The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Young Farmer: Some Things He Should Know, by
Thomas Forsyth Hunt
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Title: The Young Farmer: Some Things He Should Know
Author: Thomas Forsyth Hunt
Release Date: August 14, 2008 [EBook #26313]
Language: English
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[Illustration: Hon. R. W. Dunlap, Kingston, Ohio, graduate of course in
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senator, state dairy and food commissioner. Farmer and institute
lecturer. Introduced alfalfa fourteen years ago into his farm and
community. Introduced commercial fertilizers and raised thereby more
wheat from 50 acres than his father did from 150 acres, thus convincing
his father and neighbors that when rightly used commercial fertilizers
paid. Mr. Dunlap claimed that the agricultural college made him a farmer,
because when he left for college he had no intention of returning to the
farm.]
The
Young Farmer
Some Things He Should Know
_By_
THOMAS F. HUNT
Imperial man! Co-worker with the wind
And rain and light and heat and cold, and all
The agencies of God to feed and clothe
And render beautiful and glad the world!
--_Stockard_
NEW YORK
ORANGE JUDD COMPANY
LONDON
KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRÜBNER & CO., Limited
1913
----------------------------------------------------------------------
ORANGE JUDD COMPANY
----------
Entered at Stationers' Hall
_LONDON, ENGLAND_
PRINTED IN U. S. A.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I ESSENTIALS OF SUCCESS 1
II MEANS OF ACQUIRING LAND 14
III FARM ORGANIZATION 31
IV OPPORTUNITIES IN AGRICULTURE 44
V WHERE TO LOCATE 57
VI SIZE OF FARM 64
VII SELECTION OF FARM 71
VIII THE FARM SCHEME 88
IX THE ROTATION OF CROPS 101
X THE EQUIPMENT 109
XI HOW TO ESTIMATE PROFITS 117
XII GRAIN AND HAY FARMING 135
XIII THE COST OF FARMING OPERATIONS 148
XIV THE PLACE OF INTENSIVE FARMING 162
XV REASONS FOR ANIMAL HUSBANDRY 172
XVI RETURNS FROM ANIMALS 185
XVII FARM LABOR 195
XVIII SHIPPING 210
XIX MARKETING 220
XX LAWS AFFECTING LAND AND LABOR 233
XXI RURAL LEGISLATION 248
XXII RURAL FORCES 268
THE YOUNG FARMER:
SOME THINGS HE SHOULD KNOW
----------
CHAPTER I
ESSENTIALS OF SUCCESS
Columella, the much traveled Spanish-Roman writer of the first century
A. D., said that for successful farming three things are essential:
knowledge, capital and love for the calling. This statement is just as
true today as it was when written 1900 years ago by this early writer
on European agriculture.
Every man who loves the calling and has an ambition to become a
successful farmer should understand that no two of these essentials
are sufficient, but that all three are necessary. Although this is so
simple as to be almost axiomatic, it is indeed surprising how few
people believe a knowledge of farming is really essential to success.
America is strewn with cases of failure, in farming, by men investing
capital acquired in other business. In nine cases out of ten failure
has been due to lack of knowledge of farming.
There is known to the writer an expert mineralogist and metallurgist.
On the subject of coal and gold mining he can give the most valuable
information. His advice is constantly sought on all such matters.
Instead of investing his money in mining, on which he is a recognized
authority, he has invested it in a farm, about which he knows next to
nothing. He has not even had the advantage of being raised on a farm,
since his father was a railroad man.
A mechanical engineer remarked that if he had $25,000 he would invest
it in a farm. This man is supposed to be an expert in business methods
as applied to manufacturing in general, and he is especially
conversant with the manufacture and trade in automobiles. About all he
has seen of farming he has observed from the window of a Pullman car
or from the steering wheel of an automobile. Instead of investing his
earnings in some manufacturing business, about which he has spent
years of study and in which he has had some training, he would invest
it in farming, of which he has only the most rudimentary knowledge, if
only he had sufficient capital. As a matter of fact, he is more in
need of knowledge than of capital.
Even farmers of experience do not always realize the training required
to succeed in farming. A letter was received by the dean of a certain
agricultural college saying that a graduate of another agricultural
college had taken one of the poorest farms in his neighborhood and was
raising better potatoes than anyone else could raise. The letter asked
that information be sent by return mail as to how this young man could
be beaten in raising potatoes. Of course the answer had to be sent
that while information upon raising potatoes could easily be supplied,
although not in the limits of an ordinary letter, the training in
observation, judgment and reasoning faculties essential to meet the
daily problems as they arise could not be supplied.
There is no objection to men of other vocations adopting farming as an
avocation if they can afford it. It is a rational form of pleasure for
wealthy people, and one in which they can often be of great service.
This cannot be said of all forms of relaxation. Wealthy men have been
of special service to the cause of agriculture by promoting the
breeding of improved live stock. Men in other callings should clearly
understand, however, that if they have a farm merely as a place to
spend a week end, that they may expect to find the financial returns
unsatisfactory.
To no one is there more significance in the old school aphorism
"knowledge is power" than to the young man who is to become a farmer.
While it is not necessary to be educated in schools in order to gain
knowledge, yet the schoolroom with all its limitations is usually the
most economical and most efficient method of acquiring certain forms of
knowledge essential to every successful man or woman. A farm-to-farm
canvass of a certain region of the state of New York discloses the fact
that farmers with college training are obtaining a higher income from
their farms than those whose school days ended with high school.
Similarly, those who have finished the high school are more prosperous
financially than those who never advanced beyond the grades. The
investigation showed, for example, that with the farmers under
observation the high school education was equivalent to $6,000 worth of
5% bonds. Farming is an occupation requiring keen observation, sound
judgment and accurate reasoning, all attributes which are strengthened
greatly by proper education. This is so true that many men, perhaps
most men, are forty before they have grasped the problems which the
truly successful farmer must solve.
A considerable part of the knowledge essential to success in any
pursuit is acquired by actually working at the occupation, or, as we
say, by practical experience. Some features of any occupation can be
obtained in no other way. A preliminary education may, however,
greatly reduce the time necessary to acquire even this practical
experience. For example, a course in shop work as taught in technical
high schools and colleges, requiring two hours a day for five months,
may shorten the time of apprenticeship by one or more years, in
acquiring the trade of carpenter or iron worker. In the same manner a
course in butter making, cheese making or floriculture, may shorten
the time required to obtain the necessary practical details by ten
months or even more. Eventually, also, the man thus trained will be
the better man.
If the industrial activities of the world be divided into farming,
mining, manufacturing, trade and transportation, it will be noted at
once that farming is the only one which deals with living things. In
fact, the definition of agriculture, in its broadest sense, is the
economic production of living things. The farmer is thus brought face
to face with some of the most difficult and intricate problems with
which the human race has to grapple. It is this fact that makes
farming, in some ways, the most uncertain as well as the most
fascinating occupation known to man. The fact that the farmer is
dealing with living things puts his occupation in a class by itself
for a number of reasons, one of which is germane to the subject of
this chapter.
In most occupations a larger part of the knowledge necessary to success
can be acquired by doing than is the case in farming. Locomotive
engineers are trained for their responsible duty while firing the
engine. The brakeman becomes a conductor by assisting the latter. A
bank cashier is usually a promoted bank clerk. Each obtained the
knowledge essential to success largely by oft-repeated performance.
While, of course, there is much the farmer can learn only by
experience, there are many things essential to his success that the
mere performance of the necessary farm operations will not teach him.
Spreading manure will never teach him that stable manure should be
supplemented with phosphoric acid in order to get the best results. The
growing of clover will not teach him that mineral fertilizer may keep
up the fertility of the soil where clover grows luxuriantly and occurs
in the rotation at definite intervals. Feeding cattle will not teach
him that a good ration for milch cows is one containing one pound of
digestible protein to seven pounds of digestible carbohydrates,
provided it is palatable and, at least, two-thirds of the total ration
is digestible. Nor will the feeding of such a ration teach the farmer
how to calculate the most economical ration from feeding stuffs at
current prices. The cause of potato blight and the methods of combating
it cannot be learned from the operation of planting and cultivating
potatoes.
These are only a few illustrations--they might be multiplied
indefinitely--to show that farming is peculiar in that performance of
the daily duties does not give the knowledge essential to success in
the same measure that it does in such occupations as banking, trade
and transportation. Yet, curiously enough, while no man would
undertake to run a locomotive engine or perform the duties of cashier
of a bank without thorough training, there are many who will undertake
to farm without education or knowledge of the business.
The young man who intends to become a farmer should fully understand
that if farming is not a business worthy of a thoroughly educated man,
it is not a business worthy of him; because every young man is worthy
of a thorough education, provided he is a man of clean habits and good
purposes. Do not allow yourself to be persuaded that you lack ability
to acquire a good education. All you require is opportunity,
determination and honesty of intention.
Farming is worthy, moreover, of the most highly educated as well as
the most capable. If lack of means prevents a young man from taking a
four-years' training in agriculture, he will find a two years' course
offered by many of the state agricultural schools. While it is
obviously impossible to give in two years as much training as in four
years, these two years' courses contain the more technical subjects
and are usually very thorough and efficient. No young man, no matter
how thorough his previous training, need hesitate to pursue one of
them.
There are, however, young men who cannot spare the time and expense of
even two years' training. For such many state agricultural colleges
offer winter terms of eight to twelve weeks. These courses are
arranged to allow the student to specialize along some particular
line. The better prepared the man is who enters these winter courses
the more he will benefit by them. This leads to the caution that such
courses should not be substituted for the education offered in the
public schools, but should only be sought after all the opportunities
for education at home have been exhausted.
For the somewhat older young man who is now farming and cannot leave
his farm or for the younger man as a preparation for the short
courses, one or more correspondence courses will be found useful. Not
all colleges conduct correspondence courses, but fortunately those who
do will accept students from other states on equal terms. There are
many persons who will testify to their helpfulness.
Every young farmer should have a carefully selected library of
standard books on agriculture, not only for reading but for reference.
An instance of the value of a standard book of reference came recently
to the attention of the writer. An educated young farmer in Iowa paid
$2.50 for a peck of crimson clover seed which he sowed in the spring
in his oats. A reference to any standard publication on forage crops
costing less than the peck of seed would have disclosed to him the
probable hopelessness of success under the conditions named.
The books to include as well as to exclude from a select list will
depend upon the previous training of the man making the purchase, the
character of the farming to be pursued, and, to some extent, to the
section of the country where the farm is located. Any bookseller can
secure catalogs issued by firms making a specialty of publishing
agricultural books. For the average reader these catalogs are
sufficient to enable one to make intelligent purchases.
Every farmer should take one or more agricultural journals. At present
journals are published on every phase of agriculture and many of them
are of high character. Publishers are always glad to send sample
copies free of charge. By examining these copies intelligent selection
may be made.
The writer of this book has had rather unusual opportunity during more
than a quarter of a century of observing the influence of education
upon the success, financial and otherwise, of those who engage in
farming. As the result of these observations he wishes to urge every
young man to allow no one to persuade him that because he is to be a
farmer, he does not need a thorough education. Remember that you have
but one life to live, and if you let the golden opportunity pass, the
mistake can never be rectified. No man ever regretted that he had too
much education--thousands have regretted the lack of it.
Every young man, no matter what his occupation is to be, should
receive some school training, however little it may be, every year
until he reaches the age of majority. Otherwise the age of majority
should be changed. In no occupation is this more important than in
farming, because the operations involved in farming fail to develop
certain attributes necessary to the largest success.
A man cannot have a mind too well trained, although it is possible
that he may have too much undigested information. The mental condition
may not be unlike the physical condition of the man who is burdened
with too many clothes. When in action he may need to strip his mind of
unnecessary information in order to make the most efficient mental
effort.
CHAPTER II
MEANS OF ACQUIRING LAND
Of the three essentials to successful farming--capital, knowledge and
love for the calling--only the first can be obtained on credit, and
this only in part. Usually when a man desires to buy a farm he must
have, at least, one-third of his desired investment in cash. The
amount to be invested will include, not only the cost of the land, but
the cost of the necessary equipment of the farm. The percentage of the
total capital which may be borrowed, however, will depend on many
circumstances and is usually a matter of first importance. No man
should borrow more than a banker or other reputable business man
considers a safe investment.
Usually there is no better counselor as to a safe investment than the
local banker. The banker should, and generally does, stand in much the
same relation to the financial welfare of the community as the
physician to its physical, the minister to its moral and spiritual
welfare. The inexperienced person, even if he does not need to borrow
money, would do well to consult some responsible banker in the
neighborhood before making an investment in farm lands.
