Putnam patriot., 1929-01-24

is one that has a great many ups and downs. As usually happens, it's prog ress has been largely a sectional mat ter. The cattle and sheep sections of the west have had an encouraging year. The Cotton Belt has done fair ly well. The dairy industry has had very good year But the potato and wheat growers have found it rather depressing
 From the intentions expressed by the southern potato growers, the low potato prices of this year mean a smaller planting next year. Their in- tentions show only 29Te Of the acre age of 1928 to be planted in 1929.
 If we take the past year and con slider the separate farm projects we find that with potatoes there was generally a low yield and poor prices. The season was not suited to the pro auction of the best quality of fruit due to weather conditions making 1t difficult to control insects and diseas- es. The dairy and poultry farmers have had year of high grain prices but the dairymen have received high CT prices for milk than usual where as the poultrymen have not fared as well. Other than in the potato line the vegetable growers have had gen orally a fair year.
 Look a Little Deeper
 When we look at the above state ments agriculture looks rather dis eouraging, but let us look into the matter a little deeper and see if there l isn't something a little better in store ! for Us. l Let us first analyze the past year and see what factors have played the biggest part in making it a year of depression in the field of agriculture
 0verproduetion is probably one of ! the factors that has played part in this depression especially with the po- tato growers and the poultrymen. In the spring of 1928 warnings were sent out by the |. S. D. A. and the Extension service that there was like V to be a surplus in the potato mar. ket if the farmers planted as many potatoes as they intended at thai time. in poultry work there has beer an overproduction because of tho fact that the weather has held out well into the winter that was favor able to high egg production. How ever the poultrymen who had earl, matched bullets and had their egg early in the fall received good price and will without doubt make none! on that project.
 Weather has been one factor owe which we have no control. It has af fected the yield of various crops suel as potatoes and fruit, and yet if W look to some of the better growers W find that they had large yields in DC tatoes and good crops of fruit. Thi would lead one to think that eve though the weather has been poor,
 has been year when a little extr
 ability along the lines of management
 means the difference between prof
 and loss.
 Competition a Factor
 Competition is a factor that has al : fected the prices that have been r,
 ceived for the products in the variou
 markets and situated as close to ou 5 markets as we are in Windham cour
 ty this problem has a solution whic  f One other factor that has had ir
 dividual effect is that of the sig . of business that the farmer ha i, been doing on his farm. For ir ' stance, if a farmer has had onI small business in poultry or i
 potatoes he surely hasn't mad ' any money during the year l92S a However if the farmer has had larp
 CT business. even in these same tw
 lines of business he has a bette
 chance of making a profit because c
 the lowered cost of production. O the other hand if he has a bushes i that has been large and diversified h
 has had one project to balance up th
 other as well as having a bushes
 large enough to lower productio
 costs.
 l What Can. Be Done?
 What can be done about the situs | tion is the next question to be locke into? As we are talking about tn | size of the business and it's effect O | Windham county agriculture let u ' 20 a little deeper into it. First of al . let us see how big a business it take , Tor man to make a fair living O the farm. If we take & ,000 as a fai income how much business must b done on the farm to make that muc above all expenses. With reasonabl good management it can be done wit
 ten cows tgross sales of S225 each
 and 300 hens or five acres of fruit, o five acres of vegetables. The averag farm in the county according to tn
 1925 census figures only has gros
 sales of approximately Sl,250 wit
 an income of approximately $400. B
 these figures it would seem that ther
 is opportunity for the improvement
 in the size of the business on tn
 farms in Windham county. for thes
 are average figures and some ar
 above these figures but the sad part O
 it Is that some must also be below