Evening star., 1938-02-12
Crop Control to Spread
Time Seen When Farmers Will Be Paid for Removing
Old Apple Trees.
Old Apple Trees.

not be fed to any dairy cattle whose
milk was for sale. nor to any live stock
for sale. nor to any pigs for sale. nor
to any hens for sale, nor to any hens
whose eggs were for sale. BY the
amendment the diverted acres were
rendered effectively sterile.
This amendment passed both Sen
ate and House. But when the bill
went to the Conference Committee Of
the two chambers. the conferees set
about denaturing the amendment. As
one Of the conferees said. We tried
to pull It's teeth as much as we could"
They succeeded to a considerable de-
gree.
A faint residue Of the amendment,
few broken stumps Of teeth, remain
in the bill as it now stands. The pro-
vision in the present bill. dropping the
rigor Of the original amendment, takes
on a vAeueness which characterizes
much Of the bill as a whole. SO far
as can be gathered from reading Ian.
guake that Ia extremely vague and
intricate, 1t appears that what the
original amendment tried to bring
about as matter of express law is
now left largely to the discretion Of
the Secretary Of Agriculture There
are phrases such AS whenever the
Secretary has reason to believe ="
and If upon investigation the Sec
retary finds = ="
If this Interpretation Of the pres
ent language Of the amendment is
correct, it is nothing new. Much of
the bill as whole. much Of the entire
program Of regulating agriculture,
consists Of abandonment of govern
ment by plain law and substitution
Of government by the discretion OF
officials
Amendment May Yet Pass.
II the crop-control bill in its pres
ent form is adopted, what will fol-
low? The dairy live stock and poultry
interests will not rest content: they
are seriously disturbed. They do not
want to be subject to a glut Of their
products az a result OF limiting other
crops. Quite certainly, sooner or later,
and probably sooner the dairy. live
stock and poultry interests will REIN
troduce their amendment a. a sep
arate thing. When reintroduced. it
will pass. for the amendment had
large majorities in both Senate and
House when put forward as A part Of
the crop-control law.
What Is illustrated here ia the prin-
ciple Of automatic expansion which is
an inseparable characteristic of the
very theory Of crop Limitation. You
cannot limit the acreage of one crop
and leave the diverted acres free to
produce other crops To state it in
its ultimate form, you cannot limit
one crop without limiting all crops.
Sooner or later the hen will be re-
stricted and regimented, and like
wise garden vegetables. Regimenta-
ton expands like one of those noxious
vines whose spreading branches set
up new roots.
This seems not to be realized by
Secretary Wallace. He showed sur
prise and dissent when the dairy. live
stock and poultry interests demanded
that their output Be kept low If the
output of other crops was to Be kept
low. Mr.. Wallace might as reasonably
show surprise and dissent II he
entered an elevator on the first floor
and found himself carried to the
fifth floor.
Soil Conservation Paid For.
OF this rule Of automatic expansion
there Ia a striking example in another
area. Under an existing law. in op-
Grafton for some two years. Secretary
Wallace pays farmers for what is
called soil conservation" Soil con-
servation means improving the SOIL
Improving the soil is interpreted to
include many things. such As preven-
ton OF erosion by terracing land. put
ting lime on the land and the like.
For following these conservation prac-
tices-which every good farmer fol-
lows as a matter OF course-the farmer
is now paid.
In this situation . happy thought
came to raisers Of fruit trees and
grapevines. It occurred to them that
soil is improved by the removal Of fruit
trees that are dead or diseased. So
the fruit and vineyard men passed q
resolution:
Resolved, That the American
Horticultural Institute urge the early
enactment Of express legislative au-
thority for making benefit payments
to encourage the removal of
diseased. infected or uneconomical or
chards or vineyards"
The resolution was duly presented
to Congress on December Is. It has
not been acted upon nor considered
Not yet. But 1t will In due course,
II crop control is kept. as 1t spreads
as spread it must. the time will come
wnen farmers will be paid for cutting
down their old apple trees.
(copyrisht. 1881