The young man should, as early as possible in life, open an account
with the local bank, not merely for the sake of the habit of saving
which this will encourage, but in order to come into personal business
relations with the banker. Instead of concealing from the bank his
business operations, he should seek the advice of his banker on all
important financial matters.
On an average, every farm changes hands at least three times in a
century. Every farm, therefore, must be acquired by purchase,
inheritance or gift at more or less irregular intervals. In the
neighborhood in which the author was born, there is not a farm but has
changed hands since he can remember. In many cases the farm is now in
the possession of a son; in some instances in that of a grandson of
the owner as known by the writer in his boyhood days. In this
particular community the acquirement of a farm by a person not related
to the former owner has occurred in relatively few instances.
As a rule, when the farm has been acquired by a son, the latter has
operated the farm as tenant or partner for a period previous to his
ownership and during lifetime of the father. In some instances the son
has boarded with the parents or the parents with the son and his wife;
or, in the case of a daughter, with the daughter and son-in-law.
Where there are several heirs, as is apt to be the case, the son
operating the farm is required to purchase or rent the interest of the
other heirs, unless the farm is large enough to be divided, which is
less seldom the case than is popularly supposed. Thus, if there are
200 acres of land worth $50 an acre, and five heirs, the young farmer
may inherit $2,000, and be required to assume the remaining $8,000 as
an obligation. He may borrow this money at the bank, placing a
mortgage upon the farm, thus settling with the other heirs at once. Or
he may pay the other heirs rent on their share of the farm. In any
case he will, if successful, gradually cancel his obligation and
become owner of the farm. That no heir is willing to assume this
responsibility is the most common reason for a farm changing from one
family to another, and the disruption of community interests.
The customary, or normal, method of acquiring land has been and still
is a combination of tenancy, inheritance and mortgage. Without some
tenant system and without the farm mortgage, it would be impossible
for the average young man to acquire a farm. That men are constantly
advancing from farm tenant to landowner is shown by statistics giving
the percentage of tenants by ages. The majority of farmers under 30
are renters. Most farmers over 45 are owners of farm land. Thus in
Illinois, in 1900, approximately 75% of the farmers under 25 years of
age rented their farms, while less than 20% of the farmers over 55
years of age were tenants.
The question for the young man to consider is not what effect the
tenant system has upon the welfare of the nation or what political
ills may be connected with farm mortgages, but how to make use of
these necessary and beneficent agencies for the acquirement of a farm.
A system of tenancy which leads to absent landlordism and a permanent
tenant class is thoroughly vicious, while a practice which enables a
man to become, within a reasonable period, a land-owning farmer is a
thoroughly approvable and, indeed, necessary method of acquiring land.
As already indicated, most young men will need in some form or other
to employ more capital than they possess when they start farming. They
must, therefore, determine what is the best form of obtaining the
necessary capital, viz.: whether to borrow the money on a farm
mortgage, or whether to use the capital someone else has invested in a
farm by paying him rent for it. The conditions of tenancy in this
country are often not the most fortunate, yet the young man of
character may well find, for a time, at least, it would be best for
him to rent a farm and invest his own capital in the necessary
machinery and live stock to conduct it properly.
Much will depend on the character of the arrangement which may be
made. Usually more favorable terms can be secured from landlords
owning large numbers of farms than from the owner of one or two farms.
The large landowner is content with a moderate income from each farm,
because in the aggregate his income is sufficient for his needs, while
the retired farmer who must live off the proceeds of a single farm is
apt to drive a hard bargain and may not be over particular concerning
the maintenance of said farm. The writer knows a farmer who owns a
good farm purchased from the proceeds of a rented farm. He continues
to live on the rented farm and rents his own, because, it is said, his
landlord is willing to make him more favorable terms than he makes to
his tenant.
The more capable the tenant the more favorable the terms he may exact.
Certain tenants are in demand and can have their choice of farms. A
prosperous-looking man was pointed out recently as an example of a
tenant capable of buying a farm in one of the most highly developed
counties in the United States. It was stated that as a renter he could
have his choice of any farm in the county, but that he did not have a
dollar invested in farm land. Possibly he invests his surplus earnings
in stocks and bonds.
It is not the present purpose to determine the relative merits of the
different systems of land tenure, but to try to be helpful to the
beginners by discussing the usual practices in order that he may know
whether the arrangement he is considering is customary and whether it
is likely to prove satisfactory.
Every third farm in the United States is rented under one of three
methods:
1. A definite money rent may be paid, ranging from $2 to $6 an acre
for land on which the ordinary, staple crops are raised. Perhaps $3 to
$4 is more commonly paid for such land.
2. In the South it is common for the landlord to require a definite
number of pounds of cotton per acre or a certain number of bales of
cotton for a one or two-mule farm, as the case may be. This is
classified by the census authorities as "cash rent," but will here be
called "crop rent." Crop rent is less common than either cash or share
rent in the northern and western states, although perhaps the most
common form in the South. Crop rent, however, is met with in some
sections, as in western New York where certain large landowners
require a definite number of bushels of wheat, oats or maize and make
certain stipulations as to hay and straw. They charge a cash rent for
pasture.
3. Much the most common form of tenancy, however, is that where a
certain percentage or share of the product is given the landlord for
the use of the land.
Before entering into a discussion of the customary conditions under
which land is rented on shares it may be helpful to point out the
fundamental differences between cash rent, crop rent and share rent.
In case of cash rent, the landlord takes no risk, either as to the
price or the amount of product. In the case of crop rent, he shares
the risk as to the variation in price, but not as to the amount of
crop raised. The latter may depend upon the clemency of the weather or
upon the industry and skill of the tenant. In the case of share rent,
both landlord and tenant share equally as to variation in the price
and the amount of product.
Three forms of share rent may be recognized:
(a) Where landlord furnishes only real estate (land and buildings),
the tenant supplying everything else, including teams, machinery,
labor, seeds and fertilizers. Under these conditions it is customary
for the landlord to receive one-third and the tenant two-thirds of the
crop raised or the product produced.
(b) The second form of share rent is where the landlord furnishes the
real estate; the tenant supplies teams, tools and labor, while the
landlord and tenant own equally all live stock other than teams, and
bear equally all other expenses, as for seeds, fertilizers and cost of
threshing. Under this system, it is customary for landlord and tenant
each to receive one-half of all sales. As each owns one-half of all
the live stock (teams excepted), each shares equally in all increase.
The landlord pays for the cost of permanent improvements such as new
buildings, fences, repairs and drainage. The tenant, in making these
improvements, in some cases, agrees to furnish two days' labor for one
day's pay. The theory is that, while the increased value of the real
estate is of advantage only to the landlord, the improved facilities
are of some benefit to the tenant. Since he can do this work at odd
times when not otherwise employed, he can afford to take a generous
view of the matter. It is obvious that if he remains on the farm long
enough the tenant will come into his share of the benefit, while if he
intends to leave the farm soon he may not. There is in the mind of the
writer a prosperous tenant who, after eighteen years on a single farm,
declared he had no desire to make a change, and doubtless there are
thousands of similar instances.
Under the plan in which the tenant furnishes everything except the
real estate, the tendency of the farm is apt to be downward both as to
the improvements and the crop-producing power of the soil. The
interests of the landlord and tenant are not mutual. This condition of
tenancy leads to growing only those crops which can be readily sold
from the farm and to frequent changes of the tenant, with its
accompanying auction sales of property. In one region, where this
system prevails, it has been facetiously remarked that each tenant has
a sale every year to determine how much he is worth. It is less
trouble than taking an inventory.
In the second form of share rent, the interests of landlord and tenant
are more nearly mutual. Under this system, animal husbandry is
possible, which, generally, involves pasturing and feeding a
considerable part of the crops upon the farm, and even the purchase of
nitrogenous by-products. All this leads to permanency of tenant, since
the landlord and tenant are both interested in the live stock and
other personal property, which cannot be divided, with economy, each
year. It is interesting to note that the house is the least likely to
be kept in repair. The improvement of the barns and fences or the
laying of tile drains increases the landlord's income, but he has no
financial interest in the house, so long as the tenant is willing to
live in it.
There are, of course, many variations in the arrangement of details
between the landlord and tenant. On many dairy farms in the northeastern
states it is customary for the landlord to own the cows. While the
landlord and tenant share equally from the sale of milk, butter or
cheese, in such cases the increase in the herd belongs to the owner of
the land. Hence, money from the sale of any animal, old or young, goes
to him. This is because the landlord must keep up the herd. If a cow is
sold, he must furnish another to take her place.
(c) The third type of tenant farming is where the tenant furnishes
nothing but his labor and managerial ability, and receives a share of
the sales, which may be one-third. This is rather an unusual type of
tenancy, since, where the landlord furnishes all the capital, it is
much more common to employ a farm manager at a monthly wage. The wage
varies greatly, but is seldom below forty dollars or above seventy-five
dollars per month without board, especially to those who have not
hitherto had much managerial experience.
Various attempts at profit sharing have been made. A recent instance
is of a young married man taking 160 acres of tillable land where the
landlord has a fairly well-stocked farm. The young man is to have a
house and everything in the way of living the farm can furnish. He is
to receive $20 a month and one-half the net proceeds, or, what is
called in Chapter XI, the farm income. In considering a contract of
this kind it is necessary to make a careful distinction between: (1)
Gross sales, (2) net proceeds, viz.: the gross sales less the expenses
of running the farm, and (3) profits, which may be defined for the
purpose of this discussion as the net proceeds less the interest on
the investment.[A]
Assuming 160 acres of land, all tillable, devoted to dairy farming in
eastern United States, gross sales may be estimated at $20 an acre, or
an annual gross income of $3,200, and the net proceeds at $10 an acre,
or $1,600. Under these conditions the young man's income would be
$240, received as wages, plus $800, as his share of the net proceeds,
or a total of $1,040 a year.
Generally speaking, probably a more satisfactory method, both for
landlord and the farm manager, would be to pay the latter as nearly as
may be what his services should be worth and give him in addition
one-half the profits; that is, one-half of that which was left after
deducting the expenses of running the farm and interest on the capital
invested.
Merely for illustrating the method of calculation, let us assume this
farm with its equipment to be worth $100 an acre, or $16,000. Let the
farm manager be paid $840 a year. Assume the same gross income,
$3,200, and the same cost of operating, $1,600, to which add $600, the
additional salary of the manager. The total expense is then $2,200,
and the net proceeds $1,000. If 4%, or $640, was charged on the
investment, there would be $360 to be divided between landlord and
manager, making the salary of manager $1,020. A simple calculation
will show that if 5% were charged, the salary of the manager would be
$940 a year, and if 6%, $860 a year. The advantage of the latter
method of employment is that the young man runs less risk, while both
receive equally any surplus beyond fair wages and fair interest on the
investment.
In this connection it is important to consider how much may be
reasonably paid for managerial ability. A study of the figures on page
133 will show that the labor income from a considerable number of
farms of the better class was about 7% of the capital invested in the
farms. The inference is, therefore, that if a man has $10,000 wisely
invested in a farm he may pay $700 for a working manager; or, to put
it in another form, before the owner of a farm can afford to pay
$1,200 a year for a farm manager, he should have about $17,000
invested. Moreover, this investment must be in a form calculated to
return an income. If part of it consists of investments for pleasure
or fancy, such investment will not only not add to the income, but
will detract from it by increasing the cost of maintenance.
This is scarcely less important to the employee than it is to the
employer, since if the owner pays a higher salary than the manager can
earn, he quite surely will sooner or later discharge his manager. This
may result disastrously for the discharged young man, not merely on
account of the loss of employment, but because his failure may
militate against his securing satisfactory employment elsewhere. When
an employer is seeking a man, he looks for one who has succeeded.
There is an old saying, "Nothing succeeds like success," and it is
only too true that nothing fails like failure.
-----
[A] Profit is sometimes defined as that part of the product which
the producer can consume without reducing his means of production.
CHAPTER III
FARM ORGANIZATION
In the last chapter were discussed the most common methods by which a
young man acquires an opportunity to engage in farming. This chapter
will discuss some less common arrangements by which may be bridged
that period between the time the son is ready to go into the business
and the time he may assume the complete control of the ancestral or
other farm. It will also suggest a method for the continuous business
management of a farm enterprise.
As stated, the most common reason for a farm changing from one family
to another is the fact that no heir is willing to assume the
obligation which is involved in paying for the interest of the other
heirs. Connected with this problem is the further fact that the father
is not usually ready to give up the management of the farm at the time
one of his sons reaches the age to go into active business.
The reason for this state of affairs is made clear by the results of
insurance statistics. The period that a man may be expected to live
can be obtained by taking the difference between his present age and
90 and dividing the remainder by two. Thus, a young man who is 20 may
reasonably expect to live 35 years, or until he is 55 years old. A man
at 50, however, still has an expectation of life of 20 years, and the
man of 70 of 10 years.
