The Mena weekly star., 1921-12-22

dehnltely encouraging. 1T we turn TOT the time from the cold, statistical view point, and consider the situation from that of human life on the farm in it's relation to what we call eco- monies, we find that the situation holds promise strangely in contrast to the present unhappy conditions. It may sound paradoxical to say that the economic crisis thru which we are now passing promises in the long run to make for better farm homes and higher standard of living on the farm, but there is an aspect in which our present loss seems to forshadow de- cided gain in that respect.
 We are all familiar with the farmer, of the type so common in the past, whose only idea of efficiency is to rob the soil to the limit, and whose only idea of way to use profits is to in- vest them in more land, and still more land. Strangely enough, this course, which would seem to lead at least to financial prosperity, serves to defeat it's own end. The continual effort to invest farm profits in more land tends to bid up the price of land beyond the level justified by return from the land, and thus to increase the cost of production by increasing the charge for the use of land. At the same time the effort to justify the investment tends to increase production, irrespec- tive of market demands. Thus we have a vicious circle about which the farmer chases the will-o'- '-the-wisp of profit, only to find that his effort has increased the price of land and low cred the price of the products of the land.
 The day of this kind of farming is about over. The farmer of the new day knows that such tactics are those of the dog chasing his tail; that in effect they serve to put him in com petition with himself, and that they lead periodically to agricultural de- pression. He knows that farming is fundamental industry, that the laborer is worthy of his hire, and that he is entering upon an era in which sound agronomy and sound business practices must prevail over the hap hazard methods of the soil-exploita- tion era of American agriculture. Knowing this, he will realize that the steady flow of profit necessary to the successful prosecution of his business and the happiness of his family will depend on the way in which he gauges his production with reference to de- mand, and on the efficiency with which he grows and markets his products, rather than on his skill or luck in handling real estate.
 Slump Brings Good.
 From this viewpoint, at least, the agricultural slump is not an unmixed evil, since it's tendency is to shake out of the running the type of farmer whose influence has tended to keep down the prices of farm products and lower the standard of living on the farm. To the progressive farmer, who certainly has been hard hit by the slump, this may seem poor consolation now, but as the situation develops it seems likely that the advantage will swing more and more to his side The farmer who is fitted to cope with the new situation is the farmer who is able to adjust himself promptly to the new conditions, and who sees that, in the long run, the cause of agriculture and of rural life in general is served | by maintaining or raising the stan dard of living on the farm, rather than by using all surplus profit to bid up the price of land when there are more bidders than the profits of the soil will justify.
 After all, better living is the true ! goal of the farming business. There is no more biting commentary on our modern life than that cynical aphor- ism to which it has given currency
 business is business" That business should become fits own synonym" as some one has put it, is sh9meful thing, and the farmer who thinks of the farming business as having no object beyond mere financial success life.
 There is a great class of forward looking farmers in this country who know better than that. We may rest assured that these men, in working out the vexing problems that the agri- cultural slump has spawned, will not be so foolish as to forget that the question of the financial future of American farming is inextricably con- nected with the question of better living in the farm home and the farm community.