Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1918-04-10
CHANGE IN THE
FARMERS LIFE
Making a Living" Idea Has De-
veloped Into a Money
Making Fact"

A few years ago-and not so many
at that-most farmers were satisfied
If they saw ahead of them the oppor-
tunity to make fair living, a reason
able competence in their failing years,
and an assurance OF an existence for
their families. They worked hard,
and titled their acres with this end in
view. Honest struggle, earnest eff
fort and a true conception of upright
manhood, together with the increas-
Ing knowledge that upon +he fruits OF
their endeavor rested the structure OF
the world, whose people had to be fed
and maintained. Economy in method,
improved conditions of working, have
added to the farmers possibilities, and
today instead of being a plodder for
an existence, which his early training
had bred into him, he has become the
bulwark of the nation, and as such,
has become elevated to a position
where his word and his work are rec
ognized as the factors it was always
intended they should be. He is now
the man of business-of big business.
He has forced an appreciation of his
work, and the true value has been
placed upon it. The big men of the
country today are the farmers, who,
with business acumen and forensic
forethought are able to tell you-from
their bookS-what it costs to produce
q bushel of wheat or a pound of wool.
All of which is intended to prove
that farming is business, as much
as banking or selling a suit of clothes.
1t is an industrial business, with more
certain profits than accompany any
other line Of trade. 1t is a manufac
turing enterprise, devoid of any of the
dangers that the frills of fashions
follies and desires force upon ordinary
pursuits. Food is something that all
must have and the farmer produces it.
The cheaper it can be produced the less
will be the cost to the consumer. And
this is one of the chief thoughts of the
farmer. Within the memory of the
ten-year-old boy there have been i'm
proyements in machinery, changes in
methods, scientific discoveries of chem
tcals as adapted to agriculture, all of
which have leSSened cost of production
and made possible the cultivation Of
increased acres. In some parts these
things have brought about more inten-
sified agriculture, growing heavier
crops on less acres. Improved machin-
cry and demand for greater production
have led another class in search of
larger areas, where their ability may
cope with the growing of a greater
number of bushels. That is one of the
reasons why Western Canada lands
have recently come into such demand.
These, at from twenty to thirty dol
lars an acre, and producing the pro-
digious crops that are claimed for
them, have attracted thousands of
American settlers, while other thou
sands have gone out into the lands in |
the Western states. But, as to the Can
ada lands, there is this to say of them, |
today they are cheap, and if they will |
yield sufficient in one year to pay the |
cost of the entire purchase, why should |
not there be a demand. The country |
is well settled and settlement is in
creasing. AS evidence of the growth |
of the three Western Provinces into !
whose territories the Canadian Govern |
ment invites settlers, recent reports |
show the following increases from 1913 |
to 1917 inclusive:
Value of Field Crops
1913 1917
Manitoba IS 64,557, 900 $137, 47O, $50
Saskatchewan 129,376,OO0 $40, ASS, POO |
Alberta -. 46,712,000 1866, 800 |