A farmer of 50 will usually have one or more sons ready to go to
farming if they ever expect to engage in farming. But, as has been
shown, a man of 50 has a reasonable expectation of 20 more years of
life and cannot turn over the farm to his son, completely, without
destroying his own opportunity for earning a livelihood. As things are
usually arranged, therefore, there is no place on the average farm for
the son, except as a hired hand, which is not desired permanently by
either father or son.
Frequently the father fails to appreciate the earning power of his
son, and, what is more important, that the boy has grown into a man.
One day a teacher called a student of agriculture to his office, when
the following conversation occurred:
[Illustration: John Armstrong, Austinburg, Ashtabula county, Ohio, was a
dairy tenant farmer for twenty years with nothing to show for his labor
but a debt of $500. He then bought the farm of 144 acres on which he
lives, without cash payment, assuming a debt of $7,000. At the end of ten
years he owned his farm and equipment valued at $20,000. He has two sons
who have been important factors in his success. A year ago one of them
married and went to a farm of his own, the father paying him $3,000 for
his former labor.]
[Illustration: John M. Hunt, Ackley, Iowa, two years a student at Iowa
State College. He returned to the home farm of 120 acres, which, without
any capital, he rented from his father. At the age of 25 his gross
receipts from this farm were a little over $4,000. After paying rent,
living, keeping a family of four, a few trips to fairs and corn shows,
he had net $1,500 for his year's work. Picture shows home with father,
mother and sister in the foreground.]
"The Bureau of Soils at Washington," said the teacher, "has asked me
to recommend several of our students to them for positions as field
assistants. If you desire to have me do so, I would be glad to
recommend you for one of these positions. The compensation is $1,000 a
year and field expenses."
"I do not believe that I can accept," said Mr. Manning, "my father is
in poor health and needs my help on the farm."
"Does your father want you to take charge of the farm and manage it so
that you can make your training count?"
"No; my father expects to continue to manage the farm. He wishes me to
work for him."
"How much does your father expect to pay you?"
"Thirty dollars a month."
The teacher found it extremely difficult not to interfere, but he
merely said, "This is a case of filial duty which you must settle for
yourself. I must have nothing further to say."
The young man returned to the ancestral home and is probably still
there. It is, of course, impossible to determine the merits of an
individual case, but this incident represents a type of cases where
the son makes two important sacrifices from the sense of duty.
First, he sacrifices present, and, perhaps, future opportunity to earn
the wages of which he is capable and to which he is justly entitled.
And, second, and more important, he sacrifices the opportunity to
develop his own powers and make concrete his own abstract self.
There are two things that every young man should do. One is to earn a
living. A man that cannot or does not earn a living is of no value to
himself or to anyone else. The other is to develop within himself his
latent possibilities. He must apply himself to some problem, or
problems, and through them develop his own personality. There is no
place where more intricate and satisfying problems may be found than
in the development of a successful farming enterprise. In the instance
cited, the father may have been unable to pay his son the wage he
might have obtained elsewhere, but he did not need to dwarf his son's
development by treating him merely as a hired hand. His willingness to
do so was probably due to his failure to appreciate that his son had
become a man.
Sometimes a father is astute enough to reorganize his business so as to
retain a place for himself while giving to his sons that opportunity
which every man must have who develops himself normally.
An Ohio farmer once came to the Dean's office. He had a son in college
who was just completing the first year of a two years' course in
agriculture.
"I should like to have you find a place for my son in a cheese factory
during the coming summer," said Mr. McKinley.
"I own a farm of 130 acres on which I have a herd of Jersey cattle,"
continued the father. "I have two sons and one daughter. I would like
to have my sons about me, but there is no place for them on my farm
because I am there and cannot get away. In fact, I do not desire to
give up the management of the farm and the development of the herd of
cattle."
"Not every father sees the situation as clearly as you do," interjected
the Dean.
"This is my plan. After my son has spent a summer in a cheese factory,
I want him to come back to your school for another year. I want him to
learn, especially, all you teach about dairying. I will then build a
cheese factory on my own farm and my son will make into cheese the
milk of my own herd, and also from the herds of our neighbors. By the
time he has completed his work with you, my younger son will have
finished the high school. He has some liking for trading, and he will
sell the cheese at wholesale and deliver it to the surrounding towns
where markets are unexcelled. As for the daughter," continued this
practical man, "she will get married and that will take care of her."
What became of the daughter is not known to the writer, but the rest
of the program was carried out successfully and continued for many
years.
A German came to this country and settled in New Jersey, where he
established a large orchard. In course of time his two sons grew into
manhood. While, of course, requiring plenty of laborers, the
orchardist did not need the sons in the management of his farm. He,
therefore, established one of these sons in the commission business in
Philadelphia, thus, at least, keeping the profits on the sale of the
products of his orchard in the family. He also needed cold storage for
his fruit. The other son started a cold storage plant, which plays an
important part in the profitable management of the orchard. Thus both
sons have independent employment requiring managerial ability and the
orchard is much more profitable than it otherwise would be.
Our land laws, our traditions and our practices are based upon the
idea that a farm is to provide activity and support for but one
family. In order, therefore, that the son may marry and begin to
develop his life in his own way, it is essential to reorganize in some
manner the method of managing the farm or to enlarge or, perhaps,
specialize its activities. This may be accomplished on a simple
partnership basis, or it may be in some such line as outlined in the
illustrations which have been given. In other occupations such
co-operative effort is the rule rather than the exception. That it is
more difficult to effect satisfactory arrangements in farming must be
conceded, else they would be more common. Doubtless it will often tax
the ingenuity of father and son to devise the plans best suited to
meet their particular problem.
There still remains to consider another form of business relation as
applied to farming which has become almost universal in trade and
transportation. The following incident may illustrate and emphasize
the problem better than abstract discussion: One day a man walked into
an office and stated that a friend had a half million dollars to
invest in farming, provided that he could be convinced that the money
would be invested profitably.
"Does your friend desire to buy land in any particular locality?"
"Yes," replied the promoter, "he wishes to buy land near ----. He has
some sentiment about it. He was born in that neighborhood."
"Well, that is a rather bad beginning. Farming on sentiment is
dangerous, especially when the sentiment is in no way related to the
business."
The facts were that the region indicated was recognized to be one of
the most unpromising sections of the state.
"If you undertake to invest a half million dollars in one neighborhood,"
continued the adviser, "you will pretty certainly fail to earn interest
on your investment."
"Why?" inquired the promoter.
"Before you could possibly buy any considerable part of the land the
owners of the farms you desire to buy would have doubled or perhaps
trebled the price asked for their holdings. It is one thing to earn
interest on an investment of $30 an acre and quite another to earn an
equal per cent on $60 or $90 an acre.
"In the second place, farmers are content to accept less per cent on
their capital than they would if it was loaned at interest, because
the farm furnishes a home as well as a business. When you buy up all
these farms and convert them into a single enterprise you will destroy
their home value. You cannot hope to compete with the man, who,
because his farm furnishes him a home, is content with an otherwise
small return on his investment."
There were other reasons, of course, why such an enterprise would
fail, which the speaker did not stop to explain.
"You are mistaken," challenged the promoter. "I intend to meet both
your objections. My plan is to form a corporation and issue both
preferred and common stock. The preferred stock shall bear 5% and that
will belong to my friend who furnishes the money. I will retain the
common stock. Five per cent is all the owner of the money is entitled
to, while if the business returns more than that amount, it will be
due to my management. I, and those associated with me, are entitled to
all that is made above five per cent. By retaining the common stock
the surplus income will come to us. Neither will I destroy the home
value, because I shall associate the former owners with me in the
conduct of the estate and may give them some of the common stock, so
that they will be interested with me in making a profitable return. If
they wish to keep their money invested in the farm, they will be given
preferred stock in place of cash for their farms."
It is needless to say that the promoter never convinced his friend
that he could successfully invest for him a half million dollars along
the lines indicated. Nevertheless the corporate plan is not without
merit. For example, if a father should incorporate his farm, he could
provide for the inheritance of the preferred stock, among the heirs,
as he desires. He could give to the son who operates the farm all the
common stock, together with what preferred stock he is entitled or the
father may desire him to have. The common stock would provide the
means by which the income from the farm, which was due to the sons
skill and management, might go to him. As time went on the son could
acquire additional preferred stock from the father or other heirs, or
he could invest his earnings elsewhere, as might seem most expedient.
On the death of the parents, the preferred stock would be distributed
as inheritance or the will provided without in any way interfering
with the continuity of the farm enterprise. If at any time the son
desired to discontinue the management of the farm, all he would need
to do would be to dispose of his interest in the common stock at
whatever he might be able to secure from the man who succeeded to its
management. He could sell or retain his preferred stock.
Farming is the one remaining great industry that has not been
organized so that a single enterprise may have a continuous existence.
A corporation never dies, but at least three generations of men occupy
the farms of the United States each century.
CHAPTER IV
OPPORTUNITIES IN AGRICULTURE
Some years ago, a prominent magazine contained an article entitled
"The American Farmer's Balance Sheet," in which a descendant of the
second and sixth Presidents of the United States was shown to have
made in one year a profit of over $19,000 from a 6,000-acre wheat farm
in North Dakota, and over $50,000 from a 6,000-acre corn farm in Iowa.
A few months later there appeared in the same magazine another
article, the purport of which was that great wealth, whether it be
obtained from farming, the mining of coal, the manufacture of steel or
the selling of merchandise, is the exception, while the man, in
whatever calling, who rears and educates a family and at the same time
lays by a small competence is the normal American product. The moral
is that a $500-a-year-income farm is a more important factor to the
national welfare than a $50,000-a-year-income farm.
In the latter article the writer tells of two brothers who had been
reared on a Michigan farm. Reuben was tired of the country. He went to
the city and apprenticed himself to a harnessmaker. Against the advice
of young friends, Lucien bought sixty acres of land and ran in debt
for it.
In a year Reuben was earning a dollar a day. He wore a white shirt and
pointed shoes, not because they were more comfortable, but because
other people did. He had no debts. Lucien had fair crops, but they
yielded no more than enough to pay interest on the mortgage. He wore a
ragged shirt, patched breeches and cowhide boots. People said that
Reuben was making a gentleman of himself and learning a trade in the
bargain.
In two years, Reuben had completed his apprenticeship. He was now
earning $10 a week. He lived in a house that had a fancy veranda and
green blinds. His clothing improved. Lucien was still ragged, but he
paid his interest and $300 each year upon the principal. People said
that Reuben, the harnessmaker, was bound to come to the front.
In ten years more, Reuben was still foreman of the shop at $50 a
month. He lived in the same house, and smoked Havana cigars. Lucien
built a new house and a barn. He smoked a pipe. The neighbors saw that
every year he made some improvement on the farm. He wore a white shirt
when he went to town, and he had a pair of button shoes. People said
that Lucien was becoming a prominent man. His word was good at the
bank.
Reuben began to complain that harnessmaking was too confining. His
health was breaking down. The proprietor was selfish. He would not die
and leave the business to him. Harnessmaking was not what it used to
be. Lucien bought more land. He went fishing when he wanted to. Reuben
came out now and then to spend Sunday. The birds seemed to sing more
sweetly than ever before and the grass was greener. Lucien endorsed
Reuben's note.
Lucien has pigs, and cows, and sheep, and chickens, and turkeys, and
horses. He raises potatoes and beans, and corn, and wheat, and garden
stuff, and fruit. He buys his groceries and clothing and tobacco.
Reuben buys everything. At the close of the year Lucien puts from $100
to $300 in the bank or takes a trip to Washington. Reuben does well if
he come out even. Lucien does not fret; Reuben grumbles.
The picture is true to life. It has been enacted and re-enacted in
every one of the older communities of the United States.
It has always seemed to the writer, however, that the author of this
suggestive story left out two important personages. They were Sarah,
the wife of Reuben, and Mary, the wife of Lucien. Sarah liked to make
tatting and to go to pink teas. Mary preferred to raise flowers and
fluffy little chickens. Nothing is to be said for or against the taste
of either. Each has a right to her preference, but their point of view
cannot be left out of the problem when a young man is considering his
future occupation.
It has been said, and probably with considerable truth, that most
congressmen would not hang around Washington if it were not for their
wives.
No one must mistake this story as an attempt to compare harness making
with farming, much less to compare living in the city with life in the
open country.
What it does is to compare the struggle and the development of the man
who goes into business for himself with the man who accepts employment
at wages.
Because of less responsibility and less sacrifices at the beginning,
the tendency is for young men to work for wages rather than to engage
in business for themselves. This is becoming more and more true as
industrial methods make it more and more difficult for the young man
to command the requisite capital.
