The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1918-05-09

The Farmers Point OF View

Potatoes are bringing dollar ten
a bushel at Harmony. A dollar ten,
wonder II city people know what
that means to the farmer? A practi-
cal farmer, who keeps an accurate &C
count OF everything. told US that he
raised one hundred and fifty bushels OF
potatoes, all told and that they cost
him one hundred and eighty dollars
Still the poor farmer keeps getting
requests from the government Ito
raise more crops conserve food stuffs,
eat less meat | venture to say that
for two years. there has not been one
farmer around, who has not had at
least. one meatless dav each week,
and often many more. Then we must
pay so much for grain for our ami
mails Up jumps the man who knows
nothing about it. and asks WHY don I
you raise your own grain?' Well, II
we could control the weather and
didn't need any fertilizer. on this poor
over worked soil we might do so. But
one fair corn crop in six years, with
| fertilizer isn't very encouraging, Is it?
And oats, thirty bushels to the acre
IS big crop How far will thirty
bushels go when you are working a
pair of horses from six in the morning
/ till after dark to earn four dollars
Then labor and machinery We can't
compete with farmers IN the vast west.
who have no rocks tol move, and the
most modern machinery. tractors. etc.
to work with. while some OF us have
/ ONLY one team Of horses or perhaps a
yoke of oxen And nearly all the
4 r., t. , !,
cities. where they can earn a living
wage What farmer can pay $50 a
ton for fertilizer and raise as some
| farmers did last year about 80 bushels
of potatoes on an acre Of ground?
We are willing to work, both men
and women. but what have we to work
with? WHY not the government take
over the fertilizer plants and sell TO
us at a small advance on the cost of
production? God knows we are will
! ing and want to do "our Bit. We.
as we'll as the town people. are Civ
ing, some of us. what is more than
! life to us "our bows. OF course this
winter the Maine farmer has had fuel
saw in a Boston paper an article
| saving "a farmer was seen takng a
cart load of coal home" Railing
at him because he didn't burn wood
and leave the coal for the city neo-
pie I expect he had only coal stoves
in the house. and had had no more
idea last fall that there would be such
a shortage Of coal than YOU or l. and
coal Is such help to the women in
the house If these same people
would only try to get wood now, out
OF the forests. with the snow five
feet deep on the level they would not
be so anxious to burn wood. ! don't
think they are anyway. | know
man who offered over thousand
cords of wood to the people of Passaic,
n j., but they must cut It, 1t was
dead chestnut and burned beautifully.
Did any one take up the offer? Well
| guess not. hear you say 90 she
is not practical No I am not, I am
also tempermental and impulsive, but
| cannot be still and hear every one
calling and writing the farmer Ito
stand firm and true and save the
country" and then take everything we
have at about the cost of production,
and ask us to stop eating really neces-
sary food. and allowing us such al
small supply Of everything. How is
farmer with a large family of small
children, going to get along with one
bag of flour each week, especially
when the roads are impossible for two
or three weeks in the spring?
Let someone who can, answer these
questions, and tell us how the farmer
of northern Maine is going to save the
country and sell potatoes at one dollar
and ten cents q bushel?