The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1915-12-29

country who needs more to be a
good business mar and to have a
wider knowledge of business activl-
ties than the farmer. He has a
bewildering variety of problems con-
fronting him and many possible
avenues of approach to them. He
has tc decide what he can produce,
how much he can afford to produce
to the acre, how he shall apportion
his investment as between plants
and live stock, how he can best ar
range his activities so as to utilize
his labor throughout the year stead
lily and economically, what size
farm will give him the best results
considering his capital, his environ
ment, and his capacity, what cultur-
al methods will be most helpful, and
above all things from the outset
what he is to do with his product
when he gets it; that is, how and
where he is to market it and how
he shall cooperate with his neighbors
in the community to this end.
Until recently neither State nor
nation had made any sytematic pro-
vision for the study of the vast field
of distribution. The attention of
the people has been too exclusively
absorbed by problems growing out
of the industrial life of the nation
and out of its international rela-
tons. Those best trained to deal
with such problems, the economists
of the colleges and universities, have
not recognized the opportunity pre-
scented to them and have, given scant
attention to the field of rural eco
Monies. Banking, taxation, trans
portation, international exchanges,
and the economic systems of the an
cient world and of the middle ages
have been exhaustively examined
and discussed before students and
the public; but the acute business
problems confronting the farmer
have, relatively speaking, been ig-
nored. Obviously, a different atti-
tude on the part of both the econo-
mist and the authorities responsible
for agricultural leadership, is de-
manded. There is growing recog-
milton of this fact. In the spring
of 1918 the Federal government
made a specific appropriation for
the study of marketing, granting the
modest sum of $4,000. In July,
1914, 100000 became available,
and July, 1915. $4S4.050.
In a new and untried field of this
nature, the first concern must be to
secure the requisite number of ex-
perienced and trained men who may
successfully undertake the several
lines of investigation and furnish
practical guidance. In such a new
field the development of an efficient
organization is a matter Of great
difficulty. Satisfactory Roadway has
been made. much valuable informa-
ton has been secured, and the
foundation has been laid for much
more effective work and for the util-
ization of larger facilities in the fu-
ture. More than money will be re-
ouired. Reason and patience on
the part of the public are essential.
1t will be very easy to 60 in the
wrong direction; it will be difficult
to 20 in the right direction. : The
problems of marketing are difficult
and complex, and the whole solu-
ton will not be reached this year, or
by the next election, or within the
immediate future.
One thing is clear. The solution
of the problems of marketing and
of injecting business into rural II
nance must be found in the devel-
opment of legitimate and helpful CO.
operation among the individuals in
the several communities, and in the
enactment of additional legislation
by the States and the nation. The
Individual farmer, especially the
small farmer, alone is practically
helpless in the marketing of most
agricultural products. The family
unit farm of approximately 100
acres may be, as it is asserted to be,
the most economical producing unit,
but it is certainly not the most eco
nomical marketing unit. 1t does
not produce in sufficient volume to
secure transportation facilities on
reasonable terms, and its owner can
not usually command the necessary
service for skillful and efficient dis
posal of his product.
If this position is sound, it has
peculiar application, it seems to me,
to the problems with which you are
confronted in this State and in this
Piedmont section of Carolina. That
you are considering what you shall
produce, I assume as a matter of
course. That improvements might
be made, I have no doubt you will
admit. I am more and more con
WINGED each day that the path of
Investigation is the path of pros
perity for the South as for other
sections of the Union. A one crop
system is uneconomical in normal
times and is a menace in times of
disturbance, as has been so sharply
demonstrated within the last twelve
months. 1t means the uneconomical
use of labor and capital; it means
the prevalence of a bad agricultural
economy; it means the absence of
rotation, which is essential for the
preservation of the soil and for the
laying of a foundation for live stock,
without which good agricultural