Milford chronicle. [volume] (Milford, Del.) 1878-1974, 1925-04-10
DRIVE TO BRIGHTEN
LIFE OF FARMERS
Have'sAt Their Doors What City
FOIks6Spend Millions To Get,
Secretary Says.
HOLD. GOSPEL OF GLOOM
is. FUNDAMENTALLY WRONG

teachings OF the SJOdSy Olu ~OePalI
ment of Agriculture.
Secretary Jardine has assailed the
gospel of gloom preached to the tar-
mer. He proposes to stand the Iun-
damentalists in their heads, II neeu
he to talk hope and happiness to
American agriculture. He is not
adverseTo casting stones at the head
of that giant fetish-yOu can't sep
arate farmer from a crouch.
If he has his way, the polltlcal
snake doctors will have hard tlmes
to farm the farmer" He would
Danish the "barnyard blues ana
other doleful, mOurnful tunes ana
revive some interest in new versions
of such classics as q Love the
Cows and Chickens" and Down on
the Farm"
Secretary Jardine proceeds from
the premise that the joys and COM
forts of town" are exaggerated
. glories, while "hardships and de-
privations" of the farmer are mag
nified.
Good News for the Farmer
81 propose to tell the American
farmer what I have been telling the
Kansas farmer" Secretary Jardine
saws. "That is, that the farmers OF
Upper Broadway, New York, N. Y,
are spending millions of dollars to
obtain precisely what every farmer
has already-a real home, a real
out-of-doors, a real chance to live
and to create"
Mr.. Jardine does not propose try
inc to city slick" the farmers into
believing something which is not
entirely true. He does want them
to know they have some things
right now city men would give much
to possess.
rich men in Philadelphia, in
New York, in Boston, in Chicago
and in city after city are going out
into the country buying sections Of
ground and spending fortunes for
improvements" Mr.. Jarding ar
CUES. "Why? Just for the chance
to raise flowers and crops and to
breed blooded cattle; the chance to
get away from the cities. Our far
mers have those opportunities by
heritage. They would get more out
of life if they would plant a few
flowers and make their homes at
tractive through resort to the ways
and means within reach"
Now, that may sound as if the
new Secretary of Agriculture is
day-dreaming, as he looks from his
Office across the well-kept lawns,
the drives and the flower beds of
the big red building in the park.
He must not be misjudged. His
philosophy begins there; but it
runs far into the realm of things
practical.
Mr.. Jardine is setting out to es-
tablish the principle that merely to
grow two blades of grass where one
grew before is not going to solve
the farmers problem because the
ground from which that grass
springs costs five times more than
it did twenty years ago.
125-Egg Hens Wanted
Be-. To keep apace of the times the
farmer must discard the two blade J
grass-growing principle and work /
to the end that the grade American
hen must be trained to lay 125 eggs /
a year instead of siXty-five; that /
the American COW must abandon |
her 10 pounds a year average in |
butter fat and produce at least 400 !
pounds; that the scrubs" must go |
from cattle herds, because they are |
not worth their feed and better |
breeding will eliminate them.
Secretary Jardine would have the /
farmers quit scrapping among |
themselves, quarreling over which /
one of several plans suggested for |
helping them should be adopted. |
He is convinced that, if the facts |
are presented properly to the bust |
ness men of the country they will |
be anxious to help the farmer.
Instead of a farmer just bring
ing a basket of eggs to town with /
buff-cOlOred eggs and white eggs, |
little ones and big ones all mixed |
together, he should bring in eggs of |
uniform size and color" Mr.. Jar
dine said. Boston people want |
buff-colored eggs for their break
fast; New York wants white eggs.
Some one has to sort those eggs out |
in town and that costs money.
Furthermore, it costs just as I
much to ship an old egg to New
York as it does a fresh one. The
market for the old egg is mighty |
poor, but the market for the fresh |
one is very good.
Value of Uniformity
"Now, my idea is that in certain
sections there should be one or two
breeds of chickens, all producing
white eggs so that the purchaser
could be assured that when he
bought eggs from that district, he
would get the kind of eggs he want
ed and of approximately the same |
size. In that way the poultry pro-
ducers of that locality could make
a contract with any buyer to ship |
a carload of eggs to him every few
days, and the high uniform quality
would command the top price. Let
another locality produce buff-color-
ed eggs and so on.
"By careful breeding and good |
care, it has been demonstrated that |
hens can be made to lay as high as |
$50 eggs a year. The ACREAGE hen
now lays sixty-fve eggs a year.
Even with focks of chickens, the |
average ought to be brought up to
125.
"What applies to eggs applies to
dairy products and even to livestock
itself. Because Wisconsin is pro-
ducing a high quality of dairy pro-
ducts and has established reputa-
ton as a butter and cheese State,
it's butterfat is commanding ten
cents a pound more on the average
than that coming from other States,
where the quality is not as uni
formly good"
When Mr.. Jardine finishes talk
ing on how the American farmer
can develop his economical condi-
+in1, he nffers some details as to |