Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-17
LARGE FARM UNITS
INCREASING IN u. S.
Quantity Production Reduces
Cost of Raising Wheat,
u but Prices Are Low.
BY JOHN F. SINCLAIR.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, October 17-"Tht
United States will be importing wheat
from Canada within five years." say:
e. w. Beatty, president of the Canadian
Pacific Railroad.
From the standpoint of the American
farmer this would mean higher prices
for his own wheat but Mr.. Beatty's
prophesy will hardly be realized within
the time limit he sets.
However, If wheat prices remain low
for two or three years the inevitable
drop in production will take place
This might bring about the condition
which President Beatty forecasts within
half a decade.
There's not as much future for the
Small-unit wheat farmer today as there
is for the big one whose production
costs can be lowered with the aid of
modern machinery to meet the world
price level.
Today thousands of farms are being
bought up in various parts of the United
States, merged into large farm unit
corporations and farmed under the
machine methods which have been so
widely advertised by Thomas D. Camp
bell, bonanza wheat farmer of Montana.
Flour Prices Drop.
Flour prices are lower now than they
have been in "a years, and bakers all
over the United States are announcing
reductions in the price OF bread.
One chain of stores has gone back TO
the old scent loaf.
Tom Smith, secretary of the Ameri-
can Bakers Association. says that from
40 to so per cent of all bread flour goes
into commercial bakeries.
although no accurate data exist for
the industry" he adds, the overhead
for pay roll, machinery, modern equip
nent and distribution is by Tar the
larger part of the cost of a loaf OF
bread: the wrapping of loaves alone
costs from one-third to two-thirds OF
Henry Strude, president of the same
association, gives another reason Tor the
decline in -four prices. He says Ameri-
cans are not eating as much preao as
thew formerly did. Before the war they
consumed $50 bushels of wheat per
capita annually, and today but 40
Anyhow. Chicago standard grade flour
has dropped from 81 barrel in Janu-
airy, last, to $3.50 now.
Farm Mortgages.
Insurance companies have given more
thought to farm mortgages in the last
10 wears than they have to any other
form of investment.
Millions of dollars have been loaned
in this way-loaned when land prices
were high and hogs were selling at Szz
to s23 per hundred pounds, corn ABOUT
s2I5 and wheat $3.50 per bushel
Now wheat, from which the farmer
must get his money to pay interest on
his mortgage and taxes, Is 7S cents at
Chicago and corn 81 cents. Even sugar;
which sold at 2.3O, cents q pouno
wholesale year ago. is selling at I.zO
cents now: cotton, 1917 CENTS SeoA
a0o 10 cents now.
The price of land is directly affected
bv the price of farm products. Wnen
the prices of farm products are nlgn
fhe farmer makes plenty OF money ana
il shows Immediately in rising farm
values. ..,,,.s
has heeT, very severe 1t has bankrupted
hundreds of thousands of farmers. NIL
lions more have left the farms Tor the
ritv In no industry has adversely peen
n severe Many farms in the Middle
west that sold as high as $500 an acre
can now be bought for less than $lOO-
lass than the first mortgage IN many
cases Naturally the mortgage COM
NAMES have been affected by such
situation.
Now the Department of Agriculture
renorts that the estimated value OF all
farm lands as of March is consider
ably lower than.it was year ago.
The department gives this reason:
''Abnormally large supply OF ayallaDle
lands and q readjustment Of values to
earnings"
IN that last sentence.
Speeding Up Transportation.
ess..
ton, chairman of the board OF directors
Of the Canadian National Railway, for
speeding UP railroad transportation to
enable the roads to compete with the
new passenger air lines, again bring
up the subject of whether railroad pas
senger cars in the future will be made
lighter than they are at present in order
to attain this end.
Any one who has Travelled on Euro
pean railroads viii see the point at
once Take English railroads as case
in point. Light in construction, they
move very rapidly over the ground, be-
cause they carry no excess weight. In
Canada and the United States paSSen-
ger cars are heavy, having been oulit
for comfort rather than speed.
The advantage Of railroad travel over
airplane travel lies in the availability
and proximity Of railroad stations TO
business centers. This applies both TO
passengers and 70 freight services.
Most airports are miles away from
city centers. 1t often takes an hour or
more to reach an airport.
Few people travel, for instance. by
airplane from Philadelphia to New
York although Frank Hawks, the
speedy airman, made that distance the
other day in 20 minutes. It takes too
long 70 get started by air.
Vision Of Future.
Some airplane engineers believe that
In the not far future airplanes will be
caught on magnetic pole as they pass
through the air and "tie into the larger
buildings of the great cities"-that Is,
in case the helicopter Is not perfected
before that.
II the helicopter becomes workable,
then the planes can rise horizontally
from the buildings of New York to a
height of 900 or 1000 feet, and move
across to Philadelphia, where they could
descend, also horizontally. upon the
tops of the buildings, without the aid OF
any landing field.
But that is a matter for the future.
Right now, railroads will do well to
heed the advice Of Sir Henry and speed
up railway passenger service.
copyright, 1890. by the North American
Newspaper Alliance
Aast AAaN NHHnFMRNN