Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1920-01-27

URING the past two years the methods
"a / of production and conservation EN-
pOyed by the farmers of this country
have advanced 20 years of peace times
-sA1@D Prior to 1914. and even up TO the dec
- laratiOn of war by the United States,
there farmers in every comInunl-
@a@z@--1 ~ who not interested in county
agents, farmers Institutes the agrl-
cultural colleges, or the United States department
of agriculture. But when war declared and
Uncle Sam asked the farmers to grow more food
stuffs of every kind, those who had before assumed
an attitude of Indifference responded TO the CALL
Throughout the nation these farmers with spirit
of patriotism and an additional inducement of fair
prices and an assurance of reasonable cOmpensa-
ton for their expenditures, called upon the fed
eral department and other agencies that could
give them information. The attitude as well as
the spirit of the farmers changed from peace-time
10 wartime farming.
Improved methods and practices adopted and
being applied have come TO stay. In future
farming methods there should be little question as
to the practice of the who has treated his oats
for smut and has increased his yield; the man who
has applied fertilizer his wheat and has in
creased his crops five to ten bushels an acre; the
man who has sought information on the feeding of
cattle and has found that by adding protein to the
ration he can produce pound of beef with nine
pounds of corn where the old ration required 13
pounds of grain the man who encouraged to
IL Il
carload of cattle with the crops from 16 acres of
land when before it required 20 acres Men who
have learned these lessons, have seen the result
and have prOited by them, are not going back to
OId-time methods. Farmers are reaching out in
broader way for additional aid.
: Last fall farmers planted 100000 acres of
wheat, and while the early prospective yield
reduced to some extent by reason of adverse
weather and insect enemies, a crop of approx
mately Il billion bushels is the result This huge
crop is the direct result of the good methods of
farming that were employed in the fall of 1918.
There more tons of fertilizer applied to this
wheat than during any previous year. There was
early blowing There better cultivation.
There was better selection of varieties snd better
treatment of the seed. There more top-dress-
ing of the crop with straw and manure than ever
known in any other year. Part of the crop
was due to favorable weather in some localities,
just to plain luck, but the big results
achieved in the wheat fields all over the country
was due to the improved methods employed by
farmers.
There is large and sufficient evidence to show
that agriculture has made a rapid, sure. and sub
stantal advance. If that is true. then agriculture
will not readily revert.
AT no time has the farmer been called upon to
give greater attention to the business side of his
operations. In this day of high-priced land labor,
seed, fertilizer machinery, and other materials
and equipment. careful attention must be given to
economical production. Industrial plants have
found ii necessary TO introduce the cost-accountng
system in order that the cost of each part manu-
featured may be determined. In the same way,
farmers must conduct their business and know
more definitely the desirable and profitable lines Of
production.
Not every farmer has it within his power to in
crease his acreage. but he very materially in
crease his income by iudiciously increasing the
size of his business. There is one way of doing
this that seems TO be open TO farmers in prac-
tcally all parts of the country. The simplest and
SureSt way for the landlocked farmer to make
more money is to produce more and better live
stock There is but limited opportunity for ex-
pansion in the production Of the intensively grown
crops but there great opportunity for expansion