The man who works for wages usually has the larger income and appears
the most prosperous during the earlier years as compared with his
brother who enters business. The business man, however, who, while
young, economizes and invests his savings in his business gradually
outstrips his wage-earning brother. During later life he is able to
enjoy the fruits of his earlier economy and investments, while failing
powers and keen competition of younger and better trained men restrict
the opportunities of the wage earner, who has generally spent his
wages in better living, or at least in more outward show.
This is well shown by the fact that it is customary to make provision
by means of pensions for wage earners of all sorts, while no such
arrangement is made for men who engage in business, be that farming,
trade or transportation.
For many reasons, however, young men will continue to seek employment
at wages, even if only for a few years, or until some capital has been
acquired which may be invested in business.
The question arises, therefore, what opportunities there may be for
the young man who desires to engage, eventually, in the business of
farming to work for wages along lines that will not be too far removed
from the business in which he is subsequently to engage. It will be
assumed that the young man has prepared himself in that same
painstaking way that he would if he were preparing to become an
engineer, a lawyer or a physician.
There is a constant demand for men with proper training as managers of
farms. As stated elsewhere, the wages are seldom less than $40 nor more
than $75 a month to beginners, although for men of experience $5,000 a
year has been paid in exceptional cases for the management of large
enterprises. These positions often constitute ideal opportunities for
capable young men. They require, however, not only an intimate
knowledge of farming, but the ability, also, to manage men.
The ability to manage men requires the combination of decision and
tact, not possessed by all, and not easily acquired by education or
practice. Not only must the farm manager be able to manage workmen,
but oftentimes he must manage his employer, who may have little
knowledge of farming but still insists upon having his own ideas
executed, as he, of course, has a perfect right to do.
Another danger is the fact that where the farm is owned by a man
engaged in other business, many circumstances may arise to cause the
owner to change his plans or sell his property. There is often,
therefore, a lack of permanency in these positions.
The United States Department of Agriculture employs upward of 5,000
people. There is a constant demand for young men to recruit this
service, including experts in soils, plant production, animal
husbandry, dairying, chemistry and forestry. Beginners receive from
$800 to $1,000 a year. When they are sent out of Washington into field
service, as many of them are, they receive their expenses, including
subsistence in addition. Young men may rise rather rapidly by
promotion to $1,600 a year, then more slowly to $2,000, while an
occasional man is promoted to the more responsible position paying
$3,000 to $4,000 a year.
The positions are all filled through the competitive civil service
examinations. Examinations are held at more or less irregular
intervals, usually several times a year, in various sections of the
country. A letter addressed to the United States Civil Service
Commission will secure the necessary information concerning openings
and the general requirements for the examinations.
Employment in the United States Department of Agriculture often
affords opportunity for varied experience and wide observation of
farming methods throughout the country. Such employment is generally
to be considered desirable if not continued for too long a period. As
a matter of fact, men are constantly leaving the service to engage in
practical or other work, a fact which makes the demand for young men
greater than would otherwise be the case.
The various agricultural colleges and experiment stations are
constantly seeking men. It would seem that the demand would eventually
be satisfied. As a matter of fact, however, it grows greater year by
year, both because these institutions continue to grow and because
young men are attracted more and more to practical work. It is stated
that in one institution there were 46 graduates in the course in
animal husbandry and that 44 went into practical work and only two
sought employment in college or station. The salaries are about the
same as in government positions.
Agricultural newspaper work offers an attractive field for young men
who are properly trained and have a taste for this kind of work.
There is also beginning to be quite a demand for teachers of
agriculture in the high schools. As a rule a man is wanted who can
teach, in addition, the sciences usually taught in secondary school.
The customary salary is from $70 to $100 a month on an eight to ten
months' basis. An experience of one or two years as a teacher in a
high school, or even the lower grades of the public school, should be
invaluable to the young man who expects subsequently to engage in
farming. This is particularly true if he has not had the opportunity
of a college training.
It is, perhaps, unnecessary to state that the salaries mentioned in
this chapter are obtained only by young men who possess certain
qualifications. To secure them, they must be men of ability,
integrity, virtue and industry. No man who is not willing to make the
preparation necessary to master his subject can expect to succeed. He
must, also, be a man of absolute honesty, and he must lead a clean
life. It was Bismarck who said, of German university students,
"One-third die out; one-third rot out; the other third rule Germany."
Every man who will may choose whether he will belong to Bismarck's
second or third class.
The question for the young man of 20 is not merely as to the morrow,
but what is likely to be the trend of events during the next 35 to 50
years.
"In 1800 the United States nowhere crossed the Mississippi and nowhere
touched the Gulf of Mexico." In 1850 the country west of the
Mississippi River was agriculturally largely an undiscovered region.
Since 1870 we have much more than doubled our population and our
agriculture. Since that time we have subdued more of the open country
to the uses of man than we had been able to do in 250 years of our
previous history.
During the past 300 years we have prided ourselves upon being an
agricultural people. We have been an agricultural people, but our
problems have not been chiefly those of the agriculturist, but those
of the engineer.
Our problem, in the past, has not been to make two blades of grass to
grow where but one grew before. Our problem has been to harvest and
transport two bushels of wheat or two bales of cotton with the labor
previously required to harvest one. Our crops have been so abundant
that the agricultural problems connected with the growing of them has
been secondary to the engineering problems of their harvesting and
transportation. The self-binder and the steam locomotive have been our
achievements.
If the writer mistakes not, the future problem will not be so much the
harvesting and transporting, as the growth of the crops. In the
future, young men will be needed who have studied the science of
living things in order that they may make, literally, two blades of
grass to grow where but one grew. To men who will be able to do so,
will come success and honor.
CHAPTER V
WHERE TO LOCATE
Unless the young farmer expects to return to the ancestral home, the
first question he must settle is where he is going to locate. Indeed,
one of the most common questions asked is, What do you think of this
state or that state or this region or that as a place to farm? There
are few questions harder to answer. This is due, among other reasons,
to the fact that every place has its advantages and disadvantages. The
sum of the advantages may be greater in one place than in another, but
if these advantages are known they must generally be paid for.
New adaptations, however, may change materially the value of the land
in a given locality as, for example, the discovery that a region is
especially adapted to raising alfalfa, onions, cabbages, apples or
peaches. Changing conditions, as the growth of population or better
transportation facilities, may materially affect the attractiveness of
a region from the standpoint of the farmer.
The competition of other regions which grow similar crops is a potent
factor in determining the desirability of a region. For example, the
farmers east of the Allegheny mountains during the nineteenth century
competed with the farmers of the central West who had free, fertile,
easily tilled land on which to grow maize, wheat and oats. Cattle and
sheep were pastured on the open range. The twentieth century has found
the land of this region settled and capitalized in some instances
beyond that of the eastern states; thus one factor at least of
competition has been eliminated.
While farm values readjust themselves in time, it often happens,
especially in the older settled regions, that farm values are slow in
reflecting these changes in economic conditions. Changed conditions
often call for a change in farm methods which the habits and
traditions of even one generation prevent. To the man who is able to
apply the proper methods the region may be a desirable one, although
under existing conditions the results may be unsatisfactory. The young
man, however, is cautioned at this point not to be overconfident of
his own ability. Under such circumstances it is well to study the
problem with great care, because the methods which seem unwise to the
casual observer may, after all, be found to be based upon sound
economic principles.
A man of 25 who is looking for a location should not only study the
present conditions of the locality, but try to predict what is likely
to be the future of the region during the next third of a century,
since this is the period in which he may reasonably expect to be
personally interested, although later in life he will find himself
quite as much interested in the more distant future on account of his
children.
Nothing is more self-evident than that one should choose a region,
especially as regards soil and climate, which is adapted to the crop
or crops to be raised, yet there are probably more failures due to a
lack of crop adaptation than to any other cause that is not personal
to the man himself. Not only do apples, for their best success,
require certain soil types, but different varieties of apples require
for their best development, distinctly different types of soil as, for
example, Rhode Island Greening, Baldwin, York Imperial and Grime's
Golden. Each reaches its best development on different types of soil
and some require different climatic conditions. In like manner apples
and peaches require distinctly different types of soil for the best
success of each and for this reason peaches are not desirable as
fillers in apple orchards.
If at the proper season of the year one goes from Pittsburg to Chicago
via Columbus and Indianapolis, he will see great fields of winter
wheat and a considerable number of permanent pastures. From Chicago to
Omaha he will see only occasionally a field of wheat and scarcely any
permanent pasture. Oats have taken the place of wheat. In parts of
Eastern Kansas and Oklahoma the predominant crop is winter wheat.
Throughout the whole region from Pittsburg to Topeka, Kansas, the
characteristic crop is maize or Indian corn. Between St. Paul and
Fargo, the main crops are spring wheat and oats. One may travel from
Winnipeg, Manitoba, to Calgary, Alberta, a distance of over one
thousand miles without seeing a field of maize. In some portions the
main crop is wheat, in others it is oats.
These are illustrations of the crop adaptation over large areas, which
has come about unconsciously, as has most crop adaptation. In other
parts of the United States are to be found even more striking examples
of crop adaptation, although the areas are much smaller, as in the
case of tobacco, potatoes, celery, onions, apples, peaches and other
fruits. Regions containing residual soils are more variable in crop
adaptation than drift soils and require more careful watchfulness on
the part of those who may wish to buy land.
As previously stated, advantages, if known, must usually be paid for.
It comes about, therefore, that if a region or a farm is adapted to
the raising of a certain crop which is more profitable than the
average, such as maize, tobacco, alfalfa, celery, apples or peaches,
this land will, other things being equal, command a higher price than
land which does not possess this characteristic.
There is an underlying economic principle which the man who goes out
to choose a farm should clearly understand. The principle has been
stated by Fairchild as follows: "The normal value of products capable
of indefinite multiplication tends always toward the value of least
costly. On the other hand, if any production cannot be largely
extended, so that the supply barely meets the requirements of the
purchasers, the tendency of normal values is toward the cost of the
most costly part of the product required to meet wants."
This principle explains why land especially adapted to raising maize
is higher priced than land primarily adapted to raising wheat. Maize
which enters into commerce is raised almost exclusively in ten states
of the United States. Wheat is harvested practically every month of
every year in different parts of the world. The young farmer should
consider, therefore, whether he is undertaking to raise crops in which
there is unlimited competition, or whether soil or other conditions
cause the output to be relatively limited.
CHAPTER VI
SIZE OF FARM
The size of the farm is another of those questions on which there is
endless debate and to which no general answer can be given. There are,
however, certain rather definite principles which may help in settling
an individual problem.
The size of the farm is related to the income per acre. If one's ideal
or purpose is a gross income of $1,000 or $3,000 or $5,000 a year, he
must consider how large a farm will be necessary to bring this return.
Assume, for the sake of discussion, it is desired to obtain a gross
income of $4,000. In the eastern United States 200 acres of tillable
land devoted to general farming may bring this amount. If the land is
especially adapted to potatoes, and this crop takes a prominent place
in the rotation, 100 acres might be sufficient to return the income
named. Likewise a 100-acre retail milk dairy farm may produce a
similar result. Forty acres devoted to truck farming or market
gardening may be sufficient.
There is another way that the size of the farm needed may be
estimated. There is a general relation between the gross income and
the amount invested. In 1900 the gross income of the farms of the
United States was 18 per cent of the total investment, which includes
land, buildings, tools, and live stock. The average gross income
varied for the different types of farming common to the northern
United States from 16 to 19 per cent. This represents, of course, a
great deal of very poor farming. The income of prosperous farmers must
be somewhat better than this. If we assume that by careful methods the
gross income is 25% of the total investment, then an investment of
$16,000 will be required to bring a gross income of $4,000. While it
is true that the gross income has no necessary relation to net income
or profit, yet it is well to remember that a gross income is a
necessary antecedent of a net income. The net profit from the
production of a bushel of wheat, a dozen of eggs, or a pound of butter
is of comparatively small consequence unless a sufficient quantity is
produced.
A recent investigation by the Cornell station appears to show that
with the type of farming now existing in Tompkins and Livingston
counties, New York, where the investigation chanced to be made, the
larger farms yielded the most profitable returns and that while
present conditions exist, the size of farms is likely to increase
rather than decrease. The fundamental reason seems to be the
substitution of horse-drawn machinery for hand labor.
The following table shows the labor income on 586 farms operated by
the owners, classified according to size:
Number Average
of size Labor
Acres farms (acres) income
30 or less 30 21 $168
31 to 60 108 49 254
61 to 100 214 83 373
101 to 150 143 124 436
151 to 200 57 177 635
over 200 34 261 946
---- ----
Average 103 $415
While the larger the farm, the more prosperous was the operating owner
or tenant, the size of the farm did not seem to affect the profit of
the landlord.
