Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-11-26


they are placed in the country where
they can impart their advice di-
rectly to the farmers through per-
sonal contact.
In many sections these agents
have not been popular. The farmers
have declared that they have been
tilling their acres for years and that
their fathers before them did so.
How can an upstart government ex-
pert from the agricultural college
teach them anything? That is just
the trouble, the experts say. The
farmers have been following in the
footsteps of their fathers for too
many years. The old methods were
good when they were introduced,
but the land changes with cultiva-
tion, generation after generation,
and requires new and improved
ways.
Here Is a perfect example of what
the government expert does If the
farmer will give him chance. The
facts are authentic and can be veri-
fled. A man in a Southern state
purchased farm given largely to
dairying. With the farm he took
over 105 milk cows.
The farm was located not far
from large city and presumably
the dairy end of the farm should
have been a large one. The county
agent called and asked the farmer
how he was getting along. He said
he was doing pretty well, save that
the dairy was not paying. Asked
what the trouble was, the farmer
explained that the milkmen were not
properly organized and were not
getting enough money>for their milk.
The agent asked him If he had
tested the output of his COWS. To
be sure, he said. He knew exactly
how much milk his cows produced.
But the agent asked him If he knew
how much each COW produced from
week to week. The owner had never
thought of that.
At the agents suggestion, the
farmer bought scale and at each
milking weighed the amount of milk
given by each COW. At the end of
the month he added up to totals
and ascertained how many pounds
of milk each COW in his dairy had
produced He knew what he re-
ceived in payment for his milk and
he knew what it cost him to feed
his herd of cows. The total of the
cost of feeding the cows, divided by
the number of COWS, gave him the
cost of each COW. -
This information and his calcula-
ton showed the farmer that out of
his herd of 105 cows. only four were
giving enough milk to pay more
than the cost of the herd. On 101
cows the dairyman lost money every
day. 1t would have been better for
him to give away the 101 cows and
keep only four than to maintain
the whole herd. One hundred and
one cows were guests on the farm,
eating more than they paid in re-
turn.
This information stunned the
dairyman. He was appalled, at his
losses. He then consulted the county
agent on how to pick and choose
cows. The agent explained to him
the type of COW which gives the most
milk AS rapidly as possible, the
dairyman sold his guest cows to the
butcher for meat and bought cows
of the right type. BY the time he
had replaced the 101 guests with
101 cows who paid their way, his
profits had reached $1,000 a month
BY the assistance and advice re-
ceived free of charge from the coun-
ty agent, this farmer had changed
loss into a large profit. 1t cost
no more to feed or tend the milk
giving cows and he got no higher
price for the product. He turned a
dismal loss into a big profit simply
admitting that the government ex-
pert from the college knew more
than hel
Another case was that of a corn
farmer. He was very poor and
worked hard but somehow never
seemed to get ahead. He worked
as hard as his father and grand
father had worked but each year
found him growing poorer and work
ing harder. A county agent ana
lyzed his situation for him. The
corn farmer worked his farm with
mules. The agent made an analysis
which showed that mule can
plough and cultivate between six
teen and seventeen acres year. Ii
was necessary to feed each mule a
peck of corn a day, in addition to
hay. A calculation showed that in
the course of year one mule would
eat all the corn produced on nine
acres OF land, at the rate of pro-
ductionN per acre the farm was re-
turning. The maximum production
was seventeen bushels per acre, nine
bushels of which were consumed by
the mule. Therefore, the farmer was
working more than so per cent. for
the mule and less than SO per cent
| for himself.
The trouble was, the county agent
showed the corn farmer, that he hao
continued to work his land without
rotating or diversifying his crops
and without applying any fertilizer
to the land. Each year, for genera
| ton after generation, this family
| had been taking from the soil with
out putting anything back or putting
back the wrong kind of fertilizer.
An analysis of the corn farmer:
soil was made and 1t was found tC
to fairly good but lacking one min
| eral constituent necessary to sue.
cessful corn growing. The farmer
bought this kind of fertilizer an6
gradually increased his crop to g
| production of thirty bushels to the
acre. Instead of working half 9
year with his mules, he was working
less than a third of year for them
At the last report his chances of de.
creasing this to one-fourth were
good.
These examples are merely typi'
| cal. The general experience is tha'
farmers are not maintaining theil
land properly orr are not seiec'ins
tkeir crops or livestock properly t.