The Grangeville globe. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho) 1907-1922, 1922-03-02
Local Farmer Advances Argu-
ment for Better Business
Methods.
HORSE FOR ALL WORK
Dean Iddings to Furnish Sta
tistics Regarding Cost Of
Producing.
By VIM. POTTER.

The agricultural interests Of this
country, or rather the people engaged
In producing farm products, have lost
money so rapidly in the last eighteen
months that large percent OF them
have no visible means Of support.
The condition is so unusual that
1t has attracted the attention Of the
entire country.
There have been numerous confer
ences called to discuss the situation,
and In all cases they seem to have ar
rived at one conclusion, namely, that
the farmer must help himself by
adopting business methods, etc. In
no case have they suggested what
these business methods should be, ex-
cept to suggest that we produce more
efficiently the products that we al
ready have in such quantities that
we cannot find a lucrative market for
them.
You hear 1t repeatedly remarked
that there Is no overproduction per-
haps this is true from the purchasers
standpoint, but from the producers
standpoint there certainly is an over
production, as supply and demand abb
s0lutely regulates the price. And the
purchasing power of farm products
for last eighteen months does not
justify the continued production of
these products.
Now let us see what business meth
DDS could be applied, and while we
are searching we probably could not
find any better criterion than the
manufacturing interests of this coun-
try. They first control supply, there
by being able to fix the price so that
they are insured a reasonable profit /;
next they continually endeavor to In
crease the demand, thereby increasing
the total Of their profits.
The first of their methods are rath-
er hard to apply to agriculture as our
interests are scattered out over such
a vast area that it hard to get togeth-
er to control acreage planted. But
In analyzing the situation the writer
believes there is a simple solution and
good field for endeavor in the line
Of increased consumption, and along
this line great many of us will not
have to go off our farms to get action.
We are referring to farm power,
and believe that if the farmer will
grow his own horses or purchase them
from neighbor, instead of buying q
tractor from the manufacturing inter
ests, and grow his own feed for these
horses to do his work or purchase
the feed from a neighbOr, instead of
buying gas and oil from the Standa rtl
Oil Co., he would immediately reverse
the condition, and the agricultural in
dustry would be the most prosperous
of any industry In the United States
The consumption of food products
of this country Is SO little below the
line of production that very small
variation would put the producer in
control of his own market. And for
the farmer to produce his own farm
power is a simple solution of the prob
lem.
The tractor manufacturers have
gone together and are continually
holding meetings throughout the coun.
try, trying to induce the farmer tC
use tractor power on the farm, ano
they are fairly successful In their ef
forts although the farmer should
know, and the manufacturer mus
know that the farmer Is cutting hil
own throat and digging his own grave
when he listens to them. And 1t seems
that herein would lay an opportun
ity for the Farm Bureau to get In its
work, call meetings and put out prop
aganda to Offset the propaganda put
out by the manufacturing interests.
The writer took this up recently
with Dean e. ]. Iddings of the Uni
versity of Idaho. Mr.. Iddings was en-
thusiastic, he admitted that 1t was {
very simple solution of the problem, OF
II not an entire solution 1t would be .
very great help. He agreed to di,
into 1t, find out the draw bar hors,
power Of tractors used in the Unitet
States, estimate the number of acre
that 1t would take to produce an,
grow that number of horses to matur
ity, also the number of acres it woul,
take to feed them in their daily worl
after they had been put into service
and to forward this information t,
the writer, and of course the informa
tion will be available to any one.
And l believe my farmer friend
will find 1t very interesting reading
and perhaps open their eyes and shoy
them one department where they cal
successfully use business methods.
There seems to be some argumen
as to the relative cost Of the two dii
ferent classes of farm power. In fig
uring this cost the farmer should no
overlook the fact that i'm growing an
maintaining the horse he is utiliZin