The amount of land one individual may own is unlimited; the size of
the farm unit is limited. After a farm unit has reached a certain
size, depending upon the type of farming, the general arrangement of
the farm and the skill in management, any further increase will
increase the cost of operation, and as the increase continues
eventually cause a decrease in profits. Assuming this to be true, it
follows as a mathematical necessity that as the farm increases in size
the total profits will increase as the farm increases up to a given
point and then the profits will decrease. The following table
illustrates this law:
Size of A B
farm Net profit Net profit Net Profit Net Profit
acres per acre per farm per acre per farm
160 $5.00 $800 $5.00 $800
200 4.50 900 4.75 950
240 4.00 960 4.50 1,080
280 3.50 980 4.25 1,190
320 3.00 960 4.00 1,280
360 2.50 900 3.75 1,350
400 2.00 800 3.50 1,400
440 1.50 660 3.25 1,430
480 1.00 480 3.00 1,440
520 .50 260 2.75 1,430
560 -- -- 2.50 1,400
In both case A and case B it is assumed that the greatest net profit
per acre is to be obtained with 160 acres, and that the net profit per
acre when the farm is of that size is $5. In case A it is assumed that
the net profit would decrease $1 for each 80 acres added, while in
case B the decrease is assumed to be only one-half as rapid. In the
first instance the net profit per farm increases until 280 acres are
reached, when the net profit per farm decreases, until at 560 acres no
profit would be obtained. In case B the net profit per farm increases
until 480 acres are reached. Everyone is cautioned not to accept these
figures as representing what would actually happen. All that can be
said is that as the farm unit increases in size there will come a
point at which the net profit per acre will decrease because of the
physical difficulty of managing a large area, and, therefore, there is
a limit to the size of a single farm. Fifteen thousand acres may lay
in one tract and be owned by one individual, firm or corporation, but
its economic management requires for purely physical reasons, not to
mention others, that it be managed in several units more or less
distinct from one another. Just what the size of this unit will be no
one knows and it will vary with the type of farming, the type of
farmer and many other circumstances. For example, a very common unit
for a tenant cotton farm is between 20 and 50 acres, both the product
and the farmer being a limiting factor.
Perhaps the most important lesson to be learned from a study of this
table is that it is wise for some men to operate a farm of 320 acres,
others of 160 acres and still others of 80 acres, because each size of
farm presents a task suited to different abilities. It would be as
futile for one fitted to operate only an 80-acre farm to attempt to
manage 320 acres as it would be unwise for the man capable of conducting
320 acres to confine his attention to 80 acres. Unfortunately while this
principle is not difficult to perceive and is easily stated, it is
practically impossible to make any application of it to an individual
case. Only time and the inexorable laws of competition will adjust men
to their several tasks.
It will be of interest to note what influence in actual practice the
type of farming has upon the size of the farm. The census reports the
average size of all farms in the United States as 147 acres, with the
different types as follows: Vegetables, 65 acres; fruits, 75 acres;
dairy products, 120 acres; hay and grain, 159 acres; and live stock,
227 acres. Speaking in a very general way, only about one-half the
land on these farms is in cultivated crops, while only 40% of the
income may be from the products which cause the farm to be thus
classified. The young farmer will do well to have these figures in
mind when he starts out in life, for while they are not to be followed
literally, they give him a measuring stick with which to compare his
operations.
CHAPTER VII
SELECTION OF FARM
Having some of these preliminary questions settled, or at least well
in mind, the young farmer is ready to inspect individual farms with a
view to purchasing or renting. He should examine each farm from four
general aspects, namely: (1) The character and topography of the soil,
(2) the climatic conditions, including healthfulness and water supply,
(3) the location, and (4) the improvements.
It may be well at the outset to emphasize the advantage which even a
small difference in fertility may bring. Suppose one farm is capable
of raising fifteen bushels of wheat per acre and another twenty
bushels. If wheat is 80 cents a bushel, then the gross income is $12
and $16 respectively. If it is assumed that it costs in either case
for seed, labor and interest on investment $8 an acre to raise and
harvest the crop, then it will be seen that an increase of five
bushels an acre doubles the profit. The comparison is perhaps not
quite fair, since it costs slightly more to harvest the larger crop,
but it serves to illustrate the point.
Neither the crop adaptation nor the crop-producing power of the soil
can be determined by taking a sample and submitting it to a chemist
for analysis. These factors can best be determined by the character of
the vegetation, both domestic and wild, and by a knowledge obtained
through observation or reading as to what this particular soil type
usually does. Every type of soil has certain characteristics which
under like conditions it may be expected to reproduce, much in the
same manner as each species of animal reproduces its characteristics.
The first essential is to be able to recognize the different soil
types. This can only be done by close observation and study. The second
essential is to determine what the crop-producing characteristics of
these types of soil are. This knowledge may be obtained by personal
observation; but as most persons' opportunities are limited in this
direction, it should be supplemented wherever possible by a study of
the soil surveys of the United States Department of Agriculture
wherever these are available. When this is not possible samples of soil
may be submitted to the Bureau of Soils of the United States Department
of Agriculture or to the soil division of the state experiment station,
together with a suitable description and such knowledge of the history
of the land as is obtainable. In this way you may obtain information as
to the natural adaptation of the particular type of soil.
[Illustration: Walter S. Tomlinson, Bryan, Ohio, began thirteen years
ago with 225 acres, partly rented, to determine whether a farm could be
made a satisfying enterprise. As tenant he has paid to himself as
landlord $1,000 each year for rental and $500 each year as salary. The
rest of the profits have been invested in 240 acres of additional land
and in improvements. Mr. Tomlinson's specialty has been hogs, but he
says it does not matter so much about the lines one adopts as the
attention that is given them.]
[Illustration: Dr. W. I. Chamberlain, Hudson, Ohio, graduate of Western
Reserve University, former state secretary of agriculture, later college
president. Farmer and institute lecturer and widely known for his
editorial work on farm journals; has been able, amid his other
activities, to manage his farm of 116 acres. The net cash income above
all expenses from the farm for 1890 to 1907 was $113,966 or $1,370 per
year. Of this income $8,877 were obtained from a ten-acre apple orchard.]
There will still remain the question of the present condition of the
land. For example, the Pennsylvania station obtained in a certain
season 42 loads of hay from nine acres of land. The same season, from
exactly the same soil type, the station obtained eight loads of hay
from 20 acres. The condition of the soil was different, which the
previous history of the two tracts of land fully explains.
It is of the utmost importance, therefore, to distinguish between the
natural fertility of the soil and the condition of the soil. A further
example will help to illustrate this point. At the Rothamsted Station
a certain type of soil has for over 60 years produced annually about
12 bushels of wheat an acre without fertilizer, while with a complete
fertilizer the same type has produced 30 or more bushels. The 12
bushels may be said to represent the natural fertility of the soil,
while the additional 18 bushels may be said to represent the condition
of the soil due to fertilizers or to other conditions. On the other
hand, the natural condition of some other soil type might be only
eight bushels, or still another type might be 16 bushels.
This principle is of considerable practical importance, especially in
the eastern third of the United States. Generally speaking, clay and
silt soils have a greater natural fertility than sandy soils;
limestone soils than those that are deficient in lime. Thus soils that
naturally grow chestnut trees, indicating a low lime content, have a
tendency to deteriorate under exhaustive cropping much more rapidly
than limestone soils. More fertilizers and other methods of soil
improvement are necessary in the case of chestnut soils than in the
case of limestone valley soils. One of the first questions to ask,
therefore, concerning an unknown farm in Pennsylvania is whether or
not chestnut trees grow naturally. It does not follow, however, that
chestnut soils are undesirable. Much will depend upon the crop or
crops it is desired to raise. For example, in some regions they are
well adapted to potatoes and peaches. In these cases the cost of the
fertilizers necessary to keep the soil in proper condition is small
compared with the total return from the crop.
The pioneer's best guide as to the value of new land was and is the
vegetation growing upon it, and, especially in a wooded country, the
native trees. Basswood, crab apple, wild plum, black walnut, ash,
hickory and hard maple generally indicate a fertile soil. White oak
indicates only a moderate soil; bur oak, a somewhat warmer and better
drained soil. Beech indicates a rather poor soil; a heavy clay,
lacking in organic matter. Certain species of elms, maples and oaks,
as red maple and the Spanish swamp oak, indicate wet soils.
The occurrence and vigor of certain herbaceous plants are especially
indicative of fertility of the soil, as, for example, ragweed,
bindweed, certain plants of the sunflower family, such as goldenrod,
asters and wild sunflowers. Soils adapted to red clover and alfalfa are
usually well drained and contain plenty of lime. Alsike clover will
grow on a soil too wet or containing too little lime for either of the
former. Soils that produce sorrel and redtop when red clover and
timothy are sown need drainage or liming or both. Sedges usually
indicate a wet soil, although certain species grow on dry, sandy soils.
The point of this paragraph, however, is not to give comprehensive
advice but to cause the young farmer to observe the conditions and make
his own applications, which will vary in different regions and under
different circumstances.
Perhaps the one feature that the young farmer is most likely to
overlook in the selection of a farm is the relative proportion of
tillable land. One farm of 200 acres, may, on account of stony land,
wet land, comparatively unproductive woodland, or because of the
arrangement of fences and roadways, contain only eighty acres of
tillable land, while another may contain 160 acres. This is one reason
why a 160-acre farm in the central West may be more valuable than a
farm of the same size in the northeastern United States.
Columella says with regard to the selection of land that there are two
things chiefly to be considered, the wholesomeness of the air and the
fruitfulness of the place, "of which if either the one or the other
should be wanting, and notwithstanding anyone should have a mind to
dwell there, he must have lost his senses and ought to be conveyed to
his kinfolk to take care of him."
In selecting a farm do not fail to inquire whether there has been any
recent illness, and if so the nature of it, either among the persons
living there or the domestic animals kept.
Aside from healthfulness, climate is a fundamental and controlling
factor, both in productiveness and economic farm management.
Temperature and rainfall affect the number of days that work can be
performed upon the land and hence affect materially the economy of
labor. It is this fact that prevents the systematic organization of
labor so common in manufacturing and transportation. The climate also
affects the cost of producing live stock by modifying the food and
shelter required.
The climate of a region is best studied from the reports of the United
States Weather Bureau rather than from the statements published by
interested parties. So far as the production of crops is concerned the
distribution of rainfall is more important than the annual amount, as
may be shown by comparing the rainfall in such places as Columbus,
Ohio, and Lincoln, Nebraska.
The average temperature during the growing season is, of course, of
more importance from the standpoint of crop production than the
average annual temperature. Maximum and minimum temperatures or the
range of temperature must be considered as well as the average
temperature.
One of the most practical questions to determine is the average date
of the last killing frost in the spring and the date of the first
killing frost in the autumn; in other words, the length of the growing
season. Both altitude and topography enter into this problem. In a
given locality killing frosts will occur on a still night in the
valley before they do on the elevations, because the air as it cools
becomes heavier and flows down into the lowest places just as water
would do. On the other hand, as the altitude increases the growing
season shortens.
Whenever I am asked a question involving the production of farm crops
by a Pennsylvania farmer before answering, I ask three questions: (1)
Where are you located? (2) Do chestnut trees grow naturally upon your
land? (3) What is your altitude?
One factor that is often overlooked by the young farmer needs only to
be mentioned to be thoroughly appreciated. It is the amount and
character of the water supply. Not only is this of the utmost
importance from the standpoint of the household, but it is fundamental
to the best farm management. Thus, if the water supply is limited the
amount of live stock kept will be curtailed, and thus the proper
utilization of farm products prevented and maintenance of the
fertility of the soil made more difficult.
The young farmer should recognize that some kinds of farming are more
dependent upon the climatic conditions than others and should,
therefore, select the location best suited to the type of farming
desired or else modify his type of farming to suit the climatic
conditions. If one studies critically the types of farming in various
parts of the United States, it will be seen that they have already
been adjusted in large degree, either consciously or unconsciously, to
the climatic conditions. The young farmer should be careful that he
does not undertake to butt his head against a stone wall.
Having found a farm that suits our ideal as to the natural conditions,
such as the crop adaptation, fertility, topography and climate, what
may be called the artificial conditions must be studied.
The location may be studied, both as to local and distant markets and
the means of reaching each, which includes roadways and shipping
facilities. Here again much will depend upon the products which are to
be sold. The man who raises tobacco, hogs or beef cattle does not
suffer any great economic disadvantage by living ten miles from a
shipping station, but a man does who produces milk, peaches, potatoes
or hay.
In these days there is not much danger that the character of the
roadway will be overlooked by the intending purchaser of the farm,
although sufficient importance may not be given to the advantage of
really good roads, both as to grade and surface. Perhaps the one most
important question to consider in connection with the transportation
facilities is whether products may be shipped without change from the
shipping station to the market it is desired to reach.
