Evening star., 1926-12-10
JARD|NE REPORTS
MODERATE" GAINS
Secretary Makes No Effort to
Hide Serious Issues in
Farm Conditions.

Secretary of Agriculture w. NJ. Jar.
dine. in his annual report. made pub
lie today. described the American ar
r1cultural situation as showing fur
ther moderate Improvement" hut he
made no effort to shield the fact that
farmers still face serious Problems y
disastrous slump in cotton he pre-.
dicted. may even halt the slow prog.
resS agriculture has been making to-
ward more prosperous condition
since 1921
Even a good year. therefore," the
Secretary reported would have to I've
spoken of in terms of Improvement
rather than of full prosperity. The
situation continues to present prob
lens of heavy production and some
lingering disparity between the prices
of farm products and the prices of
industrial goods and services. These
facts must not be forgotten
On the other hand, Secretary Jar.
dine continued. they should not blind
the Nation to the real gain that has
been made. Certain regions have
suffered reverses. notably the cotton
States and part of the Spring wheat
States, where the drought brought
poor crops. Generally speaking. how
ever, he feels that the position of
agriculture is better now than it has
stock. dairy products and Winter
wheat have earned good returns.
$2.757, ,OOO,O 900 Income.
For the crop year 1885," the
report stated. "the net income of the
agricultural industry as a unit is esti-
mated at about S2757, 900 900. or per
cent more than for the crop year
1924-25. In the same period the net
return on the value of the capital in
vested was about 4.6 per cent. com
pared with 81 per cent in the crop
year 1929. Unfortunately. the re-
cent slump in cotton prices makes it
doubtful whether 192627 will carry
forward the story of Improvement at
the rate established in the last few
years"
Glancing briefly at the present stu
alton of the leading crops. Secretary
Jardine finds that Winter wheat grow
ers have harvested an excellent crop.
While the price has dropped. he feels
that the higher yields in many States
will recompense most of the farmers
for this condition. The failure of
Spring wheat. however, has had de-
pressing effect on business generally
in the affected States.
Corn More Favorable.
In the corn belt conditions are now
Somewhat more favorable than they
have been for several years. SINH
larly optimistic conditions prevail in
the live stock industry. and the sheep
industry is enjoying it's fifth con-
secutive prosperous year" On the
whole, Secretary Jardine has found
the dairy industry in relatively IA
vorable position. Judging conditions
from a section standpoint, he feels
that the Far West has shown cOntin-
ued improvement. the Pacific Coast
has had a favorable season, but the
East suffered from drought.
Secretary Jardine declared that ag-
riculture's antagonism to a protective
tariff is unwarranted. He predicted
that in the near future industry and
agriculture may change places as re-
CARDS exports. While agriculture de-
pends upon exports more today, In
dustry is expanding it's foreign COM
merce to the point where 1t may soon
outstrip the farmer. He cited, for in
stance. that in 1901 agriculture occu-
pied Coz per cent of American en-
ports Last June 1t had dropped to
406 per cent.
american agriculture" he says.
'is moving steadily toward a position
in which the home market will absorb
more and more of it's total production.
whereas industry Is becoming increas-
ingly dependent on export sales In
a comparatively short time agricul-
ture is likely to have more need OF
effective tariff protection than indus
try. 1t would be in the highest de-
gree unwise for farmers at this time
to launch an attack on the tariff.