The Washington herald., 1921-05-01
By Charles w. Duke

Mature has Q wonderful way Of taking
care Of u.s." he continued. Men are
drawn away from the farm by the lure OF
higher wages and easier living conditions In
the cities They flock into town and work
for the higher wage. But when people get
hungry they must have food. When they
are hungry and without food they will 90
out and produce 1t. They will 30 back to
the farm" .
Then voc figure. In these days Of un.
employment, scarcity Of houses and ex-
pensive living conditions. that folks win
start back to the farm?"
That's q reasonable deduction" was his
slow spoken reply. And then, after short
pause-'I guess the tide has turned the
other way already
Frankly, the Hon. Coolidge is an optimist
as regards the farm question. More than
that, he's q dealer in common sense, ap-
piled not only to agriculture, but all the
way from A to 2 through the alphabet Of
existence.
1T my memory serves me right" be
added, this country last year produced
bigger and better crops than ever before.
With all the talk Of q sesrcit, Of labor on
the farms, Of empty farm houses and aban-
doned fields, We still seem to be keeping
well up in the matter Of farm production.
There is no famine In the land. II the farm
Is being abandoned, how do you account
for the continued productivity Of the farmr
He was quick TO answer his own question.
For one thing, work on the farm today
is not 20 hard as It used to be. Nor are
% many men required to do the work.
Science has come to the aid Of the farmer.
They say q tractor can do the work Of six
teen men. Science will do more and more.
Your farmer today can easily find out what
bis farm Is best fitted for. He gets an
analysis made Of his land and then applies
to it the kind of seed that will best grow
in It. The farmer Of today reads q lot
more than he used to. He has the news
paper, the farm journal or the agricultural
aid handed in to him By the mail carrier.
He knows his business bettsr."
THE Vice President speaks slowly and de-
l. Hberately. But piecing his sentences
together one by one you get . logical and
complete answer.
There's not the drudsery on the farm
there once was. Up In our New England
section the farmer used TO do lot Of butch
erins. Today you may End the farmer buy
ing fresh meat in the city markets and
carrying It home in his motorcaf. The
packers have come along and taken over
that work, doing 1t easier on large scale.
Not nearly % many cattle are raised In New
England as there were q quarter Of cen
tury ago. Where they are, they are mostly
sold on the hoof."
Well the Vice President remembers the
drudsery Of his yorth. All his early mem.
ories are Of the fsrm-as one biographer has
put It ''of his grandfather putting him on
the back Of the old whits mare; Of his slid.
ing of and breaking his right arm % that
the bones stuck through the desh Of his
waiting for the dsctor 70 come from Lud-
low; Of the vaH-ved COW that the hired
man hit with the milking stool and that
ran under the bay and got wedsed in and
was 50 frightened hat the hired man could
never milk her again, all Of which meant
that little John had to get up at 8 A. n.
to help with the milking" .,,...
When the Hon. Coolidse soes home 10 the
Vermont farm for vacation. ss be viii this
summer, be wiz don the frock Of his father,
q farmers frock woven By bis grandnother.
BE will milk the cows and help with the
harvest; at evsntide. tired out with III,
days toll, he win 90 mp to sleep under III.
raftsrs where b slept a. . bog, little dream.
Ing Of the day when he would sleep In tn,