The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1917-01-24
POULTRY PROBLEMS UP
AT FARMERS INSTITUTE
Entire Day Given Over In Farmers Division to Study
of the LowIy Hen and Her Product-Rotations in
PaIouse Country Studied Yesterday.

with increase in size of farm up to
the size where the business cannot
be handled effectively. The cost OF
imam labor per tillable acre decreases
up to a good sized farm and the
number of acres handled per horse
increases quite markedly. The per
cent of investment in non productive
buildings decreases with increase in
size of farm as does also the housing
cost per animal unit of livestock
Second, quality of business: A
study of 1874 Spokane county farms
showed that II farmers who secured
yields below average are receiving
labor incomes of $545 while 81 farm
ers who secured yields above aver
age received labor incomes Of $1125.
I"There are very few farmers who could
not increase their incomes by doing
little better or more work on their
| land or by doing it more nearly at
the right time,'' said the professor.
Third, diversity of business: FIT
teen diversified farms were selected
| from the Spokane county survey aver
aging 375 acres with only 50 acres
fallow and 81 per cent of receipas de-
rived from crops which showed an
average labor income of $3334. Five
farms with no fallow were selected
averaging 264 acres which showed an
average labor income of $3775. This
shows the possibilities of increasing
the returns in the Palouse when by
proper rotations land is kept occupied. |
Fourth, properly organized system
of farming which should provide for.
maintaining fertility; constant use of
the land as the soil and climate will
permit; as equal distribution of labor
as possible; utilization of waste or
by-products; control of insect pests, !
weeds, and plant diseases SO far as |
possible; most complete use of equip |
ment.
Mr.. Fluharty's Address.
The principal points in the address
l.. ". Fluharty United States de-
partment of agriculture, included the
following:
The material for his talk he stated,
was taken from farm management
survey of the Palouse country in 1914,
and includes all of the section having
annual precipitation in excess of 20
inches and lying at an elevation of
1900 to 280O feet
The, two factors which influence
profits in this section were shown to
be the percentage of rotation area Of
the farm in summer fallow and the
per acre crop yields. 1t was shown
that farm profits could be increased
by either decreasing the amount of
land in summer fallow without de-
creasing yields or by increasing the
yields. Figures from the Willamette
valley were shown to prove that in
that section summer fallow occupied
only "a per cent Of the rotation area
while in the Palouse country 30.2 per
cent of the rotation area is devoted
tc this purpose. Those farms with
out summer fallow in the Willamette
valley had larger yields than those
having no land lying idle.
Data was also presented which prov
ed that this had been accomplished
thru the introduction of leguminous
crops into rotation. Not only did the
farms with legumes have larger yields
than those without but the profits
we're much greater Rotations were
hen shown for the PaIouse area in
which clover and peas were to be
lsed in combinations with the ordina-
" grain crops of this section. Clio
yer was to be sown in a nurse crop
md used the following year for seed, t
lay or pasture. \
Merchants and Bankers :
The second day of the merchants >,
md bankers meeting was a decided
success, Yesterday morning G. S.
Iraff, secretary of the tariff commits .
ion. read a paper on freight and al
owances, which evoked lively dis
ussion in which Waldo G. Paine, traf-
c manager of the Inland, M. Moore,
postmaster at Standpoint, and G.. b.
ireen, local businessman, participat- is
d. G
Dean Iddings in an address on the 81
elation of the farmer and the mer- g.
hant outlined the growth of cities Il
nd towns from the middle ages, show fo
az the main points of divergence be- "
ween the interests of farmer and Al
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