The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1918-08-22
OUR PRESIDENT
81 500 600 IS ASKED For SEED

Oklahoma viii ask the federal gov
ernment to loan wheat seed for the
planting Of an acreage of at least
$4,000 acres of land this fall as this
states part of the appropriation of
$5,000,000 which will be divided
among several states. This will con-
stitute in excess Of S1,500,O0O.
This decision was reached at a con-
ference held last Saturday by the Ok
lahoma State Council of Defense
when over one hundred delegates as
sembled from the wheat growing
states to hear the conditions under
which the loan will be made and to
confer with l.. A. Estabrook, repre-
sentative of the federal government,
who explained'it.
: No loan will be made to farmers
who have made crops in the past two
years or to men who have credit or
cash with which to buy seed wheat.
,, The applicant must have had two sue
cessive crop failures on land which,
in the opinion OF the county agent
and other members Of the LEGAL in
vestigating committee, is capable Of
producing a wheat crop under normal
conditions. While the original intent
was to loan to farmers making wheat
crop failures a liberal construction
will be placed upon the ruling so as
to include failures in cotton and corn
| crops. A loan not to exceed So an
acre will be made on not to exceed
100 acres of land, making a maxi
mum loan of $500 per farmer. Small
er loans will be made. The appli-
cant must make sworn statement as
to his failures, the amount Of land
owned, the value of his livestock and
equipment and the acreage sown and
yield on his land last year. Notaries
public should not charge fees for this
service. The notes are due in 1919.
When application is made at the local
bank an investigation committee will
visit the property and verify the
facts, when the application will be
| forwarded to Mr.. Estabrook with the
approval or disapproval of the inves-
tigator, who will probably be either
the county agent or banker. The
applicant will also sign an agreement
to contribute to the guarantee fund
the sum Of fifteen cents per bushel in
excess of yield of six bushels to the
acre, with maximum Of SIS. This
will insure the government against
| losses where crops are failures.
When the application is approved
by Mr. Estabrook it is turned over to
the Federal Land Bank which in turn
will notify the local bank which then
makes the loan to the farmer for the
purchase of the seed and which will
allow him slight margin for other
| kn .anI Il, ,>la tal
{, the Federal Land Bank assumes the
loan and the government takes all the
chances.
The Oklahoma State Bankers Asso-
citation has agreed to finance the
country banks in making the loans.
The Tulsa Banks have also offered
aid to any bank needing funds for
this purpose, they to be reimbursed
when the loan is made by the Federal
La1d Bank.
In cases of farmers who have not
had failures for two years but are in
need Of seed the country banks are
| expected to try to secure these loans
from the War Finance Corporation in
case they are not able to meet the
demands for loans.
A meeting of bankers and county
councils will be called in all the
wheat counties in order that the mat
ter may be fully explained and the
farmers will be notified that the ap-
plications are not ready for them at
the banks.
State Agent James A. Wilson Of
the United States Department of Ag-
riculture pledged the full co-opera-
ton of the extension department in
this work. Beckham county repre-
sentatives declared that they would
finance their own farmers. The loan
is available to farmers in other coun-
ties outside Of the wheat belt.
Following is the estimate by coun-
ties Beaver 10000, Cimarron none,
Custer 10000, Dewey none, Ellis 30,-