The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1924-01-22
DIVERSIFIED FARMING AND
WHEAT

what eHpcL jncTc WOulu ne on inc
spring wheat industry of the
Northwest if The Government de-
cides to lend so million dollars to
the farmers TO accelerate the
movement to diversified farming.
The thought never has entered
the minds OF the SPONSORS Of this
relief plan that, if adopted, it
would have the effect of abolish
ing, or even seriously disrupting,
the production of wheat in this
region. The contention of these
sponsors-and it is entirely sound
and rcasonable-is that the diver
sified farming which is to be pro-
NOTED would simply give to wheat
production its due and appropriate
place i'm the logical farm economics
OF the Northwest.
Under the One-crOp practice IL
has come to be virtually a phySi~
cal impo sibility for the spring
wheat farmers 10 produce enough
grain on their acres to make the
crop paying one. The great
basic reason for this unfortunate
condition is that wheat raising as
hitherto pre- cticed :ias so depleted
the fertility OF the soil that it sim
ply will not yield enough bushels
per acre to make the crop show Il
rea sonable profit in ordinary times.
Take North Dakota for illustra-
ton: That state has lately been
producing about 9l2 bushels to the
acre of wheat as an average. This
yield compares with Is to is bush
diversified farming are OF long
standing. With balanced farming,
in which dairy cows and livestock
figure in their proper proportion,
elements which make for soil fer
tility go back regularly into the
ground. Waste from barns and
farmyards is an excellent fertili-
ger. There is crop rotation.
Fields are rested by the change and
by lying fallow.
What has this to do with wheat
production? 1t me ans that great
err amount of wheat can be raised
on the same acreage, or an equal
amount of wheat on a smaller acre
age. 1t means smaller invest
ment of capital and labor for
given output of product. 1t means,
in short, larger income as relat-
ed to outgo. What diversified
farming does as applied to wheat,
it does also as applied to other
field crops.
One thing government cannot do
is to legislate fertility directly in
to the soil. The hest thing it can
DO in this connection is to co
operate with the farmer in the es
enlistment of such farm policies
as will retain or restore soil pro-
Iuctivity. This is one of the very
important things the. government
will be doing if it sets up the pro-
posed revolving fund OF so million
dollars to be lent to the farmers
! to enable them to buy field and
barnyard animals as logical step
toward diversified farming. In
whatever other way Congress may
see fit to extend its aid to farmers
of the Northwest, the promotion of
diversified farming is fundamental
ly essential because diversified
farming is the one great thing
requisite to place agriculture in
the spring wheat area more near
ly on an economic parity with ag
riculture in other Carts of the
country where the productivity of
the soil is on higher average
level.
h,N hnv vt
ents in mind as desirable in giving
the farmer the cooperation he
needs will do we'll to consider
whether these eXpedients would
be of value in re-establishing orig
inal productive powers in the soil,
or whether they might not rather
tend toward perpetutation of con-
ditions that have contributed to
soil imprOverishment
Let us repeat that dairying or
ether phases OF diversified farming
will not dislodge wheat as one of
the major crops of the Northwest.
Spring wheat will continue to be
logical factor in the general
scheme of balanced husbandry. and
it will be a much more desirable
factor as acreage yields are en-
HANGED by more intelligent use
OF the soil
, Nor is dairying likely to be over
done under the new order of agri
culture. The industry necessarily
will be of gradual development.
Man cannot create and government
cannot legislate more COWS over
night. For some years to come
there cannot be anything more
than transference of COWS from
one owner to another or from one
community or state to another.
Also for some years to come this
transference OF COWS from one
owner or habitant to another will
have as its principal effect the en-
abling of thousands of farmers to
produce butter and meat for their
own use, thus necessitating i
smaller cash outlay for the main
tenance of their tables. 1t is to be
remembered in this connection
that diversified farming is import
ant not merely for what it makes
tor the farmeH but for what it
saves to him in the running of mis-
farm plant.-Minneapolis Tribune.
HOLLYWOOD Rifles