Evening star., 1927-09-15

Farmers of the grain regions are
anXiously watching the race between
maturing crops and the threatening
frosts. With the flood disaster in the
Spring, agriculture looks with seri-
Gus attention at the possibilities OF dis
aster at harvest.
We are reminded that the average
income Of farmers is only about half
that of industrialists employed in
city enterprises, and that unless the
Government awakes to the need or
subsidiZinG agriculture, or at least
stimulating the home market, our ag-
riculture Is doomed. More than 600.-
900 farmers abandoned their life work
last year for the wages of industrial
lists. The superficial statistics ap-
pear discouraging. For example, in
1910, IT'S per cent of the population
was engaged in agriculture; in 1920.
only 26 per cent The population In
the cities grew from 40 per cent in
1900 20 54.4 per cent in 1920. This
statistical gloom is further .darkened
by the fact that the grain acreage in
the decade ended in 1900 was 2.43
acres per capita. and in the decade
ended 1920 1t had fallen to 2.07 acres
per capita
Scientific agriculture, facing the linn
itations of further expansion of
acres, is building acres on top of
acres, measured in the increased ca
pacity of the human unit. Within
the last four years he labor saving
use Of machinery has been immensely
augmented in the growing of grain
by the adoption Of what is called the
combine" machine, which reaps and
threshes the grain In one operation,
so that two men can harvest and
thresh IS acres day. With such
efficiency in farming it becomes ap-
parent why agriculture can spare
millions and yet be able to feed the in.
creasing urban population.
An invention of a labor-saving ma
chine for picking cotton Is Of as great
Importance to the Southern planter
as is the thresher- r-harvester to the
wheat raiser of the West and North
west. This implement. the invention
of a practical farmr of Texas. consists
Of box on runners, bearing in front
five or more pointed fingerlike attach
ments 4 or inches wide and feet
long, with narrowing slots between
the fingers into which the cotton
stems run as the sled is pulled
through the plant rows. This strips
the cotton and leaves it in the
box, The instrument was first used
on the 1926 crop and instantly proved
it's economy. Even when crudely
built by local blacksmith, its cost is
only about $50. A hand picker re-
auires from SO to 80 hours to pick
enough cotton for a 500-pound bale;
the sled does as much in 5 hours.
What. then. is the loss if or 10 hands
leave the plantation for work in the
city?
The use of power on farms has
more than doubled since 1900. Count
I'd in millions of horsepower, the growth
has been as follows: In 1850. it
was millions, when only horses.
mules and oxen were employed After
1870. steam and q few windmills were
used. and by 1880 It was IA millions.
In 1900, gas engines were introduced.
and the power became 30 millions.
After 1910, gas tractors and trucks
replaced horses, and by 1924 the power
was AZ millions. in place of millions
in 1850. That increase Of horsepower
accounts for the increased produc-
tivity by the men left on the farms.
And why should 1t be overlooked
that the replacement Of horses and
OlIeT LTactlte Oii AiS Aoi Ati cS
gasoline fed machines has released
millions of acres formerly required to
feed grain and hay to the animals,
and that acreage Is now added to the
available land for feeding people?
" X
DR.. A. F. Woods. director of scien-
tifc research of the Department of
Agriculture, states that for every
dollar invested by the Government
:or such research there is an increased
output of $500; SO. whether Congress
adopts one plan or another of farm
relief" the greatest relief will be more
liberal investment in knowledge Of the
values of efficiency. This applies not
only to labor-saving machinery, but
to fertilization of soils, selection of
seed and proper rotation of crops.
What difference is there between
adding another IS bushels of wheat to
the acres yield by the use OF fcrti-