Jerome County times. (Jerome, Idaho) 1919-1920, 1920-01-22

CRING the past two years the methods
Of production and conservation EN-
poyed by the farmers of this country
have advanced 20 years of peace times.
| - Prior TO 1914 and even up to the dec
- laration of by the United States,
| there were farmers in every communi-
ty who not interested in county
agents. farmers Institutes. the agri-
cultural colleges, the United States department
of agriculture But when war was 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 the call.
Throughout the nation these farmers. with a spirit
of patriotism and an additional inducement of fair
prices and assurance of reasonable compensa-
ton for their expenditures called upon the fed
eral department and other agencies that could
give them information. The attitude well
the spirit of the farmers changed from peace-time
to wartime farming.
Improved methods and practices adopted and
now 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
for smut and has Increased his yield; the man who
has applied fertilizer to his wheat ana 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 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 was encouraged to
Il
carload Of cattle with the crops from IS acres Of
land when before it required 26 acres. Men who
have learned these lessons. have seen the result,
and have prOfted by them, are not going back to
old-time methods. Farmers reaching out in
| broader way for additional aid
Last fall farmers planted 100000 acres Of
wheat and while the early prospective yield was
| reduced to some extent by reason Of adverse
weather and insect enemies a crop Of approxi-
mately a 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 were more tons of fertilizer applied to this
wheat than during any previous year There was
more early blowing. There was better cultivation
| There was better selection of varieties end better
! treatment Of the seed There was more top-dress-
| ing OF the crop with straw and manure than ever
was known in any other year. Part of the crop
was due to favorable weather in some localities
some 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
stantial advance. If that is true then agriculture
will not readily revert.
At no time has the farmer been called upon 10
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 he given tt
economical production. Industrial plants have
found 1t necessary to Introduce the cosaccOuntinl
system in order that the cost of each part manu-
featured may be determined In the way
farmers must conduct their business and know
more definitely the desirable and profitable lines o.
production.
Not every farmer has 1t within his power to in
crease his acreage, but he can very materially in
crease his income by judiciously increasing tn
size of his business. There is one way of donj
this that seems to be open to farmers in prac
ticaly all parts of the country. TIE simplest ant
surest way for the land-ocked farmer to max
more money is to produce more and better liv
stock There is but limited opportunity for eS
pansion in the production OF the intensively grow
crops, but there is great opportunity for expanslo