Evening star., 1924-05-19
GAIN OF POPULATION
IN FARM AREAS NOTED
Increase Is Per Cent Since 1890
With Improved Lands Advanc-
ing 5 Per Cent.
BIG DRAIN ON RESOURCES
Statistics Bearing on Claim of
Agricultural Prosperity.
BIG DRAIN ON RESOURCES
BY j. C. ROYLE.
Special Dispatch to The Star

Special Dispatch to The Star
NEW YORK, May 19.-There is a
wide variance about how prosperous
the farmer of this country says he is
and how prosperous the economists,
Stattsticians, bankers and merchants
assert he is. Low, hollow means arise
from agricultural districts, even from
hahSas, where crop prospects are ad-
mlttedly bright, when the son of the
soil Is asked how he is getting along.
On the other hand. mail order houses
winch are supposed to be in the most
intimate possible touch with the
farmer and his financial situation, de-
clare that domestic demand for agri-
cultural products within the next ten
years will exceed domestic supply
and that this will mean stability and
high prices
population is gaining fast on land
resources, according to the Sears
Roebuck agricultural foundation,
which is less we'll known than d
Sears Roebuck catalogue, although
sponsored by the same people. In
1870. there were only 116 inha abitants
to each 1000 acres of improved farm
lands. Since then, population has
grown Is per cent and improved farm
lands have increased only per cent.
Relating to Wheat Expectation.
Last year nearly 20 per cent of the
total United States wheat crop was
tagged for expert. together with Is
per cent of the corn, l per cent of
the cats, 81 per cent of the rye. Is
per cent of the rice, 10 per cent of
the meat products, nearly so per cent
of the cotton and SO per cent of the
tobacco.
The increase in population. how
ever. is now about 100000 inhab-
itants a year. Ten years hence. there
will be from 125.000.000 to 10000,
600 people to feed. If agricultural
production does not increase-aTR1
farmers constantly are being urged
to restrict atcreage-and domestic
consumption per capita remains as
high as at present. the present eX-
portable surplus of food products
will be required at home. according
TO the foundation. while il will be
necessary to cut cotton and tobacco
exports from % to 40 per cent of
their present volume. and since de-
mand will be close on the heels of
supply, adequate prices can be eN-
pected in ten years.
That prediction does not add much
cheer to the farmer just at present.
He wants adequate prices now, as
= witness his attitude on the pending
farm legislation in Congress. The
general trend, however throughout
and more intensive cultivation which
is doing much to aid the farmer, even
though he may not realize it at the
moment.
Big Ranches Being Cut.
The big farms and ranches of Texas
are being cut into small plots and in
tensely cultivated. The average Cali
fornia farm now consists of 249.6
acres. This is a tremendous reduction
from the early days when farms of
more than 5000 acres were common,
but the smaller tracts of the present
are worth more in many instances
than the old ranches, some of them
being valued as high as $1,000 to
$4,000 an acre.
The 11,S7S.339 acres of improved
Califo rnia farm lands last year pro-
duced crops valued at $500, 100000, or
almost $50 and acre, for every acre
titled.
The total value of the tremendous
farms and ranches of the early Ar
gonaut days amounted to only about
S4.000,00o. These same lands today
are worth nearly $4,000 100000, and
similar increases have come to the