Although at first glance we may not like the thought, it must be
conceded that neighbors are not only important morally and socially,
but they also may have economic advantages and disadvantages. While it
may sometimes happen that it will be wise to raise in a given
neighborhood some product that no one else has undertaken to supply,
yet as a rule, if a given neighborhood is raising Jersey, or Guernsey
or Holstein cattle or Chester White, Berkshire or Poland China hogs,
or Southdown or Shropshire or Cotswold sheep, it will be wise to raise
the breed commonly raised instead of the least commonly raised breed,
as it is sometimes supposed. The more potato growers or cabbage
growers or celery raisers or orchardists in a locality the better for
all concerned, for a number of reasons, among which may be mentioned
(1) the more and the better the products raised the more buyers will
seek the region and hence the higher will be the price obtained for
the product; (2) the more of a given product there is to ship the
better the shipping facilities for that product are likely to be; (3)
all the necessary supplies for the type of farming can be more readily
and cheaply obtained; (4) there will be a better knowledge of the
business when more men have had experience in raising the particular
crop.
These principles apply in all classes of business; thus we find woolen
factories in Philadelphia, silk factories at Paterson, N. J., cotton
factories at Lowell, Mass., plow factories at Moline, Ill., and steel
mills at Pittsburg. Many of these centers possessed originally some
natural advantages which caused the location of the first factory, but
others have been drawn there on account of the principles enunciated.
The farmers of a given region have a community of interest as well as
railroads. The young farmer should recognize this fact and if
necessary should exert himself to develop such interest in his
community, both for his own benefit and that of his neighbors.
There are two classes of farms for which the purchaser is in danger of
paying too much, one on which there are extensive improvements and one
on which there are none at all. A farm with just barely enough
improvements for the conduct of the type of farming it is proposed to
develop can usually be purchased most advantageously. The purchaser
should understand clearly that the previous cost of the improvements
has no necessary relation to their present value, any more than the
value of a second-hand suit of clothes is dependent upon its original
cost. All depends on how badly they are worn and how well they are
adapted to present conditions. The value of farm improvements is not
unlike those in other business enterprises in this respect. Their
value depends upon present and prospective earning capacity and not on
former cost.
No rule can be laid down as to the relation which should exist between
the value of land itself and the value of the improvements. In
practice it varies greatly. In the United States the farm improvements
constitute on an average 21% of the total value of land, being as high
as 45% in Massachusetts and as low as 15% in Texas. The young farmer
may well consider, therefore, whether he can earn interest on his
investment when the improvements cost more than 25% of the total value
of the real estate. Certainly when it becomes one-half it is
excessive. The man who runs a farm as an avocation usually errs in
putting too much money into permanent improvements for the farm to be
a paying investment.
If it is admitted that the farm unit is limited because of the
physical difficulties of managing large areas, then it must at once be
seen how important the arrangement of the farmsteading must be to the
successful conduct of the farm. In the older farming communities where
the present farm holdings are the result of several purchases or sales
the shape of the farm, the arrangement of the fields and the place of
the farm buildings become an extremely important matter. Sometimes
satisfactory rearrangements are easily made, at other times they are
quite impossible. No attempt will be made to discuss this subject in
detail here, but the young farmer should bring to this question all
the experience and study possible.
When the young farmer goes to inspect a farm it is to be assumed that
he will be conducted over the farm by the owner or his authorized
agent. It is proper to give respectful attention to everything that is
told him, provided he follows carefully the California adage to
"believe nothing you hear and only one-half what you see."
If a farm consists of 200 or 300 acres of land, it is possible for the
agent to convey the purchaser over the farm in such a way as to
prevent the least desirable portions being seen. If the farm has
attracted the seeker of land, he should not purchase until he has made
another visit, preferably some days or weeks after the first one. He
may then very properly visit the farm alone, passing over quite a
different course from that pursued hitherto. Sketches and notes will
be found very helpful, and if the use of the soil auger is understood
it may be well employed to study the character of both soil and
subsoil. During the interval between visits some casual inquiries may
be made among those who know the history of the farm in question,
because the past history of the farm obtained from unprejudiced
witnesses is of prime importance in arriving at a conclusion
concerning its value.
A farm is much more attractive when a crop is growing upon it than
when it is without active vegetation. Poor land looks relatively
better than good land during or just after a rain. Many matters
concerning the selection of a farm can only be learned by some years
of practical experience. The young farmer will do well, therefore, to
secure the help of some more experienced person. If he has among his
acquaintances a successful farmer of mature years he will be fortunate
if he can secure his advice.
CHAPTER VIII
THE FARM SCHEME
Farming is no pink tea. It is a serious business. After the young
farmer has selected the farm he must develop his farm scheme. He must
contemplate well and seriously the philosophy which underlies his
plans. Unless he sees clearly what he is striving to attain and unless
he understands the effect of his methods, he must fail in great
measure to obtain his goal.
Satisfactory results in farming cannot be obtained as a general
practice if the man is only interested in the results of a single
year. For this reason the itinerant tenant system will not be
satisfactory unless the landlord has worked out a satisfactory scheme
which he requires his tenant to follow.
It is not enough that a man shall grow a single large crop, but it is
necessary that he should continue to grow a satisfactory crop at least
at regular intervals. For example, a piece of land may be adapted to
cabbage, celery, potatoes or hay. Assume for the moment it is adapted
to cabbage and that by one or more seasons of preparation an enormous
crop of cabbages may be secured. This fact is of little value unless
sufficient quantity is raised and the process can be repeated
annually. Cabbages cannot be grown again on this particular piece of
land for from four to six years on account of club root. If the farmer
does not have other areas which he can bring into cabbages year after
year, for from three to five years, then he becomes a failure as a
cabbage raiser. Even a perennial, like alfalfa or asparagus, should
form a part of the general scheme of crop production if the most
satisfactory results are to be obtained.
There are two general questions at the basis of all farm schemes: (1)
How to obtain a fairly uniform succession of cash products year after
year, and (2) how to keep up or improve the fertility of the soil
economically while doing so. In other words, how to keep the
investment from decreasing while it is earning a satisfactory and
fairly uniform income.
It is necessary, therefore, to consider what products are to be sold
and what are simply subsidiary to the cash products. The cash products
may, of course, be soil products or animal products, but more likely
they will be both. When animals form a large part of the enterprise
the cropping system must be carefully adjusted to meet the needs of
these animals. Many apparently trivial details must be considered, as
for example, whether the cropping system furnishes too little or too
much bedding for the live stock.
In considering profits the enterprise as a whole must be kept in view.
For example, if a man is producing milk, it may be cheaper, so far as
the production of milk is concerned, to allow the liquid excrement to
run to waste rather than to arrange for sufficient bedding. If,
however, by using an abundance of bedding and saving all the
high-priced nitrogen and the larger part of the potash in the manure,
he is able to raise twelve tons of silage in place of eight tons, or
three tons of hay in place of two tons, his enterprise as a whole will
be more profitable when he uses the extra amount of bedding, although
so far as the production of a quart of milk is concerned the cost is
increased. It may be that by feeding corn to cattle or sheep one will
obtain only 50 cents a bushel for his maize, while his neighbor is
selling it to the elevator at 60 cents. If, however, the man who feeds
his maize year after year thereby raises 60 bushels instead of 40
bushels, his enterprise, as a whole, may be more profitable than that
of his neighbor.
As a matter of fact, the Pennsylvania experiment station has
substantially these two conditions in certain of its fertilizer plats.
When for 25 years the conditions have been similar to those where
crops are sold from the farm, the yields have been: Maize, 42 bushels;
oats, 32 bushels; wheat, 14 bushels; and hay, 2,783 pounds per acre.
But when conditions exist which represent the feeding of corn, oats
and hay and the return of manure to the soil, the yields have been:
Maize, 58 bushels; oats, 41 bushels; wheat, 23 bushels; and hay 4,190
pounds per acre. In the first instance the value of the products has
been $15.75 an acre, while in the other case it has been $22.90 an
acre.
Having worked out a cropping system that gives the proper yearly
production of several crops desired, the next question to decide is
how this cropping system and the disposition of the crops is going to
affect the fertility of the soil. From a financial or economic point
of view the most important soil element is nitrogen. First, because it
costs from 18 to 20 cents a pound, while phosphoric acid can be
purchased at five cents, potash at four cents; and, second, because of
the readiness with which nitrogen may disappear from the soil under
improper management, either through nitrification and leaching or by
denitrification and passing back into the air.
Assuming a given type of management, the question is, How much of the
required nitrogen will be obtained from the legumes in the cropping
system, how much from the manure, and how much must be purchased in
commercial fertilizers? No satisfactory cropping system can be devised
at the present prices of farm products and cost of fertilizers for the
production of the ordinary cereals and hay that does not include the
production of some legume. Assuming a legume in the cropping scheme,
the fertility of the soil may be maintained by yard manure alone or by
commercial fertilizers alone. Illustrations of both methods are to be
found in actual practice. Generally speaking, however, the use of yard
manure supplemented with commercial fertilizers will be found more
scientific and in the end the most economical.
A factor entering into this problem will be the amount of purchased
feed. If considerable amounts of purchased feeds are used and the
resulting manure carefully preserved and judiciously applied, the
commercial fertilizers required will be reduced to the minimum.
A concrete illustration may bring out the philosophy underlying farm
schemes better than abstract problems.
The following outline shows a five-course rotation with the method of
fertilization which the results of the Pennsylvania Station indicated
would be advisable, at least on limestone soils in eastern United
States.
1. Maize yard manure, 8 tons per acre.
2. Oats nothing.
3. Wheat acid phosphate, 350 lbs.
muriate of potash, 100 lbs.
4. Clover and timothy nothing.
5. Timothy nitrate of soda, 150 lbs.
acid phosphate, 150 lbs.
muriate of potash, 50 lbs.
This rotation is suggested for the purpose of maintaining a farm that
is already in a fairly fertile condition and one on which there is no
considerable amount of purchased feed. Where concentrates are
purchased liberally, yard manure should be available to use on the
timothy and meadow in place of the commercial fertilizers.
Where there is plenty of manure and it is desired to increase the
amount of maize and hay and reduce the amount of oats and wheat, the
following rotation and method of fertilization would be indicated:
1. Maize acid phosphate, 200 lbs.
2. Maize yard manure, 8 tons.
3. Oats nothing.
4. Wheat acid phosphate, 350 lbs.
muriate of potash, 100 lbs.
5. Clover and timothy nothing.
6. Timothy nitrate of soda, 150 lbs.
acid phosphate, 150 lbs.
muriate of potash, 50 lbs.
7. Timothy yard manure, 8 tons.
Where there is plenty of yard manure, it would be also applied to
maize under No. 1, or the yard manure could be applied to maize under
No. 1, and commercial fertilizer applied to timothy under No. 6 could
be repeated under No. 7. If the land is more or less depleted, an
application of 200 pounds of acid phosphate to the oats would be
advisable. However, the purpose is not to prescribe exact methods, but
to point out underlying principles and their possible application.
As further illustration, it seems probable that the practice of a
market gardener in using excessive amounts of stable manure might, in
some instances at least, be modified to good advantage by reducing the
amount of manure and increasing the amount of commercial fertilizer
used. Unfortunately there is no experimental evidence bearing upon
this question.
Potash required to maintain fertility is largely to be found in the
coarse fodder, such as hay, maize stover and silage, and in the straw
used for bedding; hence where these substances are used in abundance
and returned to the soil the amount of potash required to be supplied
in fertilizers is reduced to a minimum. Where, however, the amount of
live stock is limited and the products sold contain large quantities
of potash, such as hay and straw, the supply furnished in fertilizers
must be liberal.
Phosphoric acid is always being slowly depleted from the soil either
from the sale of farm crops or animal products. There is no way of
returning this loss completely, except from the addition of a
commercial fertilizer.
The above fertilizer suggestions are based on the experiments covering
a period of more than 25 years on a limestone soil. Soils may modify
materially the amount and application of the fertilizers, but not the
principles enunciated. For example, a soil on which common red clover
grows luxuriantly and has a prominent place in the farm scheme will
require less nitrogen in commercial fertilizers in order to maintain
the fertility than where legumes are raised with difficulty or do not
form a part of the farm scheme.
