Clearwater Republican. [volume] (Orofino, Idaho) 1912-1922, 1918-03-22
FARMERS OPINION OF FARM
BUREAU.

ize Farm Bureau and have the
Government Farm Agent appointed
for Clearwater county.
To a spectator like myself, coming
in little late. and silently listen
ing to the deliberations and not
knowing the object Of said meeting,
one might have been led to believe
1t was q convention of undertakers
ad funeral directors, so much in
evidence were the crepe hangers.
So sure was I that the whole mat
ter would be a corpse at the end 1
left the meeting, not caring for any
further funeral preparations.
But ! have learned since that the
subject didn't die. The Government
will 10 as far as 1t can and appoint
Farm Agent for Clearwater coun-
ty.
l say we'll done. The county com
missioners will make no mistake In
giving Farm Agent the necessary
appropriation. Seventy-five cents
additional taxes for each 100 acres
of land Is mere bagatelle when
balanced against the general good
that will accrue.
OF all counties in this state Clear
water county needs a live, active
Farm Bureau and Farm Agent Cor
Farm Demonstration, as he Is called
is some localities) more than any
other. In my Government work in
Arkansas became quite familiar
with a Farm Demonstration and his
work. To say that man was not
needed and wasn't doing good, prac
tical work for his people, would be
haI In hoJ1nin0 hun effort
His great trouble was that he had
too much territory to go over But
he always got excellent results from
his demonstrations whenever and
wherever he could prevail on some
mossback farming community to fol-
low his advice and directions. 1t
would take too much space to tell
any considerable part of the good
he was doing.
Again, two or three years ago.
met on our local train Nebraska
farmer out here looking for farm
land investments. He told me in q
very enthusiastic manner what a
Farm Demonstration did for him and
his community. Much of their land
had become worn out as they sup
posed, at least it was non-produc-
tive. He spoke of how prejudiced
others and himself were against a
white collared college graduate. He
was about as welcome to them as
the humps. They gave him no vol
untary aid. He was given the lib
erty to do as he pleased with some
of that land.
Speaking in that farmers vain as
near as l remember this is what he
said:
'Do you know what that tramp
did? Well. sir, he took off his
coat and white collar. looked the
proposition over, got long shank
ed auger and began boring holes.
Then he plotted off ten acres and
bored a hole about every ten or If
teen feet over 1t, placed dynamite in
each hole and literally tore up the
earth. He did this in the fall In
the spring he hired it plowed to his
taste, selected his own seed corn,
hired 1t planted and cultivated un-
der his own direction, and, believe
me, he raised some crop of corn.
Our best land produced no better.
1--WE knew there was a hardpan
under the soil and we had read
something in the bullitins on agri-
culture sent us, about the possible
distractions to capillary attraction
in soils and its effect on moisture.
but we paid no attention to such
things. We paid no attention to
ouf demonstrators technical talks
until he showed us and then we
took to him like a sick kitten to a
hot brick. He was able to prove to
our entire satisfaction that 1t was
commercial success. Today that
same land is raising good crops of
corn and alfalfa, something 1t had
mt done before"
And he told me many other val
liable things that demonstration did
for them, which would not have
been done If some one like him had
not gotten behind them and awak-
ened their attention.
Mr. Henderson, of Lewis county,
at our Orofino meeting. told many
valuable things a farm agent was
doing for them. 1t was along the
proper lines. How any progressive
up-to-date farmer. with willing
ness to do better can object to such
proposition, is beyond my under
standing. Such a farmer will not
! object. Whenever any farmer thinks
he cannot be shown then he is sure
ly overbalanced in self-conceit and
becomes crepe hanger to any new
innovation. III he knows he can be
shown and don't want to be. then
he is hopeless. Anticipated fossil
whose days of usefulness are over
To this class of men l propose we
hang their own crepe and mourn
them as lost to further enlighten-
ment.
l contend that live. up-to-date
| Farm Agentin our county can heir
rs. Let me ask these seemingly i'm
pertinent questions:
Do we know to certainty that
we are getting all out of the soil II
will produce
Have we learned the last say In
the clearing and stumpinC of land
And are we sure we have put
that land to the best crop use?
Are we positive we are raising
the best feed for stock? Are We
| raising the proper kind of stock?
Do We understand the value oil
nutritiye ratios? If so have we re
duced it to commercial profit9
Do we understand and are WI
able to control plant and crop dis