Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1935-08-15
GETTING DOWN TO
"BRASS
THE BIGGEST GAMBLE

past few weeks, except for that Of
machine companies. 1t is only nat
ural. The biggest part Of trade in
this country must come from those
who live ON farms, and right now
every farmer is bending every effort
to get his crops taken care of as
quickly as possible. Although har-
vest was begun two weeks ago,
thousands of acres of ripened wheat
still remain to be cut in Sheridan
county. Business men, on the other
hand, are rejoicing with farmers Of
this section in the hope of realizing
a fairly good small grain crop and
one Of the best feed crops In years.
Yes, 1t is always only hope" until
the grain is actually in the elevator.
People usea to talk about the easy
life" of the farmer. The all-wise
city folk C'fwhitecollared'-as they
have come to be called recently
were prone to loll around the street
corner and ENVY" the life of the
farmer, who ''only works about
three months out Of the year"
What a life! The mar Of luxury
who put in his crop with power
driven machines in the spring. loafed
until time for harvest, cut and
sold his bie crop, then took his fam
lily to the Pacific coast to bask In
CALIFORNIA; sunshine and play the
market with his huge earnings until
time for seeding again" True.
I tkaVn n f%-~ IAnoo.a ~. 80
who hit 1t lucky for a few years and
were able to take some fine winter
vacation trips. but the percentage
was extremely small, and many OF
those who did make extensive trips
have paid dearly for them.
The story is much different now
Anyone who has followed the fate of
the average farmer through the past
few years OF devastating drouth, and
has seen his hopes built to a high
point only to be shattered complete
ly by some toll-taking pestilence
such as grasshoppers, rust, hail,
~tornadoes, worms OF what-not,
has come to look upon farm people
with an humble feeling of pity rath-
err than a naughty attitude of envy.
In fact we have finally come to the
sensible attitude that any one who
goes through what the average man
on the farm has the past ten years
Is fully entitled to all he can get.
We would not even begrudge him a
bumper crop. Such an attitude has
not only been created on the basis
Of human sympathy, but business
has come to see that it prospers in
this country in proportion that the
farmer prospers. When crops fail,
business goes into a tailskid along
with it, and likewise with good crops
the man in business improves his
station in life.
Particularly true this year is the
application of the old adage, don't
count your chickens until they are
Matched" A month or six weeks
ago a bumper crop was predicted for
this section Of Montana and for
| western North Dakota. 1t was not
infrequent to hear the bold predic-
ton that with sufficient moisture,
many fields would yield forty to fiji
ty bushels. The rain came In abb
undance, but it produced something
more than needed moisture to grow
ing crops. The dampness, accom-
panied by hot weather, brought on
the dreaded scourge Of rust, and al
though the toll it has taken in Sheri-
dan county in no way compares to
the complete devastation farther
east, yields throughout the county
have been materially lessened. In
stead of forty bushel' wheat, pre-
dictions dropped to an average yield
Of is or 20, and now it is believed
the entire county will be pressed to
produce an average wheat crop Of
ten bushels. Rust was not all.
Three or four different hail storms
have wiped out the hopes OF many
farmers who helplessly stood by and
saw their fields of ripening grain
laid low by the storms devastating
path. Still the latest pestilence to
show UP is a mite which has been
discovered eating into the straw,
thereby hating growth.
So it will be until harvest is over.
No one knows what tomorrow may
bring. The very farmer who a
month, a week ago, or ever to-day
holds promise of harvesting a
bountiful crop may tomorrow lose it
all. Envy him? We should hope
for him and with him. With those
who are fortunate enough to save a
crop-no matter how big the yield,
we should rejoice, and for the less
fortunate who may find themselves
the victims Of circumstances over
which God alone holds sway, ours
should be a feeling OF deepest sym
pathy. All in all, farming In this
country is one of the biggest gam
bles In the world. "A man stakes all
he owns-an he can borrow-on the
seed sown in the spring producing
a good yield. Sometimes he
Strikes" but more often he is only
the gambler who watches the empty
slot after playing for three bells. F"
And, peculiarly enough, they like it.
Neither drouth nor rust-grasshop
pers nor worms have dampened the
ardor of the gambler on Montana's
farms. One crop Is no sooner
gone than they begin preparations
for the sowing of another. They
never quit.