One of the most important points to be emphasized is the fact that
haphazard fertilization is not effective in maintaining soil
fertility. If one starts out to establish a five-course rotation and
build up his soil through a rational system of fertilization, he will
obviously not obtain the full benefit of the rotation until he begins
to get crops from the second round, which will be the sixth year from
the beginning. It may happen, and unfortunately it has perhaps usually
happened in the past, that during the first rotation the increase in
crops has not paid for the cost of the fertilizers applied. In many
instances a rational system of fertilization has not been introduced
because the owner of the land could not afford to wait six years for
his return. Profit in farming, therefore, does not consist in raising
one big crop or even in obtaining a large balance on the right side of
the ledger in a single year. It is both interesting and valuable to
know that five tons of timothy hay, 45 bushels of wheat, 100 bushels
of maize and 40 tons of cabbage may be raised on an acre, but the real
profit in farming only comes through a lifetime of effort. To the man
of capacity who prepares for his work the results will surely come,
but they will not come all at once and, as in every other business, he
must pay the price in hard work and close application to details.
In this connection it may be emphasized that one of the difficulties
in successful farming is to find one man both interested and capable
along the various lines essential to a successful farm enterprise. The
danger is that a man will ride his hobby to the detriment of the other
activities of the farm. A farmer friend of the writer, who keeps a
horse and buggy, cares so little for a horse that for several years he
has walked two miles each morning and each evening rather than to take
the trouble to hitch up his horse. If one visits a high-grade breeder
of dairy cattle, he is very apt to find his pigs of ordinary
character. On the other hand, a specialist in hogs is likely to keep
scrub cows. A man may be an excellent wheat raiser and a poor potato
grower, and the reverse. The breeder of live stock is likely to be
lacking in his methods of producing farm crops, while the up-to-date,
so-called general farmer is not likely to be a special lover of live
stock. In like manner, the man may be a successful farmer, dairyman or
horticulturist from the producing side, but be a poor salesman. In
fact, those qualities of mind and heart which make for the best
success from the standpoint of production, whether soil products or
animal products, is not that which makes the best trader.
It is not expected that the young farmer will be materially different
from his hundreds of thousands of predecessors, but the better a man
is trained and the more fully he studies his own adaptabilities and
deficiencies, the more likely he is to succeed in the open country.
For this reason, the young man should be careful to get as broad a
training as possible. It is, therefore, often more important for him
to study those things which he dislikes than to study the things for
which he has a natural taste.
There was a man in our town
And he was wondrous wise.
He knew that if he wanted crops
He'd have to fertilize.
"Its nitrogen that makes things green,"
Said this man of active brain;
"And potash makes the good strong straw,
And phosphate plumps the grain.
But it's clearly wrong to waste plant food
On a wet and soggy field;
I'll surely have to put in drains
If I'd increase the yield.
"And after I have drained the land
I must plow it deep all over;
And even then I'll not succeed
Unless it will grow clover.
Now, acid soils will not produce
A clover sod that's prime;
So if I have a sour soil,
I'll have to put on lime.
"And after doing all these things,
To make success more sure,
I'll try my very best to keep
From wasting the manure.
So I'll drain, and lime, and cultivate,
With all that that implies;
And when I've done that thoroughly
I'll manure and fertilize."
_Vivian_
CHAPTER IX
THE ROTATION OF CROPS
The two essential reasons for a rotation of crops are: (1) The
possibility of obtaining for the soil a supply of nitrogen from the
air by introducing a legume at regular intervals, and (2) the
prevention of injury to the crops from fungous diseases, insect
enemies, weeds or other causes. Other reasons are often advanced, some
of which are entirely erroneous, while others are of quite secondary
importance.
The rotation should be carefully studied with reference to the farm
scheme as previously outlined. Reasons for modifying the rotations are:
(1) To change the kind or proportion of crops grown, (2) to change the
amount of labor required, or (3) to increase the crop-producing power
of the soil.
During 25 years the four crops of maize, oats, wheat, timothy and
clover hay have been taken in rotation from the four tiers of plats at
the Pennsylvania State College, so that the influence of the soil has
been entirely eliminated. At the December farm prices for the decade
ending December 1, 1906, the value of these four crops per acre have
been: Maize, $29.67; oats, $14.49; wheat, $18.49; and hay, $18.05. It
will be noted that during 25 years the average income from an acre of
maize has been almost exactly twice that from an acre of oats. The
region where these results were obtained is relatively unfavorable to a
large yield of maize. It is obvious, therefore, that a modification in
the rotation may modify the average income from the farm materially,
provided such modification does not reduce the fertility of the soil.
Thus, while the average income per acre during 25 years for the
four-course rotation above mentioned was $20.17, if the rotation were
increased to a five-course rotation by the addition of another year of
maize, the average income would be $22.45 an acre.
It may be desirable to modify the rotation in order to increase or
decrease a certain crop usually fed upon the farm. Thus, with a
four-course rotation of maize, oats, wheat, clover and timothy,
one-fourth the area would produce hay; while with a six-course
rotation, composed of maize, oats, wheat, each one year, and hay three
years, one-half the area would produce hay. If it is desired to still
further reduce the area in oats and wheat, a seven-course rotation
could be arranged with maize, two years in succession. This is the
rotation that would be desirable for a dairy farm where it is planned
to keep as many cows as practicable and to buy the concentrates
largely. Either the wheat or the oats could be taken out of this
rotation if either the one or the other were thought undesirable and a
still greater amount of roughage desired.
On the other hand, there are places where the minimum amount of
roughage is wanted. There are certain sections of the central West
where it is possible to sow oats on corn stubble without plowing and
where occasionally a rotation is practiced of maize, oats and mammoth
clover. The clover is plowed for maize, the oats are disked in upon
the corn stubble and the next year the clover is pastured until about
June 1, when it is allowed to go to seed. In this rotation the only
roughage obtained is the corn stover and the oat straw.
Another result reached by this rotation is that only one-third the
land is plowed annually. In the four-course rotation mentioned above
three-fourths of the land must be plowed, while in the six-course
rotation one-half is plowed each year. In other ways the character of
the rotation modifies the labor. For example, the labor and cost of
harvesting an acre of hay is much less than that of producing,
harvesting and threshing an acre of wheat.
Rotations may often be planned with reference to the main or cash
crop. Thus in the Aroostook (Maine) potato district the rotation is
potatoes, oats and clover. The chief purpose of the oats and clover is
to keep down the blight in potatoes and add through the clover
nitrogen and organic matter to the soil.
A system of cropping that is best when the owner operates the farm may
not be desirable when the farmer is a tenant. When a farm is rented,
the lease should provide that clover or other legumes occur with
sufficient frequency to keep up the supply of nitrogen without the
purchase of a considerable quantity in chemical fertilizers. The lease
should be so drawn as to make it necessary for the tenant to keep live
stock in order to realize the largest profit. The landlord should
provide an equitable proportion of the mineral fertilizers when such
are required.
The provisions of the lease and the character of the rotation will
necessarily vary with circumstances, but the following system of
tenant farming which has been employed for many years in Maryland will
illustrate the principles just stated:
The lease provides for a five-course rotation consisting of maize,
wheat, clover, wheat, clover. The landlord and the tenant share the
maize and wheat equally, but the clover for hay or pasture goes
entirely to the tenant, unless hay is sold, when it is divided
equally. They each provide one-half the commercial fertilizer and
one-half the seed, except clover seed, which the tenant is required to
furnish.
This lease provides for two clover crops out of every five crops
raised, thus supplying nitrogen abundantly, and the terms of the lease
are such that it is necessary for the tenant to keep live stock to
consume these clover crops in order to secure the most profitable
returns. The feeding of the clover makes it necessary to feed some or
all the maize and may lead to buying additional concentrates.
Stable manure is thereby supplied for the field which is to raise
maize, while mineral fertilizers may be applied to the fields sown to
wheat. On the limestone soils of the eastern states 50 pounds each of
phosphoric acid and potash per acre applied to the wheat, and 10 loads
of stable manure per acre to the maize will probably be found
sufficient to maintain the crop producing power of the soil.
In laying out a farm for a rotation it is desirable to plan the number
of fields or tracts that will go in a rotation and try to get these as
nearly equal size as possible. Having decided upon the number of years
the rotation is to run and having adjusted the fields or tracts
accordingly, it is quite possible to modify the proportion of crops by
adding one crop and dropping another at the same time. Thus, if there
are six 20-acre fields, any one of the following rotations might be
used and the change from one to another easily made:
1. Maize Maize Maize Maize Maize
2. Oats Maize Maize Maize Barley
3. Wheat Oats Oats Wheat Alfalfa
4. Clover and Wheat Clover and Clover and Alfalfa
timothy timothy timothy
5. Timothy Clover and Timothy Timothy Alfalfa
timothy
6. Timothy Timothy Timothy Timothy Alfalfa
During the first year the 20-acre field could be divided into four
tracts of five acres each, containing potatoes, cabbage, tomatoes and
sweet corn, and then followed for four or five years by any succession
of crops above outlined. The point is that a definite adjustment of
the farm to some general method of rotation and a definite system of
fertilization and soil renovation do not prevent a considerable
latitude in the crops raised. It will be obvious that the longer the
rotation the more flexible it becomes in this particular, which is a
point to be considered in laying out the farm and in adjusting fields
and fences.
In some cases it may be desirable on account of the arrangement of the
farm or the character of the crops to be raised to have two distinct
rotations of crops. For example, if the farm lends itself to be
divided into eight tracts, a five-course rotation of maize, oats,
wheat, each one year, and clover and timothy two years, and a
three-course rotation of potatoes, oats or wheat and clover may be
arranged.
CHAPTER X
THE EQUIPMENT
The workman is known by his tools. The problem of obtaining the most
efficient machinery for the conduct of the farm without having an
excessive amount is not easy of solution.
It is probable that the cost of maintaining machinery and tools is not
less than 15%, 10% for upkeep and 5% for interest, even under the most
careful management. Doubtless in practice it is as much as 25%. If
this is conceded there must be a limit to the amount which may be
economically invested in equipment. This is a place where the lead
pencil may be used profitably. For example, if $125 is invested in a
self-binder, the annual cost of the machine at 15% will be $18.75. If
one has but 15 acres of grain to harvest, it may be better to hire a
self-binder at $1 an acre. On the other hand, it may be necessary to
own a self-binder in order to get the grain harvested at the proper
time.
Among the machines requiring a considerable investment for the number
of days used may be mentioned hay loaders, hay tedders, corn-binding
harvesters and lime spreaders. There is a certain class of labor-saving
devices, however, for which there is more or less constant need, as,
for example, means of pumping water, methods of handling manure, both
from the stable to the manure shed, and from the manure shed to the
field. This leads to the remark that there is at present great need of
modifying our traditional ideas concerning farm barns. Why do persons
usually sleep on the second floor, while horses and cattle are placed
in the basement? Three things have brought about the need of a radical
revision of our practices concerning the planning of barns: (1) Our
present knowledge of the difference in the function of food in keeping
the animal warm, and that of producing work, flesh or milk; (2) the
discovery of the bacillus of tuberculosis; and (3) the invention of the
hay carrier. It is not the purpose here to discuss barn buildings, but
merely to call attention to the fact that the traditional barn has long
since outlived its usefulness, and that the young farmer should plan
his farm buildings to serve the purposes required in the light of
modern knowledge.
Various attempts have been made to manufacture combined machines; that
is, a machine which, by an interchange of parts or other modification,
may be used for two or more purposes, as, for example, harvesting
small grain and cutting grass. Such attempts have usually been
unsuccessful. On the other hand, the young farmer should consider the
range of usefulness of any given type of machine or tool; thus, a disk
harrow is more efficient for some purposes than a spring-tooth harrow.
For other purposes the spike-tooth harrow is better than the spring
tooth. The spring-tooth harrow, however, will do fairly well wherever
the disk harrow or the spike-tooth harrow is needed. When, therefore,
only one of these tools can be afforded, the spring tooth may be a
better tool to buy than either the disk or the spike-tooth, although
it is not for certain purposes as efficient as either of the others.
The kind of machine should obviously be adjusted to the conditions,
as, for example, the size of the farm, and the character of the
farming. Riding plows may be desirable on level land, but where it is
necessary to plow up and down hill, walking plows should be used. The
extra weight of the wheel plow is not a serious matter on level land,
because the sliding friction has been transferred to rolling friction,
but no mechanical device has been or can be invented which will
decrease the power necessary to raise a given weight a given height.
The various machines requiring horse power should be adjusted, as far
as possible, to require the same number of horses. If the main unit is
three horses, then, as far as possible, all machines should require
three horses, such as plows, harrows, manure spreaders, harvesters,
etc. If the activities of the farm are sufficient to require six
horses then some of the tools may require three horses each, while
others require a pair.
[Illustration: Mr. R. H. Garrahan, Kingston, Pa., is one of the most
successful growers of celery in the United States. After graduating from
the Wyoming Seminary he spent one year studying horticulture at the
Pennsylvania State College. For several years he was assistant in
horticulture at the University of Tennessee. He now has at Kingston 60
acres under intensive cultivation. His principal crops are celery,
asparagus, cabbage, tomatoes and onions.]
