The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1930-10-09

older farm regions Of the East. South
and Midwest where modern large
scale farming has causd buytrg-1n Of
smaller farms in the interest OF more
economical production.
Remote regions not reached
by good roads, telephone or
electric service, or where modern
machinery is not adaptable, have
seen an outright abandonment
of land.
That situation is particularly no.
ticeable in Georgia and South Caro-
lima, and to a lesser degree in New
York, Pennsylvania, Virginia. Ken
lucky and southern parts OF Ohio, In
*tana and Illinois.
REIMBURSEMENT has worked from the
other end in such states as Okla
homa, Arkansas and Mississippi,
where increase In number Of farms
suggests the breaking up Of huge,
half cultivated holdings.
With the exception Of Idaho
and Montana, the west birth
place of corporation" farming
shows AN increase In the number
of individual farms.
Larger Family Farms Preferable
The great grain region embracing
Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota,
which Is most truly representative Of
conditions favorable to corporate OPP
Grafton Of vast acreage, likewise Is
most truly representative OF the swing
toward more farm units.
Broadly, the agricultural census
appears to reveal q movement toward
the alternative between the small
family farm too circumScribed for ef-
ficient operation, and the corporation
farm of several thousand acres.
Declaring that the agricultural or
I ganization Of the future need not be
limited to q choice between the two
extremes, the Chamber OF Commerce.
OF the United States Says q good mid
die ground would be q system OF
farms three or four times the present
average size. but still operated BY
family labor. s..
"A second alternative. 1t says. would
be group management Of individual
N-owned farms.
Chairman Legge Of the farm board
! &. champion Of the latter suggestion,
particularly in areas devoted primar-
ily to the production Of major crops.
Advocating the consolidation Of un-
profitable wheat farms into larger
units, the chairman suggests coopera-
tive production rather than dispos-
session Of the small land owner.
Crop Grouping Loah Advantage
Studies indicate that the time
Is past when wheat an be grown
profitably On small acreage" he
says, 'sand that there will have to
be q readjustment In the size Of
the farm unit where wheat Is de-
pended upon as q cash crop"
The grouping Of farms. he says,
would facilitate bank loans In that
IT would make one borrower . good
credit risk whereas there o may
be two or three bad ones.
The census has been looked for
ward to as an appraisal Of advan-
tages as between the family farm and
the corporation farm. While large
scale farming is well -eStabliShed
b more than 5000 corporations engaged
IA farming In 1925 represented only
8 per cent Of the total gross income
Of American agriculture.
In q survey OF large scale farm.
ing. the Chamber Of Commerce
says corporation farming still is
3 negligible factor In the social
organization Of rural commune
ties. It's growth probably win be
slow. It is doubtful whether
corporation : owned farms ever
win encroach seriously upon the
small units.
Extensive development Of larg'
ecale farming. the chamber says
would be hampered by the difficult.
~ obtaining land in workable units
Many Of the large farms now oper
sting owe their existence to specia
conditions which do not hold TO
most farms.
Large Ones No More Profitable
Taken ~ q group. the chambe
4ays. large scale farms apparentl
have been no more, nor any less, sue
sceGsfuj than the average Of the fam
aty~ai1ed farms.