Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-08-01

A>SSfN'
between the Potomac and the Rappahannock'
has several hundred in alfalfa, from
which he cuts three and four crops of hay
year. Hogs and beef cattle thrive in Virginia.
as well as the corn and alfalfa with which to
feed them.
billion dollar farm corporation could
afford to hire Judge Gary to be its general
manager. 1t could afford to hire the best
transportation and marketing and production
experts well agricultural experts the
country boasted railroad presidents salary
for a forage crop expert would not necessarily
be extravagant where half million acres
were in grasses. The would hold true
as to experts on corn and wheat and other
cereals, live stock and fruit and vegetables.
The Department of Agriculture at Washington
and the state experiment stations would be
raided for trained at the public expense,
tempted to the service of the corporation by
the liberality of the terms it could offer.
Detailed soil surveys would be made. the
soil built up and put in crops to which it
best adapted. Organization and system
would be the keynotes of the plan. All waste
would be eliminated. Every article sent to
market would be nearly as possible finish
ed product. Corn and forage crops would be
marketed as dressed beef and pork and NUT
tom Wheat would be ground into flour in the
corporations mills, operated by the de-
veloped water power. Fruit and vegetables
which could not with advantage be marketed
fresh would be canned or otherwise preserved.
In addition to the -four mills and great packing
plants, factories would be erected for building
. such machinery was free of patents, and
and better machinery would be devised.
No expense would be spared in procuring bet
ter seed, better live stock, and in perfecting
better methods
No part Of the great farm would be a pro-
hibitive distance from navgable water. A
fleet of vessels would carry the products of the
fields to the mills and packing houses and
canneries and to central shipping points on
deeper water and the corporation would have
it's own steamers to transport them to great
depots in the chief cities north and south. from
which they would be distributed to the smaller
centers of population.
The tidewater farm would have land area
of possibly five six thousand square miles.
1t would extend perhaps $50 miles north and
south and maybe $50 miles east and west at
it's greatest width, with great deal of
water included within it's boundaries. At
some central point-say. Mobjack bay
there would be built a city which would be the
headquarters of the corporation. The workers
would live in model towns and villages, with
moving picture shows and other entertainments.
and would be transported to their shifting
places of employment. Factory wages would
be paid and factory hours observed, with in
creased rate for overtime. No doubt the work.
ers would unionize and bargain collectively
as to conditions of employment
But the long-neglected tidewater
would be doing their part toward sustaining
the industries of the nation. Success of the
first billion-dollar farm would beget Others
and Congress would have to enact laws to
sure competition among them. Not in this
generation the next would the volume of
their product be sufficient to dominate the
market, but it would exert steady pressure
on prices and smaller farmers would have
to improve their methods to keep up with the
procession. More important still. the general
scheme of distributing food products.
wickedy wasteful and expensive, would have
to be overhauled and simplified
Sounds like a dream? Don't forget Gary,
Ind, and score of other Industrial miracles
wrought by American enterprise and daring.
Because it never has been done is no
reason, to American, why it can't be DONE
The industrial workers of America must be
fed. We are not going to let the structure
come crashing down. nor are we going to be.
at the mercy Of some other land for our food
stuffs. "A way will be found whether or not
the billion dollar farm is it.