Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-10-05
BARulC|,lH| GIVES
HIS H. IDEAS ON
FARMPROBLEMS
Orderly Adjustment Of Pro.
duction and Distribution
Needed .
lBy Bernard NJ. Baruch.1.

Prudent Ind orderly adjustment of
production and distribution in. accord
ance with consumption is recognized
az wise manakement in every business
pvt that Of farming. Yet, I venture
to say, there IL no other industry in
which it is SO important to the public
to the city dweller-that prodhc-
ton should be sure, steady, and in
creasihg, and that distribution should
he in proportion to the need. The
.unorganized farmers naturally act
blindly and impulsively and, in con-
sequence. surfeit and dearth, accom-
panied by di%sconcerting price varia-
FtionsS harrass the consumer. One
year potatoes rot in the fields because
OF excess production, and there is a
scarcity of the things that have been
displaced to make way for the expan-
sion of>the potato acreage; next year
the punished farmers mass their
I fields on some other crop. and pota-
Il toes enter the class Of luxuries! and
q so on,
Let u.s., then. consider some. of the
farmers grievances, and see how far
are real.N In doing SO. we should
sremember that, while there have
4ti$Sbeen. and still are, instances of pur-
3Tposeful abuse, tho subject should not
y approached with any general i'm
putatRn te-existing distributive agen-
cias Of deliberately. Intentional OPP
q preston, but rather with the concep-
ton that the marketing of farm pro-
ducts has not been modernized.
sF$# The Undcrgrading Evil.
An, ancient evil, and a persistent
one, is the un~dergrading of farm pro
a ducts, with the result that what the
farmers sell as of one quality is re-
sold as of a higher. That this sort Of
chicanery should persist on any i'm
portant> scale in these days Of bust
ness integrity would seem almost in
credible, but there is much evidence
that 1t does so persist
The difference between what the
farmer. receives and what the con-
sumner pays often exceeds all possibil-
. ny Of justification, To cite a single
illustration. Last year., according to
figures attested by the railways and
the growers, Georgia Watermelon
raiscrs received on the average rs
cents for carrying it to Baltimore,
and the consumer paid one dollar;
leaving 1913 cents for the service Of
marketing and its risks. as against
ZOE cents for growing and transport
ting. The hard annals Of farm life
on the crudeness of present practices.
Selling Under Pressure.
Farm products are generally. mar
keted at a time when there is a con-
Eestion Of both transportation and
f~nance--when cars and money. are
scarce. The outcome, in many in
stances. is that the farmers not only
sell under pressure and therefore at
a disadvantage, but are compelled to
take further reductions in net re-
turns, IN order to meet the charges
tor the Services of storing, transport
ing, financing, apd ultimate market
1ng---which charges, they claim. are
often excessive. bear heavily on both
consumer and producer, and aretun-
der the;contrel Of those performing
relieved Of the risks Of a. Changing
market by selling at once; but they
arc quite willing to take the unfavor-
able chance, if the favorable one also
is theirs and they can retain for