Evening star., 1924-09-14
BY DREW PEARSON.
b1 DHE" PEANSON.
ENRY FORD believes that tho
cow Is on its way along with
the horse to that limbo of

FoRD believes thaf the
u cow is on its way along with
the horse to that limbo of
4 i forgotten things where rest
bows and arrows, body ar
NOR, sedan chairs and other relics OF
cruder ages.
Cows and horses are both inefficient
and unhealthy in the opinion OF Ford
and their inefficiency Is rivaled by the
farmer who uses them. When 1 in
terpolated plea on behalf of the
cow on the ground that it at least has
its uses as a milk producing animal.
Ford waved my objection aside as
unimportant.
Machine process" he said, "can
manufacture milk more efficiently
than the crude system used by the
cow. 1t is simple matter to take
the same cereals that cows eat and
make them into milk that is su-
perior to the natural article and
free from tuberculosis germs. Our
laboratories have demonstrated that
fact"
Cow Not Going Yet.
But the doom of the cow is not to
be immediate. Ford comedies that
she will be with US for some years
yet and that the first step toward her
elimination should be concentrating
the present herds on dairy farms
which would run in conjunction with
cheese and butter factories. When l
suggested that in addition to her use
as milk producer she catered to a
rather popular taste for beefsteaks
and similar dinner table decorations,
he replied:
Meat is not essential. 1t can be
replaced with a scientifically manu-
factured substitute. However, if peo-
ple insist on eating meat, our beef
cattle and sheep should be concen-
trated on the ranches of the West
There are great sections of the West
which are too dry for cultivation and
can be used for little else than pas
ture land
The horseless and coWless farms
which Henry Ford forsees in the flu
ture will differ also in many impor-
tant respects from the farm of today.
In the automobile manufacturers s
opinion. a good share Of at least all
the farmers troubles are due to his
own inefficiency.
Calls Farmer IneGcient.
THE most inefficient man in the
world is the farmer" he said. "No
old-fashioned farmer ever made
money. One trouble with him is
that he does not figure his own time
as valuable. Just because he starts
at five in the morning and finishes at
seven in the evening he thinks he
works But long hours do not mean
work accomplished. If the farmer
cut out some of his back breaking
drudgery he would not find it so hard
to keep young men on the farm. We
cannot get people to do back labor
even in the cities. 1t costs more than
to hire good mechanicS'
How much time should the farmer
spend at his work." 1 asked
About 25 intensive days a year,
providing he has machinery and
hires help. L consider hiring extra
men an economy rather than an ex-
travagance: 1t permits you to finish
one job and get on to the next. Most
They stick in their farms the year around
nursing few cows and horses. The
horse is so inefficient, / marvel he has
lasted this long. He eats his head off
in the stable 265 days of the year and
generates less power for the fuel he
consumes than any source of energy
save the elephant Farming in the
future is going to be organized on
big scale just as industry is This
new movement is going to be helped
by the new farmers-the city fell
~" - rCCH anu VINO nave
been floundering around in the city
trying to find themselves. City chaps
know modern machinery methods and
once they learn what mud is they
make good farmers. There is no rea-
son why farming should not be one
OF the pleasantest and most profitable
occupations in the world. I believe it
soon will be-"
Factory Farmers.
IF the farmer reduces his working
days to 25 in the year, what will he
do with the rest Of his time?" asked
Ford smiled. DO you ever think"
he said, "of the prodigious waste We
tolerate in hauling our cattle all the
way to Chicago, slaughtering them
and shipping them back to where
they came from in canned and frozen
FORM? 1t is loss not only OF trans
portation, but the animals los.
weight. Did you ever consider also
the waste of shipping our wheat TO