Evening star., 1946-11-10

Inc NAGlOnB 1armS are TaplQS
mechanizing; however, the farmer
continues to put in longer than av-
erage hours per day at harder than
average work.
In 1910 not one farm in q thousand
boasted = tractor, but by 1910
within 4 single generation-tractors
were to be found on one farm In
every four. BY 1945 the figure had
risen to one farm in every three
and 1t is still growing.
The farmer Is being transformed
from q specialist in veterinary medi-
cine and the psychology Of mule be-
havior into q mechanic with sharp
err for motor knocks. He has trad
Cd in his currycomb for . monkey
wrench.
BY teaming up mechanization with
new developments in stock breeding
and in seed culture and soil use,
farmers were able to achieve a tre-
Inendous production during the war
years, turning in an l8 billion dollar
crop in 1945, more than double the
prewar average.
Even this huge wartime production
is being put in the shadows by the
1S46 crop. the greatest in our Ma
tion,s history, valued by experts at
more than 20 billion dollars.
Value Of Produce Zooms.
Mechanization and other farm de-
velopments have zoomed the farm
workers productivity. The average
farmer now raises an annuaf crop
valued at $2,500-seven times the
1850 worth produced by his grand
father in 1870.
Because machinery has made 1t
possible for fewer farmers to culti-
vate larger acreases. 1t has sped up
the historic drift of our population
away from the soil.
As farmers drift to the city, the
number Of farms dwindles. Within
the quarter Of q century since 1920,
half q million farms have vanished !;
today, we have under six million
farms in the country. Simulta-
neously farms have grown larger
the average farm has grown from
ll8 acres In 1920 to almost 200 acres
today.
To sum up the trends: Farms are
increasing in size, but shrinking in
number; and people are drifting
fast from the soil.
II these trends continue un-
checked, farming as q way of life
may vanish from the American
scene. Those who see in farming
more than q means Of livelihood
look upon this prospect with despair.
Farming. they say, breeds virtues
which can't be matched by apart
ment living. The children are more
welcome On the farm; they early
learn q natural discipline in as
suming their share Of the common
work of the family. The occupa-
ton Of the father is before their
eyes. Because they are more remote
from outer associations, they are
thrown more upon their own re-
sources, and their physical and moral
achievements are correspondingly
greater.
Example Of Farming.
The advocates Of farming as a
way of life may find reason for opti-
mism in some "countertrends. De-
spite the drift towards "bigness and
fewness" Of farms, new develop
ments Of food preservation, particu-
larly deep-freezing and dehydration
now make 1t possible for the small
farmer to market his crops profit
ably without loss through perish
ability. These developments have
had the effect of moving the great
producing areas of the Middle West
nearer consumer markets. .-
But most hopeful of the future
Of small farming is the existence
Of model" agricultural communities
where diversified and intensive ag-
riculture practiced on small hold
ings has proven highly profitable
enterprise.
Outstanding example of this type
Of farming is to be found in Lam
caster County, Pa, which may be
contrasted with Pottawattamie. a
leading farm county in the top farm
State of Iowa.
Both counties have about the
same amount OF acreage under cul-
tivation; the Iowa county is "ex-
tensively" farmed, the Pennsylvania
county is farmed in an intensive