Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1922-11-05
BETTER LIVING IS GOAL
OF THE FUTURE FARMER
American Farmer in Death
Valley Period, Says
II. C.. Taylor.
HOPE FOR FUTURE
Government Agricultural Hcnd Snyr
Farms Must BE PInrrd on Scicn-
fihc BasIs for RrsuIts-sIump
BrinSs Good.
IBy ~. G.. 'rnyIor.

chief Of the Burcau Of Markets. u
S. Dept. Of Agriculture.
Editors Motel =. Taylor. chief
OF the Hurcau of Markets Tor the
United Stntcs department Of ArricuI-
tur", Is both a scientific and old
fashioned" farmer. While his years
81 specialization aud intensity. stud.
hav" given him wide BACKGROUND
on which TO has" theory and practice.
u. has also undertaken the task of
understanding the actual conditions
which confront the American farmer
~" Is recognized as one Of tho mon
who viii ligh, tho way for ,hc
American arricuitUr;st to a futur.
~ Greater production and evcr-re
ducing overhead.
Tho American tnrm.r f. now n,.s
me through barren aud lnhospit
All" waste. sort II Death VALLEY
among his landmarks Having been
through such experiences before. ya
( may confidently count on coming
through. as ~" always have in IN.
past but "" arc liviu: in a :onTs
paradise II by that token wc non.
q? com" ont az tho same pl:c. ,yo
went IN w" might as well adrni,
once i"r all that IN" good old
: times "i American arricrltir. ,h.
fro" aud "nsy times of ch,ap LAM,
continually ndvaucinL ia price. ar,
gone forever.
Tho chang" ~ base was incyI,allc
H"uccf"r'h. Instead Of an svri,t,I.
tur' c"nducich lnoScly. with ono cvc
ON IN" Increment In land yalu. w..
nlS' hay" - light and rational apr:-
culture. hhs"d urou sound agrnnomv
ana animal hushandry. and q know!-
"dr" - tho cost ~ nroJuc,tnr .,i
~ market conditions. I,.ncnrnr,h
80" mu'' c"nduc, our farming opo-a.
''"n- 50 TINT thcv Will Weld proH,.
on 'nrn " basis. rather than as \,
S'H" lir" IN Speculative deal in
r"al estate"
tn" "u,lnok?
rom III" purely economic sid. tho
"r'i""k is dark enough. though
ihcr" l. reason 70 bnIi.vo ina, 10
n Is w." rHs' Tn" consuming
pupIlc seems to have no rorcc,,iuu
or N" plight ia which tho farmer
h't been l"f, b.! tho slurnp I'm Earn
prices. All that tho consumed
knows j. that retain prlc"s have no,
com" down TO anywhere ncar tho
pr"-war lcT"i, and ne may axsur.
mat the farmer is stlll getting hi.,h
prices when. ~ "a matter Of fact. no
- getting smaller not returns for
'h'N ne cnt IN 1913.
ana In dollars that viii huv onIv
about half as much per dollar
would his 1919 dollars
TAKE "a cnnCrct" rxPrrnl. Tho 7.
- department ~ Agriculture b,.
mao" an annual ANALYSIS of III. bu.,
ness ~ 100 REPRESENTATIVE farms in
central Indiana for She past cIrh,
!'''S' IN 1918 Tn" nv"rar" net in
com" Of th"s" farms. tho return for
"a MI -.
~" th' not InCrU" was onl,. 81 oeo
However. this falling on doc M,
m"asnr" IN" actual d"adlinc in III.
farmers income. FOR in lpon v-b,I
tHIc prices Of commodities other than
farm products averaged NOR. tb,,
'wo-and-a half times as high ns ~.
corresponding prices in ini3 Tn,
~ II TOOK AT least '2.3o of this lao0
in"om" 10 buy what a dolior v,ula
have houch; In ial3 Consequently
Win a total smaller by over 5000 ana
dollar shrunl tn cnris III.
average 1920 inCor" az IN. rrou, ~.
'arinS In question would buy MOI
more than "nc-third as much ne
would the average Tor 1873.
Sihc" tho current year, thus far
certainly has been 10 more favorable
:" 'hc farmer than WAS 1870. We may
gain from the might of these Indian,
farmers fairly good idea of tho
plight of the American farmer ~
large IL should he borne in mind in
inns connection that tho nhoyc com
parsons are drawn on the basis az
wholesale prices tina, the farmer
cns'omarily 'hUys at retail and sells
Mt Wholesale. and that retail prices
ARC still relatively very much higher
than wholesale prices II is also i'm,
r"rtnnt To note that though whole
sale prices have fallen since 1920 IN,
prices OF fnrm products have fallen
much farther than those OF other
commodities. With these facts In
view. it is clear that we have NOT
shown the condition OF thcs. IndI-
ana farmers in its worst possible as
done better In tho past year and a
haii than have these men: many. cs-
pc"iaily In tn" South. certainly have
not don" So well. ON the whole,
think we may say that the above is
Il '"nscrVativ" statement of repre-
sentative situation.
~ is possible TO CLEAN an cantor,
from such a situation
From IN" strictly economic stand
point II takes very close study ot the
price curves. and perhaps bias to-
ward optirnist. 10 detect signs Of i'm
nrovcment hut IL begins To look as
though the farm price curve has
dipped as low MS II is going on this
swing
There is ANOTHER point Of view. how
ever from which the outlook is more
definitely encouraging. II We turn