The Prescott daily news., 1920-01-27

0uHor Q0pr096kon. me ln&IoSticlty or demand for farm products sets a very decided limit at given time to the increase of population and capital prof itably employed in agriculture.
 Large Fluctuatlons Not Deslrable.
 Tt is not in the interest of produc- CTS or consumers to have large fluctu- ations in. agricultural production. There is always danger of glutting the market and of serious loss The aim rather should be to secure a steady low of commodities of sufficlent vol tune to supply an increasing deman' at prices which will yield the farmer . decent wage and fair profit on his investment. It seems difficult to get 1t into the minds of some people that farming is 6 business and must pay 1; that under modern conditions there cannot be an unlimited number Of farmers. There could be larger pro portion of farmers to total population if each farm were self-suf1icfent an6 produced no surplus Of consequence, but today the average farmer pro duces many times what he consumes of some things and Is dependent for his prosperity upon their profitable ex change for other articles which he uses. There should be. and in the long run there win tend to be. no more farmers in the nation than are needed to produce the quantity of products which can be disposed of at profit. There will be farmers enough If the business of farming is made profitable and If rural life is made attractive and healthful. The consumers must be willing to pay prices for farm products which win enable the farmers to gro duce them and to maintain . satisfac- tory standard of individual and com-s munity life. The nation also must be. prepared to omit nothing to improve the countryside. It iss of the first i'm portance that satisfactory schools, with courses of study related to the prob lems Of rural life, be provided, that good roads be constructed, and that adequate provision be made to give rural communities the requisite sani- tary and medical services, including hospital facilities. When these re quirements are met. we shall not have to concern ourselves as to the number of farmers and the adequacy of our agricultural production. There will then be no difficulty in retaining in the rural districts suficient number of contented and efficient people. What we need is not back to the land prop aganda, but an acceleration of the movement for the improvement of the countryside which will render the abandonment of farms unnecessary and the expansion of farming inevitable.
 Expanslon During War.
 "There Is reason to believe that a considerable expansion in farmland area occurred during the war. The acreage devoted to the 19 principal crops increased 10.1 per cent from 1914 to 1918. Accordingly. the crop area per capita increased from 3.22 acres in 1914 to 3.33 in 1918, or 3.4 per cent. This expansion probably result ed in part from the use for crops of land normally devoted to other pur- poses. especially to pasture. However, 1t seems to indicate that the farming industry has more than held its own during the period. This conclusion is confirmed by an increase not only in the per capita production of nearly all the important crops, but also, accord. Ing to recent report. in the number of cattle and swine per capita. More over. estimates for milk, eggs, and poultry indicate an increase in per capita production during the war. In view of these facts. it probably would be unwise to stimulate large increase in the per capita farm acreage at the present time. especially where such an increase would have to be effected by utilizing land which Is inferior or which would be made available at a heavy outlay fer drainage. irrigation or clearing
 Land Settlement Problems.
 At present various private agencies are engaged in promoting land settle ment. Many of them are honest in in tention. promise and practice; others keep within the letter of the law but through exaggeratIon and indirection of statement, create false impressions in the mind of the settler. Many vio- late no canon of fair business practice, but their interest is in profits, and they do not pursue policy calculated to develop profitable and wholesome community life Only few have made careful studies of the conditions of successful settlement and developed