The Canon City record with which is consolidated the Canon City cannon., 1920-08-19
A FEW THINGS NOTICED.
| WHILE ON NY TRIP EAST
(By Geo. S. Turner).

Inc nrSt tnlnS lQdI attracted my at
tention was that the crops in general
were all good. Wheat was especially
good, going in some places as high as
fifty bushels per acre, and such corn
as ! saw in the Mississippi bottoms.
AS far as the eye could see there was
nothing but corn. and it was big and
black looking. II they would put it
into silo instead of wasting all OF the
fodder, it would feed lot Of cattle.
1 arrived in Michigan just as they
were completing their Farm Bureau
drive. In Antrim county they got over
800 members. which was over 80 per
cent OF the farmers in the county
They signed up for three years at SO
per year. They are organized to do all
kinds of business, but in Antrim
county there are already five cooper
ative marketing associations, which
were organized by the Farm Bureau
two years ago, so that there will be
no need of their going into business
N that county. There is some talk
OF their putting in terminal ware
houses in the large cities, which I
think would be a fine thing for both
producer and consumer The COOP
erative marketing association at Cen
trail Lake has been running twenty
months and has done about a quarter
of million dollars worth of business.
II is supposed to be a non-pront asso-
citation. but they are about $4,000 bet
ter on than they were when they
started and they have driven the other
dealers all out OF business and have
the field all to themselves They han.
die -four, feed. fertilizer. insecticides,
automobile tires, farm implements, in
fact most anything the farmer uses,
and they buy anything he has to sell.
including cream. veal calves, chick.
ems, in fact anything he has to sell
they will handle. II has been one OF
the factors in bringing many people
into the county, which a few years
ago was a lumber country. They pay
their county agents all the way from
$4,000 to $4,000 per year in Michigan.
according to the ability of the county
agent. which is an incentive for a
good man to stay on the job.
When left there nine years ago
there was only three or four silos in
the county. Now the farm is rare
which hasn't silo. But one thing /
noticed in particular was that they
have the same kind Of ring-streaked
and speckled cattle that they had ten
years ago. caused from eternally mix
ing the breeds. A man will keep a
Shorthorn sire a few years, then a
Jersey and then try the Holstein until
he has the worst mixed up batch of
scrubs 1t is possible for him to get:
whereas If he would stay by one
breed ten years he would have some.
ming worth some money both as pro-
iucers and when he is ready to dis
pose Of them. I think there is quite
IN opportunity for county agents and
Farm Bureaus to educate the people
rhat 1t costs no more to feed good
cattle than 1t does scrubs and that
good cattle means one breed OF cat
tie bred better rather than trying TO
get the good qualities OF all the breeds
into one cow. Another thing that i'm.
pressed me very favorably was their
method OF running their county fair.
They tax all the property in the
county one-fourth of a mill to sup
port the fair and then run a free fair.
That way 1t lets every taxpayer in the
county help to support the fair and
they know just how much money they
are going to have to spend before they
start and can regulate their premiums
and prize money accordingly
hnd the people in the East not
standing still by any means. but am
still satisfied to live in Colorado, and
oeiieve we will get along somehow
even II we don't have automobile fac.
tories.