The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-07-08
Fly JOHN c. MOSES

| A new era in farming appears on the horizon in the south. The conditions
 change slowly, but they are changing.
 New implements and machinery must be
 provided for profitable agriculture. The
 oid-time methods must be laid aside and
 the new applied. Machinery cheapens the
 cost of production, and makes the bal
 ance sheet a little more equal at the end
 of the season. In times past it has been very much overbalanced on the debit side. The farmer has had much unfair treatment by some of the middlemen
 They have been fleeced entirely out of
 their crops many times by false misrep- Presentation and interruptions dealers. A
 better market is dawning. The large cities are beginning to realize that the
 and that they must assist him in getting i living price for his stuff
 Farm produce must be raised at a low cost. And to this modern systems must be applied. Farm demonstrators and such leaders our farm woman expert, Mrs G. Fl, Mathis are spreading the
 gospel all over this big state Of ours. and their work Is to be commended Much of
 this good work is being done at per sonal sacrifice. I personally know Mrs. Mathis, and often have long conversa- tions with her about her work, Never does she tell about what she is doing for herself, but for the other fellow. She DSAA NNS got out of it.
 Labor saving machinery can be used in all branches-in the dairy, in the poul- try yard in the fields, and the automo-
 bile is bound to come as a distributor of farm products.
 The farmer will learn from war the real value of his labor. And the con-
 sumer will likewise learn a much-needed lesson. All must be alert, active and en- terprising. The world will change in the next year or so, and the farmer must fit himself for the new conditions of life on the farm.
 ] It Is more than likely that the present high cost of foodstuffs and feedstuffs | will have one decided benefit. For many l years there has been a drift of .popula- tion to the cities, and were this to con- | tinue in uninterrupted sequence the desire i to live in the towns would result in add ! ing further to the burdens of the mar ! ried man whose wages in the main, are | small and who is forced when sickness 1 comes, to depend on charity for himself and family. Not that there are no poor people in the country districts. Unfor- | tunately there are many such. But any man in fair health, by working as hard
 as he would have to in the city. can make l more than a living for himself and family on the farm. One of the evils of life in the country in the past has been that farmers have undertaken to cultivate too large an area.
 For years the farmers have been urged to cut their acreage in half, SOW the bisected portion to nutritious grass, put few head of cattle on the feed and con centrate on improved crops-corn, wheat, oats, potatoes, onions beans and like yields that can be cured, gathered and stored for the winter demand.
 The raising of hogs would be cheap, since they would take care of all the refuse from the kitchen, the odds and ends of vegetables. Poultry, carefully se- ected and comfortably housed, will pay
 more than double their cost. Life on the
 farm these days is far more desira ble
 than was true 10 years ago. The install
 lation of devices for easing the burdens
 of the housewife is becoming general.
 Water can be run into any home for
 moderate outlay, and In the country fuel
 can be obtained easily and cheaply. Tel
 ephones are cheap and convenient; rural
 delivery gives the farmer his daily and
 farm papers. and the parcel post will carry to market the lighter farm produce.