Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-12-22
INCREASED WHEAT
UNITS SAVE COST
Large Grower Says PFOduc-
ton Is Cheapened by
Big Operations.
BY JOHN r. SINCLAIR.
hal Dispatch to The star.

special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, December 2i.-Twenty
years ago-even 10 years ago-the unit
wheat farm was q small one-from $50
to $40 acres. Farm mortgage com
panies were glad to receive applications
from the small farm owners-"mucn
safer loans" was the opinion. But it
was much more difncult to place loans
on the big farms--the bonanza ones:
too risky and dangerous, 1t was thought.
But the last five years has seen q
real change in this situation. Today
the farm movement II toward the
larger and larger wheat unit, and It
is not confined to any one section Of
the West.
J. s. Bird, president Of the Wheat
Farming Co. OF Topeka, Kans., which
company farms approximately $4,000
acres Of western Kansas land, Is one
Of the new leaders. He will have $1,000
acres in crop Of 1880 sown.
Cost Of Production.
Our records show that the cost of
producing wheat in this large-Scale way
Tor the two years of the companyS
operation has been under 20 cents
DuShel," said Mr.. Bird.
THE cost-accounting system Of the
company shows that the cost, exclusive
OF our land rent, Is about IS per acre.
We use no horses All labor is hired
ana the company goes in for tractors
and combines"
What Is your solution Of the wheat
farmer problem?" he was asked.
In the recent agitation for farm
relief, we have been forgetting entirely
that there Is consumer in the matter
There has been too much emphasis on
the price for which a farmer sells his
products, and too little emphasis on re-
ducing the cost Of production. It Is
impossible to artiflcally keep the price
high, and, besides, 1t does the consumer
an injustice. The ultimate solution or
the farm problem has to be In the
reduction Of the cost Of production"
rs electricity and machine power the
coming method in wheat farming?"
asked him.
The application of power to trans
portation, manufacturing, etc., cheapens
the cost, and, at the same time, opens
vast new uses for the production OF
these industries. Many more people
travel when the cost is only 3Ia cents q
mile than there were that Travelled in
the days when q stage coach trip cost
more than 81 per mile. And yet, be-
cause Of the reduction and the cost Of
operation, the investors In the new DOW
er industries reap profits out Of all pro-
portion to those realized by the investors
In the old stagecoacheS and hand-craft
industries.
The development OF power In farm
ing may serve the same purpose, and
open up new uses for farm products
which we have never yet thought o.
But the large-scale wheat farm Is here
to stay"
NOn-vOting Stock.
It's far more dif1cult to successfully
analyze great trends and movements
than many people think. For such
forecast deals with the unseen things
vital factors that do not often appear
on the surface Of things. The careful
student must dig them out, correlate
and analyze.
One trend seems to be pretty well
cleared up this year, and that is that
the non-voting stock-by which the
average investor in a company was
"painlessly" alienated from the control
OF the company and its management
Is no longer popular.
The New York Stock Exchange Joined
In the movement against non-vottng
stocks by ruling that such stocks would
not be suitable for q listing in the fn-
ture. The exchange has come to the
protection Of the stockholders rights.
With the growing idea Of trlsteeship
IN the management Of larger cor
porations, and the sale Of common stock
to more and more people, ownership
will not be considered the important
thing In the future. Character and
integrity OF management will be-
The year just closing has seen again
the rising power of management and
the lessentng power Of ownership in
American business.
Economic Policy Commission.
John G. Lonsdale. president of the
American Bankers Association, has ap-
pointed very strong committee to act
as his economic policy commission for
the year. This body was specifically
instructed at the San Francisco meeting
OF the bankers to make an exhaustive
study OF the extension OF branch and
chain banking.
In addition to r. s. Hecht. the young
president of the Hibernia Bank q
Trust Co, Of New Orleans, who remains
as chairman, the other members Ap-
pointed are: George Z. Roberts, vice
president National City Bank Of New
York, vice chairman; Nathan Adams,
president American Exchange National
Bank, Dallas, Tex; Leonard p. Ayres,
vice president Cleveland Trust Co.,
Cleveland Ohio; Frank w. Blair, CHAIR
man of board Union Trust Co., Detroit,
Mich; Walter w. Head, president, State
Bank of Chicago, Chicago; w. d. Long
year, vice president Security-First
National Bank, Los Angeles, Calf:
Walter S. McLucaS, chairman Of board
Commerce Trust Co. Kansas City, Mo-;
Max B. Nahm. vice president Citizens
National Bank, Bowling Green, KY;
Melvin A. Traylor, president. First.
National Bank, Chicago; Paul M. War
burg, chairman of board international
Acceptance Bank, New York, N. Y; o.
Howard Wolfe. cashier Philadelphia
National Bank, Philadelphia, Pa;
Gurden Edwards, American Bankers
Association, New York City, secretary.
All Of these were members of the COM
mission last year with the exception of
Messrs. Blair. Head and Longyear, who
are new members.
Last years committee made q survey
showing the extent to which chain and
group banking had developed in the
United States. 1t was a graphic and
vivid report. Any one interested In
this very important subject can secure
a copy Of the report from the American
Bankers Association.
Five-Day Week.
Thomas Edison. busy at Fort Myers
Fla. on his rubber experiments, stopS
long enough to say that he believes the
time has arrived when 1t should require
less work to earn q decent living than
ever before. In the field of power and
the amount Of work that a
man needs to do in order to support
himself and his family should be very
much less than in any time in history.
The famous inventor thinks that the
nve-day week is coming. The eight
hour day Is here--40 hours OF work a
week. Some think in rs years the
work week will be reduced to rs hours.
People want to know nowadays about