Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-11-08
Fewer Farms
NJ Frederic y. Haskir

~.
population II the United States has IN
epsassrd 10 pcr cont or mcrc during the las {
IN yvwrs, the number of farms IN the coun-
try has harcly increased at all-only Ia
mr. cnnt, to he exact
IhH fact, that the amount OF land which
- hcinx cultivated ts not increasing as
last AZ u the population, has been pointed
out before hut II ls interesting TO note
that the census officially confirms II. and
slso to note j,irt where the increases ana
decrssass~ he. II also seems especially
pertinent to -et forth these facts right now
Neither ot the major parties secrns to hc
taking very much account OF them. Inc
appointment Of "r~ll dirt farmer Tor
Sssrmtary of Agriculture has been put for
wand hv the politicians a. remedy
Legislation has alsp ls,en recommended,
aud will probably bc passed, allowing
farmers 20 organize for purposes OF selling
and buying Nothing more II heard OF the
PROJECT which was put forward 50 vigor-
uusly during the war, for the government
to cr,atc more farms out Of swampr'
~tumplands and deserts.
Meantime there Is every prospect thai
unless snmething ~ done, our facilities
for producing food will soon fall lar below
pur needs In 1900 II was found that the
number " farms had increased about lo
Der cent In 10 wears, which probably
meant that the amount Of land cultivated
was increasing about as last as I nc popuia-
ton. This wear the number of farms only
increased about 2 sixth as much rs inc
utItnbcr of people The next census may
well show a DECREASE IN th, number oi
farms unless something IS done IN the
meantime.
WHY MrN WONT rARw
I, ha- hrcn widely stated and implied
that tho reason for the dwIndlIug uumber
NJ farms m tins country and Tor the ton
dencv ~ the food supply not 10 increase
~ isost ~ the population. iS found III the
unwillinsnesS ot the Young men to 90 on
the farms or To- STAY there This. NO doubt
A. thu reason iiut the implication Is that
they ~purn the farms not hecau.' farming
- unprnhtahle. hut hecaus, they prefer
hnght hghts moving pictures and MI the
other alleged allurcmetts oi our great
Industrial citics
REPRESENTATIVES, ~ farmer organIza-
t,ons saws tins II not ~ rhel <av that thr
,ouutrv - full II men Who arr not merely
willing hat auNlous L. farm. II only they
,sn mnk, g,od nNlng ~ i, lh"y SAY
that this y often impossible. cvcep, where
the land u rlch transportation facilities
~ the hest, and all other circumstances
favorable They SAY. further. that u IS
- gct - farm Fsrmlsnds are held at very
hlgh lric,- ~ this country, many thou
sands acres ~ them lvIue idle To buy
inmprovrd land and 10 put II under Cul-
uNatlon i SIMPLY not = paving PROPOSE
non, u - sad except on = large scale, and
not slways then In other words. the
nan who has or can borrow a iCw thou
ssnd dollars cannot protfahlV invest Y ~
farmlands, and that = ono very good' Il
not All sufficient reason why the number
- farms hs. not increased
wH.r FIGURES sHov
THIS view al the matter seems 10 he
sustained ~ WAY hN the cCpSls figures.
they show the increase or decrease IN the
number of farms IN each state These
figures pnovc that the number oi farms ~
,l@rrcs..ius m nearly all ot the northeast
-rn States. and IN many 81 the Southern
and Middle Atlantic States, and that Il Is
nOreaslug. ~ snnne parte very RAPIDLY, ~
the West
az course. ono would expect 10 find the
greatest lnrrrsse IN the West where there
ne sull public lands and relatively sparse
ropulstion Even 40, the rapid increase N
the West would certainly show that men
re willing 20 farm where they can get hold
Z land and farm Il 81 profit Md the
l,psltIve decrcass N the Fast would
.lr,ly arcm - move that men are being
discouraged IN that section
Tho Western Statc> which show an IN
,reas, IA the uumheI - farms arr Arizona,
arkansas Cshfornls. Colorado Idaho
lInnc-nta Montana. Nevada. North
Dakota, Oregon. TcNaS tai. y Washing
ian. Wisconsin and " wyoming hat i.
rac,lcaiil al OF the iar Western states
Nccpi \rw Mexico
~ the Southern states. increases are
shown by Florida, Georgia. kentucky.
louisana. Oklahoma. South Carolina
North Carolina. Tennessee and Virginia
3ut the increases IN these States are much
smaller GA an average than those N the
Western States.
All 81 the other States show decreases IN
she numbers OF farms lhIs means not
lnlv that the number OF farms IN New
England and the Northeast generally is
decreasing but that the number Of farms
n the Middle West, the traditional
a-ranAry Of America. Is decreasing. The
N est. then Is doIns mOre than ITS share 70
ieed America The South Is dong much
but the average increase III that section
scarcely keeps up with the increase Of
population. The Middle West and the
Northeast are steadily falling behind in
food production They are looking more
and more 20 the West 10 feed them.
WHY WEST LEADS.
What then are the conditions which
have kept the West IN state OF growing
agricultural prcductveness when the rest
u the country has become decadent in
that respect M doubi the rich Young sol
~ the region 10 one reason No do ubt an
uther reason - that there are fewer ndus-
trial plants 20 attract men - the cities
Neither 81 thesc condition, can be
Arfihclaly altered 81 course Tho West is
Inevitably tho more productive part of the
country. and ~ primc bus ness IS food