Rocky Ford enterprise., 1916-09-29
MERCHANT AND FARMER
Continued from First Page

according to James j. Hill, the great rail-
road builder of the Northwest. "Forty
years ago farmer had to provide for bu:
one other than himself. Today every far
mer must provide food for two besides
himself" 1t is good policy for commercial
enterprises to assist their customers to a
greater earning power. to assist them to
earn two dollars where they now earn
but one. so they may spend proportion
ate part of the extra dollar. for better
education of their children, more comforts
for their homes, to purchase better farm
implements and equipment and to enjoy
the beautiful ID life.
Dairying Is cash business and as
cash business it tends to remove the evil
of credit. The gram man. the feeder of
cattle, and the fruit man each receives
his money in lump sums once or twice
year. He may get a crop, and then again
he may not. This is not the case with
the intelligent dairy farmer. He gets his
crop morning and night, and this crop can
be turned into cash daily. These small
daily returns in the course of year
amount to considerable cash. He who
receives this money in small amounts and
at regular intervals becomes thrifty and
pays as he goes. and does not run up un-
necessary accounts. This is one of the
first requisites of prosperity: hence. dairy
ing brings prosperity. Prosperity results
in business building; therefore, dairying is
bu siness builder.
Dairying is constructive agriculture. 1t
enrichss the soil. while grain farming or
cattle ranching depletes the fertility of
the soil. These latter types of farming
are often called soil mining. When the
farmer sells 100 bushels of corn. he also
sells $500 worth of his fertility. and
when he sells 90 bushels of wheat he
sells $4,000 worth of his fertility. but
when he sells 1000 pounds Of butter he
sells only fifty cents worth of fertility. In
other words. when he sells $4,000 worth
Of butter, he removes only as much fer
bushels of wheat.
Darying solves the fart labor problem
because it gives steady employment the
entire year. At present there are large
numbers of unemployed men in the cities.
These men ought to be employed on the
farms of America and probably would be,
if farm work were more stable. Generally
men are employed during the summer
season and then discharged in the fall be
cause there is not enough labor on the
farm to give them employment during the
winter Short time positions attract only
the lowest grade Of help. BY making
dairyng the important branch Of farming.
winter dairying will be carried on. COWS
will be fresh in the fall and milked all
through the winter. They will return at
this time of the year greater profits be-
cause higher market price for butterfat
and a greater percentage of cheap foods
like ensilage and hay will be consumed.
Winter dairyinR will help distribute the
farm labor throughout the year and men
and their families will be employed by the
year and will be able to save money and
better themselves. as well as return a
profit to their employers.
Dairying will improve the educational.
social and moral conditions of the country.
The tenants will be able to pay the rent
and will not be forced to move from one
farm to another, as is the condition today.
The one-year tenant means destruction
to the farm. He does not keep the build
ings in repair or return the fertility to the
soil. He tries to skim all the profits from
the farm, and the landlord tries to make
him pay a large cash rent in return. If
dairying is carried on, silos and better
farm buildings will be built to take care
of the crops rails ed. more live stock will
be kept per acre. and there will be more
intensified farming. There will be that
interdependence between the tenant and
landowner from which both are benefit
ed There will be better rural schools.
better churches and the educational. social
and moral conditions of the community
will be improved.
| II you but compare the dairy sections
of this country with the non-dairy sections
you will see at once that the dairy farmer
has a we'll kept farm, fences in good con-
dition. lawn moved about the house, flow
ers and shrubs decorating the lawn, barns
economically and substantially built. In
side the home you will find everything
comfortable, homelike. a library. aerieul-
tural papers. magazines, and you are i'm
pressed with the thought that the farmer
and his family are eontented and happy.
/ The picture is somewhat different than
that of most of the non-dairy farmers.
They have fences that need repair. lawns
unmowed and unkept, barns that are not
desirable to house stock because OF poor