Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-22
FORD TURNS FARMER AMID
SCENES OF HIS BOYHOOD
Gets Real Kick" Out of Experiments in
Uniting Small Agriculture Enter
prises With Industry.

| erything you need to make small parts
fer cars. But don't change the BUILD
| ings. ! want those mills to look just
as the" did when ] was a boy
At Waterford a dam was built t.
provide 230 horsepower. Millraces
spi!!ways and cams give ample water
supply the year around to run the
other lite hydroeIectric plants
Small parts for the completed en-
| CINE or anv manufactured product, "
Mr.. Ford explained. "call for a great
deal Of work To make things in
quantity means lot of men must be
employed. Rut. when possible, isn't it
better ard chearer to plt that work
into the communities where the men
live than to try 10 take them all to
the 'Crger ec;or;es?
That's our idea in these little
plants Thus We fixed up that old
ferred 10 it the department that makes
valves. At peak production We employ
there $50 men, all of whom live either
in the town of Worthwhile or nearby"
Widows Run Plant. !.
At the little plant in Plymouth Is
unique employment situation. Twenty
widows, determined to make their own
way. are running that plant to make
parts for Ford cars.
No one who Is willing and able to
work in any Of these little towns around
Dearborn needs be without q Job, &C
cording to Mr.. Ford's edict. It Is said
he never refuses to give any needy man
job. The employment situation, he
believes, is the worlds greatest problem.
That Is the real reason behind his ex-
perimental farms.
In field several hundred yards away
| from the factory at Nankin Mills were
20 or 80 men hoeing potatoes. Only two
days before they had been at machines,
making little valve pins. But when the
valve pin supply was adequate and the
weeds were encroaching on the potatoes,
Mr.. Ford's plant supervisor suddenly
turned farmer.
Just what he will do with all of the
| products that will be coming from his
| farms at the end of this first season,
| Henry Ford himself does not know at
this time. But he's determined to find
out. That's his main interest in life
now-fnding out things.
Buckwheat Studied.
For example, there is one field Of $50
acres planted in buckwheat. When that
crop Is harvested the Ford laboratories
will check up all the costs and then find
what they can do to make buckwheat
pay its way.
| Likewise, there are $50 acres in fax.
| The Ford engineers believe they have
| designed machine that will be run
successfully by using the hulls of fax
/ for fuel. and perhaps, this same ma
chine will transform the fax seed into
oil.
The largest crop besides buckwheat,
corn and hay seems to be potatoes.
| There's an idea around the Ford expert
mental farms that these potatoes
| eventually will not all be used for food.
either. Mineral oil may be extracted
and other residue products from the
humble Spud yet may be transformed
into some substance that will make up
holstery in the family car.
An incident reveals the attitude to-
ward Mr.. Ford of most of his employees
| At once place near one of these mill
dams along the River Rouge beauti-
| full little pond was formed. Mr.. Ford
let it be known he had no objection
to people using the pond for swimming,
or fishing, or boating.
"Tired Hearing Of Ford"
But one day fellow was discovered
dragging a boat across a newly sown
field. When field foreman protested,
| the recalcitrant one said:
| ooh, I get tired of hearing about
Ford. Everywhere go round here
there's some of Henry Ford's property
in my way"
Then he ended his peroration with a
| threat about what should happen to
these "big guys" that own all the land.
The field man held his temper, but
said:
well, let's think that over. Henry
Ford fought on through years of pow
erty and kept working. With his own
hands and brain he has built his for
tune, which has enabled him to buy
these farms and pay for them with his
own money.
Nobody has died and left money to
Henry Ford. He didn't marry for
money. He has made it and is entitled
to own farms when he pays for them
out of his own pocket. He has pro-
vided parks and picnic grounds for you
and your family. He has made jobs
for your neighbors when he didn't need
any more workers. But this field OF
fax belongs to Henry Ford, and I'm
telling you you shall not drag your boat
across it."
The boat was moved carefully out
and the field of fax is thriving.
! Copyright, 1881, by the North American
! Newspaper Alliance, Incl