South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1921-01-02
AGRICULTURE

The department OF agriculture. as
the year ends is again urging the
farmer 20 make au inventory Of his
property business men are max
ing inventory ~ their stocks No
business man would think of doing
otherW use. The introduction of BUSH
ness u th0ds on the farm about
which much ls s1id and written, i'm
plies taking inventory with regular
IT'S and accuracy. An inventory
would reveal 20 many "a farmer
gains or losses which he did not sus-
poet and might apprecIahly alter his
Eicw of the season S profit Through
au inventory be viii find the extent
to which equipment has been loaned,
broken. lost. or allowed 20 dcpreci-
ate. Inventory often shows up many
leaks that can be stopped.
Farm Inventories are not difficult
90 make. They tell the farmer not
only what he farm is worth but
how his Investment I'm equipment is
distributed. Farming is an intricate
business. says the department, re-
turns from which are sometimes
long DELAYED Cash income may
sometimes Doe almost wholly attrib-
ut3ble 90 reduction iu assets. The
farmer needs AN exact and detailed
system of measurement. The in
ventOry is an the more important by
reason of the large financial prob
lems which confront the farmer,
which Secy Meredith declares rank
in Importance with the financial
problems Of commercial industries.
They concern credit. insurance tax
alton and other matters.
Have You a Substitute?
Most farmers are dissat isfed with
the operations Of the Chicago grain
exchange and the activities Of bears.
which frequently depress quotations
below the level which world condi
tions justify, as at present and pro-
duce violent fluctuations in the mar
ket Destructive criticism is always
more plentiful than constructive
criticism. Few critics of the grain
exchange there are many
have any substitution 10 offer. II II.
Mack. market editor Of the Michigan
Business Farmer. while attacking
abuses which the present system of
grain marketing permits admits that
the wonderful efficiency Of many
board Of tarde methods has aided
greatly in handling the tremendous
cereal crops produced I'm the west
during the past quarter of a cen
fury" He favors rigid regulation"
by the United States government,
but not humiliation" and severe
punishment Of traders who resort to
illegumate and dishonest practices"
Mack favOrs preserving all the legit-
innate and useful features of the
present board of trade. Meantime
the committee Of II is working on a
cooperative grain marketing plan
which shall supercede private agen-
cies This committee has petitioned
congress To forbid short selling"
and is agitating TO compel admission
farmers cooperative commission
companies to the grain exchanges.
Business men, particularly grain
commission merchants, deride eff
forts to find a workable substitute
for the modern grain exchange,
claiming that plans 10 legislate the
wheat pit out of existence would es-
tablish fictitious value for grain out
of alignment with other commodity
values and would hinder the farmer
I'm marketing his crops. They deem
the grain exchange the most scien-
titc machinery yet devised for faCil-
itate the movement and distribution
of grains and the most efficient
barometer of world grain values"