherson, q canny old Scotch
man, grunted in disgust, but said moth
ing. People looked around anxiously
when they heard Sandy grunt, for they
knew that grunt meant the stirring Of
Sandy's anger. Sandy didn't talk
much, but when he was aroused he was
likely to do almost anything.
Next came the hog cholera man.
Last year." said he, the farmers of
this state lost one in four. hogs. This
year they will lose only one in ten. 1t
is safe to say that by the serum meth
cd Of checking hog cholera, the farmers
of the United States have heen saved
a total of at least 100000 hogs, which,
at $40 a head would be worth 0,00O,-
OOO."
Finally old Sandy Mcpherson said
he would like to ask a question:
IF everybody raised more corn, ne
said; "and If no hogs died OF cholera,
wouldn't prices go DOWN.
The boyish professor thought Sandy
was a regular back-woods mossback,
and laughed at him. Its not for you
to worry about that said he. You
increase your acre corn yield, and de-
crease your cholera loss, and you will
make money"
Now the curious thing about Sandy
is that, altho he looks like hay
seed" he is more progressive than most
Of the young fellows. Last year he
got eighty bushels Of corn, while most
of the neighbors were well satisfied
with fifty. He never has had cholera
on his place.
Sandy got mad. look here, you
college Teller in high collar. I can
grow good corn and raise hogs with
most anybody in this state. l can
make money when prices are right
What l am afraid of is that other
farmers will learn to do as good as
do. Here you are telling the secrets
Of the game. Bless you, man, have
picked out my seed corn before frost
T. Inc
years. BY using little common sense
have always managed to keep chol-
era away; but now am vaccinating
all my weaving pigs with the double
treatment. I am good farmer, and I
profit by it. But you college fellerS
are running all over the state, telling
everybody the things I found out by
hard experience. Other college fellers
in other states are doing the same.
Now If you get the farmers to increase
their corn yield ten bushels per acre,
you will see the awfullest slump in
corn prices you ever saw. have
watched 1t forty years. and know that
have made more money on many q
thirty bushel corn crop than on six
ty-bushel crop. remember sixty
bushel crop sold at ~ cents bushel,
and few years later got 60 cents q
bushel for thirty -bushel crop. The
only time I ever made money on good
crops was when most folks had poor
or middlin' crops"
Was Sandy right? used to think
he was an old crank, but the other
day I looked up the statistics and
found he was not so far wrong. In
1919. the farmers Of the United States
got SIG for the average acre Of corn,
which produced twenty Ave bushels.
while in 1912 they got only 3i4.20 for
an acre producing twenty-nine bu-
shells. BY an increase Of six bushels
in yield, they lost $3.50 an acre, or each
bushel additional yield was worth 30
cents less than nothing.
Next looked over corn prices and
yields from 1866 to 1911. using very
scientific method devised by q profess
sor Of political; economy, and worked
out the following table:
s19 bushels Of corn per acre were