Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1916-12-10
FRENCH FARMER AND
AFTER-WAR PROBLEMS
Seeking to Keep the Boys on
the Farm and Provide
for Soldiers.

iiANls |lffl NAlb " ltIllldAu w
I.aujnrdiero. head Of thc great national
ngriculturlsts society Of France, 10 a
correspondent of The Associated
Farm hands alone furnished more
than thiid OF our fighting strength
more than the men of any other
occupation. and their exploits have
furnished pages OF citations In the
Journal Ofnciel, The peasants al
home-partitular the women, have,
\ In their ways done quite as well. They
have really been the staff Of l.fe' to
France during these trying two years,
since they have provided the bread,
but until lately they got only praise
while those at the front get decora-
tions.
Every peasant woman or farmers
wife or daughter VINO has replaced "A
man called to arms shall have "A sort
OF decoration. too. in the form Of
diploma that win tell what she has
done for her country, just as gen
crars citation makes known an act Of
herolsm on the battlefield"
Al. faujardiore is qualified to speak
for the rural population. be feels the
pulse Of French agriculture every
morning when he opens the thousands
of letters that come to his office from
farms all over the country. lie pre-
sides over the Syndicate Central des
Acrioultcurs de France. This Is not
cutie the aame thing as the national
grange in the United States, but In
many ways IL bears the same relation
to its members. It's membership com-
prises more than n thousand local
syndicatcs besides seventeen thousand
members among the elite OF the
French agriculturists
Learns Value of Organization.
"The French farmer was former
essentially indiVidualist,' said NJ.
Jaujardicre. but he has learned the
value Of association and nearly every
farming community is organized.
There are G,17S agricultural syndtcates
in France with Il premiership before
the war Of 1.25c.OOG, assembled IN 80
different unions of syndicates
"a single one of these syndicates
In the department of I.oir and Cher
bought for its 49, 600 members to the
equivalent of Sl,2OO,0OO annually be-
fore the war.
"Our syndicatos are not merely tie
sales ard buying agents of the indi-
vidual farmer; they go farther: they
stand between the farmer and the
man from whom he buys or to whom
he sells In any MISUNDERSTANDING.
saving him from lawsuits and cN-
pensos and they act as his banker.
In way. thru the organization of
mutual agricultural loan societies,
which are separate from the syndi-
Gates.
ANY landowner can borrow the
money he needs to exploit his farm
from one of our 9S original or 1000
local agricultural loan banks, whose
combined capital was 80 million
francs in 1913; the state has also
placed at their disposition sums ag-
gregatinE SO millions. They dis
counted about $40 million francs OF
fn i'm that
I'VE not only help the farmer. but
we help train his children TO be
farmcrs-do all we can to attach them
to the soil. We teach them the sci
entific part of grain and stock rails
Ing, and of butter and cheese max
ing. we show them how to keep farm
accounts so that they may know
whether they are making money out
of any given crop; the farmers
daughters are taught farm house
keeping with special attention to the
rational utilization Of fOodstuifs;
when we GET thru with them they
have no longer any excuse for hap
hazard or wasteful use of provisions.
Effect of War Prices.
'War prices have helped the
farmer In one direction and hampered
him in another. He gets the oquiva-
lent of sl97 bushel for his wheat.
Ut - NtlllS lllNlt Aiitill F'A'i' wv N'''s
He gets the equivalent of S6 cents a
bushel for oats as against ~ cents
before the war, and this year the oot
crop was "A record one. Wheat wu5
deficient as compared even to last
year. but the farmer probably real
lies more in cash than for last Yeas
crop. ON the other hand he pays n
great deal more for all that he buys
--fertiliZcrs, fuel, salt, sugar, flour.
The French farmer will after the
war still he beset by difficulties that
we must Tighten. Traction farm ma
chinery, now almost prohibitive in
price to the individual farmer, must
be provided to make up for the lack
of farm labor
"The descrtion of the farm for the
\ town had long ago developed crisis
that will he aggravated by the vast
age of war and the upheaval of con-
ditions afterward; IL is another of the
problems these syndicates are trying
to solve.
Farmers sons and simple farm
hands in the long watches in the
trenches alongside of the city boys
have learned many things they never
knew about town life" NJ. Laujar-
diere thinks. Curiosity aroused by
tales of the town will draw them in
even greater numbers than ever after
the war unless counter attractions
are provided. The syndicate proposes
to make their life on the farm more
attractive by higher comfort In their
habitation and by such distractions
as are transportable from the city to
the country.
opposed to the alluring descrip-
tions of city life, they will set forth
the higher cost of living and the IL
msory character of the supposed town
diversions.
Keep Youths on the Farm.
"The new farm construction will
be made more pleasing than before,
and for the long winter evenings
profitable light occupations will be
provided such as the manufacture
of toys by men and lace by women,
- already tried in n number of locali
ties with promising success.
THE mutilated farmer-soldier will
also require attention. Improved
implements will be required to keep
him at home, and they will be pro-
vided. He must have machines that
can operate as easily and effectively
as he did before his physical capacity
was diminished.
I'm working on that question, we
.t,..a pt,tl t,.sr 20