Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-01-12
another indication which points to
higher food prices in the future.
Farm Implements Cost More

HlRu6T 1OOQ prlCoS III LIG 1uLuE6s
Farm Implements Cost More
Machinery and tools of all sorts
used IN the farms have greatly in
creased in price. So has lumber.
Today n farm in every twenty
eight owns at least one tractor; two
out of every hundred maintain mo-
tor trucks; while the automobile has
now become so prevalent that prac-
tically one farm of every three has
one. The great wheat and corn
states of the upper and middle Miss
issippi valley are the chief users of
tractors. Here there is a tractor for
every nine farms.
While machinery has not in
creased the output of crops per acre,
it has increased crop output per unit
of labor. In that way we are meet
ing the competition of the rest of the
world in u farm produce. The use
of machinery has had the incidental
effect of increasing the size of our
farms, through the ability of fewer
men to work more land with ma
chimes. The average American farm
today is 14S acres in area, and that
is 10 acres larger than it was in
1910.
The physical conditions of living
on farms are growing better. The
great number of automobiles in use
nearly 100000 ars on the farms
in 1920-is an indication of this.
There are about 100000 motor
trucks and $4,000 tractors in use.
Telephones are now installed in over
$500, 600 American farmhouSeS, or
in almost 40 per cent of them. Near
ly $4,000 American farm homes
have their own water and sewerage
systems. About 100000 of them are
lighted by gas or electricity.
Science May Do More for Farmers
Science, while it has done much,
has not yet rescued the farmer from
the business hazards of weather, de-
structive insect pests, or plant and
animal diseases. The commission
believes that much more can be done
to render farming less exposed to
these risks.
Hand in hand with the increase in
the value of the farm lands has gone
an increase in the total mortgage On
those lands. The lands themselves
have nearly doubled in value, but
the mortgage has considerably more
than doubled. ct is estimated that
the present total mortgage debt on
American farms is $685. 00, 900, as
against approximately $500, 900, 900
in 1910. On the average the interest
rate on the farm debt at present is
6.1 per cent.
Tenancy on American farms is in
creasing but increasing slowly. As
far back as 1880 tenants operated
about rs per cent of the farms. Forty
years later (1920) SO per cent were
run by tenants. The great increase
in American farm tenancy came dur
ing the hard times of the '9Os. In
the year 1900 more than IS per cent
of the farms were operated by ten
| ants, and tenancy has increased little
since then. Certain states, particu-
larly in New England and the North
] Atlantic section, showed considerable
decreases in the amount of tenancy.
One interesting form of absentee
ownership is represented by the
farm run by a hired manager. Farm
managership Is a growing profession,
and the number of farms run by
| these experts slowly but continually
increases. The average size of farms
operated by managers is owe 7S7
acres.
The report of the commission gives
some interesting figures to show how
stores and markets have failed to
come down with the drop in prices
of farm products. In 1918, for in
lance, cornmeal sold at retail for
three cents a pound, the retailer
making about q cent and a half a
pound profit. In 1918 cornmeal hit
the high mark Of seven cents a
pound, the wholesale price reaching
five cents and a little over. The
dealer was then content with two
cents profit. Then came the big
break in the wholesale price of corn
meal. 1t dropped to one cent and a
fraction a pound, but the dealer did
not reduce the retail price to below
five cents, making a profit of prac-
tically four cents q pound.
Similar figures + shown for rice,
round steak. lard, bacon, and other
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