Evening star., 1928-05-26
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAUL Y. COLLINS.

The poet preacher. George Crabbe,
even before the McNary-Haugen bill
was born--in fact more than a century
ago-remarked.
Our farmers round, well pleased with
constant gain,
Like other farmers, flourish and COM
plain"
In ell other industries but agricul-
uire II is taken as a sign OF increasing
prosperity TO discover that increased
product comes with decreased competi-
tion. Agriculture. in the last 10 years,
has demonstrated that 1t has too many
workers. and SO II has Sloughed on
more than 5000 900 men and millions
of animals, yet it continues 10 make
larger output tnan 1t ever did before
the World War
There Is no mystery about this result,
for. in place of manual and animal toll
ii has adopted improved machinery and
improved brains Why should IL not
make use OF the tools of this mechani-
cal age? Would city folks complain
tnat the automobile carries them SO
times faster than oxen, and in greater
economy and comfort? When Crabbe
wrote of his neighbor farmers. grain
was cut with a sickle---aS 1t still Is In
backward countries. Now in the United
States grain is cut and simultaneously
threshed with combine" even IN the
Midwest, 40 acres a day per machine,
and cotton Is picked with fingered
sled and corn Is grown where only frost
was indigenous" and the Silo multipileS
the feed value OF the corn, while the
substitution of gasoline IN place Of
clover and timothy, as feed for motive
power. releases 10000 900 acres OF pas
turage and feed-crop land, and adds
it to acres producing surplus human
food
Great as has been the development of
industry IN the last century. still greater
has been the evolution of agriculture.
OF course. it is misleading to attempt
To form conclusions as TO the trend OF
agriculture. by noting only one or two
seasons. All agricultural results are de-
pendent upon weather and other in1u-
ences beyond the foresight and efforts
OF the farmers. So trends can be cal
culated only on the basis Of long pc
RODS, giving average conditions.
Wartime stimulation of farming has
been oycreStimated in the public mind.
There was no per capita increase OF
crops during the war period. one must
realize that great bodies move slowly
and the farmers gained no momentum
before The war was over. They easily
turned from diversified farming 10
grain, but only at the sacrifice OF other
crops. and there was no actual increase
per man until two years after the war
had ended ~ia3l But by then the
farmers had assumed the tremendous
burden OF increased land valueS-~or
rather valuations through wildcat
speculation together with increased
debts and taxes. SO that they, III mass,
were obliged 10 carry an increased nur~
den of fixed charges amounting 10
$625 900 900 a year. taxes and interest
ON investment or debts,
Hence. they felt no relief from the
increased product although, without II,
bankruptcy rising from speculation
would have come all the sooner. In
Iowa Tor example twhenee comes half
of the MeNary- Haugen biin. land was
sold In 1921 and - at $4o0 to $500
an acre, and thousands imagined that
to be d legitimate Investment Tor crop
production Now the same land sells
for a third Of la2i-22 prices. N compe~
tition with other land equally fertile.
Farming is getting back 10 earth h~at
least for dirt farmers.
= =
The farm output of i922~S6 was "A
per GEM greater than trom lalf~2t, eut
our total population increased III that
period only y per cent In short, asri~
culture was growing 50 per cent faster
than our population The wartime
stimulation was getting It's momentum,
years after the war. Even the COWS
showed stimulation They increased In
number I per cent, but they gave 70
per cent more milk. and the milk was
richer IN butteriat BoSSy had struck
a gast IN cuC-chewtnG, and Kept II M
long after NIT Hoover had returned
from feeding European babies,
II was like that, too, tn hogs, the
number of hogs did not increase, but
under closer inspection they gave 20
per cent more pork not pork but
real meat So states the Department of
Agriculture. aud that Is scientific. not
political Farmers have learned thai
cattle. slaughtered young, give u greater
output OF meat per huShel OF grain than
older cattle,
In the first decade al this century,
prophets predicted that With the IN
Cfrasing population, We would soon hS
unable to feed ourselves without import
tug meats and grain. but then came
better methods of farming, ana Sc We
created SurpllSeS. instead If deficits, II
Is nov declared that We shall be able to
feed ourselves antIl we shalt have a
population of 200 u0O 900 Instead al !
100 OOO, 900. Even then. Henry ford
promises 90 give uS in mass production
synthetic miik" without COWS. and that
will again add to our ttilahle acres just
as did paStureteSS tractors replacing
mules and horses synthetic milk needs
NO clover nor ensilaAe it ehews the eud
at sunshine. We are adding isOe,OOO
net to ou population annually, bat
white, the sun Line holds out to burn We
shah nesef 81 ? the paddle In tins syns