The Glasgow courier. [volume] (Glasgow, Mont.) 1913-current, 1921-09-02
(From The Furrow)

In a few of the recent years tn
one-cash-crop system was favored b,
abnormal war conditions.
Cotton sold at such a price tina
growers seemed justified in forget
ting all about corn, molasses, pota
toes. velvet beans, oats, cattle, hog'
and chickens, while they devoted every
to the "big money" crop.
So far as direct money returns were
concerned there was more profit IL
selling corn-all of the corn produced
on a farm-than in feeding most OF IL
IN livestock. Compared with corn
other farm products seemed lnsignl-
ficant.o So the corn-belt farmer ne
elected meat. dairy and poultry pro-
ducts. got away from his system OF
rotating crops, and practically con-
verted his farm into a corn factory.
In the big wheat sections the pre-
.var trend toward diversified farming
was checked. 1t was easier to raise
wheat. The guaranteed price assured
safety plus good profits. Wheat grow
ers to a great extent forsoek the d.
yersified system and devoted their re-
sources to cashing in on wheat.
The temporary conditions hat gave
allurement to the one-cash-crop sys-
tenn have passed. Now, as before the
war, the East against that system IS
clean-cut and convincing. 1t n a
business-like system. Like most other
"get-rich-quick" schemes, it is cram
med full of hazards. 1t simply won't
do for the farmer who expects to stay
in business and enjoy steady prosper
ity.
There are many definite counts
against the one-cash-crop system. Inc
distress that comes when the market
for the one crop fails is the n most
in the minds of the farmers today. 1t
should be remembered that similar
distress is sure to come when drouth
or other circumstance causes the one
crop to fail.
These two counts alone, however,
are not enough for conviction. The
one-cash-crop farmer who considers
them the only drawbacks to his sys-
tenn is too likely to take a chance on
the weather, the insects, and the mar
ket.
There are other counts against the
system-counts that are of vital i'm
portance to successful farming.
In the first place, too large an acre
age in one crop fails to provide for
the rotation of crops and the build
ing up of soil fertility. In spite of its
o%bviousness, and in spite of the fact
that it has been emphasized to the
limit for many reasons, the reminder
again seems pertinent that cotton
after cotton, corn after corn, wheat
after wheat-year after year in the
Enthusiastically decreases the
fertility of the soil. Over a period of
years, this decrease will far more than
balance any extra profits that hay be
made from the one-cash-crop in years
when both weather and market con
are especially favorable,
Again, the one-cash-crop system
fails to produce sufficient food for
the family and feed for the livestock.
This is a point which often get too
little consideration, but which has
been recently emphasized by condi-
tons in many sections.
Take, for instance, the experience
Of cottongrowers in some sections of
The South. When the crop produc-
ion season began in the spring Of
1920, they figured that with cotton at
rom forty to fifty cents they could
afford to buy most of their food and
iced. So they neglected their other
just as they had done in the
previous year. During their crop pro-
season, they had to buy sew
enty per cent of their corn, oats and
hay. For all of these products, they
paid "boom time" prices. They Dor
rowed the money to buy, feeling that
the fifty-cent cotton they We're raising
would enable them to pay easily when
they marketed their crop. Naturally,
it was a severe jolt for these.farmers
when the selling season found cot
ton at fifteen cents and big debts for
food and feed coming due at the
banks.
Another vital count against the one
cash-crop system is that, instead of
distributing the labor throughout the
year, it results in periods of heavy
work i~nterspersed with periods of light
work. To produce the one crop, a on
siderable investment in hired labor,
work horses and machinery must be
maintained. During six or eight
months of the year these production
aids have little or nothing to do, yet
the horses must be fed and otherwise
cared for; the wages Of at least some
of the hired help must be paid; and
the interest on the investment in the
idle machinery continues.
No manufacturer could hope to sue
reed in operating his plant annually
on only a half-time basis. No mer-
chant could make enough to live on if
his store were practically closed dur
ing six months of the year. Or, to
carry the comparison still further, a
merchant might have a big and profit
able trade on rubber boots during the
wet season, yet he could not afford
to "run out of stock" on his other
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