[Illustration: H. H. Richardson, Brooklyn Heights, Ohio, agricultural
graduate, Ohio State University, 1892. Fourteen years ago inherited 35
acres of land and an indebtedness of $1,750. He has raised a family of
four children, has what is seen in the picture plus the land and $6,000
invested elsewhere. Mr. Richardson has held some local public office
continuously during the past ten years, being at present member of school
and water boards, member of advisory board of bank, secretary of
Cleveland Fruit and Vegetable Growers' Association and Ohio
vice-president of the National Vegetable Growers' Association.]
A farm with six work horses is rather a desirable one from several
aspects. Among other things, it enables the farm owner to employ two
men who can perform most of the team work with two three-horse teams,
while at other times three pairs of horses may be arranged when the
owner needs to use a team. This leaves the farmer time to attend to
many activities not requiring horses, and time to plan the work and to
look with more care after the purchases and sales. The size of such a
farm will depend entirely on the nature of the activities. If it is a
so-called general farm with a minimum of live stock, it would,
perhaps, consist of from 150 to 180 acres of tillable land with some
additional pasture and woodland. Ideally, every farm should have
sufficient activity to make it something of a center. It should be an
organism. It is difficult to organize one man.
It will be useful, when we come to discuss how profits may be
estimated, to divide the capital into three general groups: (1) The
plant, which in addition to the real estate, will include the machines
and tools, horses used for labor, and other animals used for breeding
purposes or for the production of animal products, such as butter,
wool or eggs; (2) materials, which will include animals which are to
be fattened for sale, and all seeds, fertilizers and foods intended to
be turned into products to be sold; (3) supplies, which may include
foods for teams, and money with which to pay labor, be this labor that
of the farmer or his employees.
The purpose of this classification is to bring sharply into view the
fact that the nature of different kinds of equipment varies. All the
things named under the plant are in the nature of an annual charge
against income. The charge under materials may or may not be an annual
charge. If a man invests $2,000 in 50 head of cattle, which he intends
to feed and sell for $3,250 at the end of one hundred days, he does
not have to calculate interest on $2,000 for a year, but only for 100
days. Cattle paper is held in large quantities by banks in the cattle
feeding districts of the United States. The farmer would, in fact, be
unwise to keep $2,000 in the bank nine months in the year in order to
use it three months. Like any other business man, if he has the money,
he invests it and borrows the money to buy his cattle. The same thing
applies to food and fertilizers. If the food is fed to cattle, some of
the money invested in the food must pay interest during the fattening
period. Food fed to dairy cattle and chickens may be paid for out of
each day's income. In practice, the amount of money invested in food
for dairy cattle and chickens is dependent only upon the most
economical unit of purchase. One may apply fertilizers to buckwheat,
give a three months' note for the fertilizer, and pay the note out of
the proceeds of the crop. If the fertilizer is applied to one-year-old
apple trees, this investment may be required to pay interest for
fifteen years.
The same principle applies to supplies. If one starts into raising
horses for sale, he needs to have some money or other income on which
his laborers and his own family can live, say for five years, this
being the age at which a horse is supposed to become salable. More
people would raise apples and horses if they could afford to wait for
the return on the investment.
While this is a serious handicap, it is an advantage to the man who
arranges his farming methods so that he can secure an income from some
other source in the interim. The young farmer will do wisely to so
arrange his farm methods that a portion, perhaps the major portion of
his farm, will give him quick returns while making some long-time
investments, which later in life will give him a greater return
because so few people are sufficiently forehanded to make them.
CHAPTER XI
HOW TO ESTIMATE PROFITS
No man who engages in manufacturing or merchandising knows how much he
is going to make annually during life. Much less does he know how much
he will be worth when he dies. Neither does the man who works for a
salary or practices some profession for fees know what his annual
income will be even during the following decade. Neither one nor the
other knows whether he will die a millionaire or a pauper. It is a
problem too complex for any human mind to analyze. It is less certain
than what the weather will be on this day next year, because it is the
resultant of more variable factors.
In some respects there is more hazard in farming than in manufacturing
or in merchandising, while in other respects there is much less. The
profit which may be obtained from farming is neither easier nor more
difficult to estimate than is that of other commercial enterprises.
However, there is no business in which more foolish estimates are made
as to the probable profits, except, perhaps, in mining.
The purpose of this chapter is not to give advice as to possible or
probable profits, but rather to point out the general character of the
data required for any individual problem, where the data may be
obtained and how it may be applied.
There are two forms or methods of stating the financial gain that has
been obtained from farming or other business ventures during a year or
other specific period. The first may be called the interest on the
investment method, and the second the labor income method.
With the interest on the investment method, all expenses may be
subtracted from all the sales. From the cash balance thus obtained the
increase or decrease in inventory may be added or subtracted. This
balance may then be divided by the capital invested, to determine the
rate of interest received.
The rate of interest method is the usual method in the commercial
world. The prosperity of the railroad or industrial concern is judged
by the rate of interest it pays its stockholders on the par value of
the stock. The stock itself takes on the capitalization in accordance
with the present and prospective dividends. The fact that this method
is generally used in the commercial world is evidence that it is well
suited to its needs.
The young farmer who wishes to know whether the operation of a given
tract of land in a certain manner offers him a worthy opportunity will
not find the interest on the investment method the best suited for his
purpose. This is especially true when applied to a single product. For
example, it may be shown that 50 hens will, when properly managed, in
connection with other farm enterprises, return a remarkable interest
on the capital employed. It does not follow, however, that a man can
make a living with fifty hens or even 500 hens. If a man has an
investment of $5,000, on which he obtains 10 per cent, his income
would be $500. If, on the other hand, he has an investment of $25,000
and obtains a return of only 6%, his income is $1,500, or three times
the former amount. In neither case, however, does this form of
statement tell a man how much of his income is due to his brain and
brawn and how much to the capital invested.
What the young farmer wishes to know is how much will he receive for
his own time, energy and skill, after deducting all expenses and a
reasonable interest charge on his investment--such a rate of interest
as he could get by placing his money in good securities or what he
would be required to pay for his capital if he borrowed it. This is
best obtained by the labor income method. With this method all
expenses are subtracted from all sales and to the cash balance thus
obtained is added or subtracted the increase or decrease in the
inventory. This balance may be called the farm income. Thus far the
procedure is just the same as the interest on the investment method.
From the farm income is now subtracted a reasonable interest on the
investment, the balance remaining is called the labor income. This is
the return which the farmer has obtained by and for his own efforts.
If this balance is zero, then he should change his methods or get into
some other business.
This statement of his income, whatever it may be, enables him to
compare his prosperity with that of the man who is employed upon a
salary. Here, again, however, it is difficult to make comparisons
because of the differences in expenses of living. The chief difference,
however, in the expense of the wage earner in the city and the farmer
is in the matter of house rent. For example, if the wage earner pays
$300 a year house rent that must be deducted from his income in
comparing it with the labor income of the farmer. It is often stated
that the farmer also has his living from the farm. This was much more
true formerly than it is at present. Under present methods of
distributing food products and with modern types of farming, the amount
of food supplied the table from the farm is comparatively small. The
rancher in Montana eats foods canned in Maine or Delaware, while the
New Hampshire farmer buys his vegetables from Boston commission
merchants. The Minnesota farmer cannot supply his breakfast table with
oranges, grapefruit or oatmeal. Many of them buy, if not their bread,
at least their flour, and also their butter. The fact that the city man
indulges in high living is no argument in favor of the country man
expecting less wages. Some of those things which are necessary to make
the country an ideal place to live are expensive. Some of them are more
expensive to obtain in the country than in the city, as, for example,
educational facilities. In justifying his purchase of an automobile, a
young farmer recently stated that his wife had certain cares,
responsibilities and even privations which her city friends did not
have. He thought that the automobile would help to offset them.
To my mind there is no more ideal place to live and rear a family than
in the open country when the conditions are what they should be and
may be. I believe, however, it is well to insist that it costs
something to live in the country as well as in the city if one lives
as well as every farmer has a right to expect to live.
Let us now consider the steps necessary in order to arrive at a fair
estimate of the labor income. To make the matter concrete, we will
assume a farm of 200 acres worth $60 an acre located in central
Pennsylvania on a limestone clay loam soil over 1,000 feet above sea
level. This farm is to contain 20 acres of timber, a 30-acre apple
orchard two years old, 40 acres of pasture, 96 acres of cultivated
land divided into six 16-acre fields. The rest of the 200 acres
consists of small yards, roadways and waste land. One-half of each of
the six 16-acre fields is to consist of a rotation of maize, oats and
wheat, each one year, and hay three years, the latter clover and
timothy followed by timothy. The other half is to consist of maize,
barley, followed by alfalfa four years. In the young orchard there
will be grown for a few years potatoes, tomatoes, cabbages and garden
peas. After the orchard attains a size which forbids these intertilled
crops, a portion of the pasture may be broken up so that these market
garden crops may be raised. There will be kept six horses, 20 milch
cows, 20 ewes of some mutton breed of sheep, five brood sows and 50
hens.
First of all, let attention be called to the broad knowledge of
farming required to operate this moderate-sized and comparatively
simple farm. The crops to be raised are maize, oats, wheat, clover,
alfalfa, timothy, potatoes, tomatoes, cabbages, garden peas and
apples. The animal products sold will be chiefly butter fat, wool,
mutton, veal, pork and eggs. This is neither a long nor complex list
of products. They are all adapted to the farm which the writer has in
mind. Yet the man who operates this farm to the highest success will
need to have a knowledge of agronomy, or the raising of field crops,
of horticulture, animal husbandry, including poultry husbandry and
dairying. He needs to have a good understanding of the principles of
agricultural chemistry, to have a knowledge of how to prevent and
combat fungous diseases and insect enemies. To get the most out of his
timber land he should know at least some of the first principles of
forestry, and if he has gained some instruction in the study of
landscape gardening, his home will be more attractive, and his farm a
source of greater pleasure to him.
To proceed with the estimate, the first thing to be done is to make a
record of the cropping system, giving the areas and the estimated
production of each crop. How is the yield per acre to be determined?
Clearly, one cannot afford to estimate his profits on the basis of
some unusual yields. If one could be assured of 40 bushels of wheat,
60 bushels of oats, five tons of hay, 300 bushels of potatoes, or 200
bushels of apples per acre, or 500 pounds of butter fat per cow, or
150 eggs per hen per year, there would be no difficulty about
obtaining a snug labor income. Such results are possible and are
appropriate ideals for which to strive, but are not safe as estimates
on which to do business.
The year books of the United States Department of Agriculture contain
the annual estimate of the yields, and the average December farm price
of staple crops by states. These figures may serve as a basis for
making estimates. If the natural conditions are about the average
stated, one may properly assume that he can obtain an increase of 50%.
He may even hope to double the yield, although it is not safe to
assume such an increase in making an estimate of profits. If the
natural conditions are more favorable or less favorable than the
average, he must take the fact into consideration in his estimates. In
the same way he may consider whether the average December farm price
represents fairly his expectation of the price, or whether because of
favorable location or superior quality of the article purchased he can
expect higher remuneration.
It is here assumed that the young farmer is himself going to be more
than an average farmer. If he is not he will only get average results,
in which case his labor income will be only that of the ordinary day
laborer.
To repeat the idea in concrete terms. If the young farmer is located
in central Pennsylvania and finds that the average yield of wheat for
the state is 17 bushels an acre, he may safely estimate that his
improved methods will bring him 25 bushels of wheat to the acre. He
may even hope for 34 bushels per acre. At the Pennsylvania station
several varieties of wheat have, during the past 18 years, averaged
over 30 bushels per acre. One year one variety produced 43 bushels. It
would not be safe, however, to use such figures in estimating profits.
Having outlined the cropping system and made a careful estimate of the
total annual production of each crop, the next step is to determine
the amount of food and bedding required for the live stock. From this
data it may be determined what products will be available for sale,
and what foodstuffs must be bought. Thus, it may be found, for
example, that the amount of oats raised just meets the requirement,
while more maize must be purchased, together with nitrogenous
concentrates, and that a portion of the hay is available for sale. In
the farm under consideration there will, of course, be wheat,
potatoes, tomatoes, cabbages, garden peas and the animal products
previously mentioned for sale, and later there will be apples and some
lumber from the wood lot.
The data are now at hand by which to estimate the total receipts.
Having made the estimates of receipts, the expenses are estimated, and
the difference gives the cash balance, if there is any. The most
important items of expense will be labor, feed, seeds, fertilizers,
harvesting and threshing expenses, spraying material, shipping
packages, blacksmithing and repairs. After all expenses that can be
thought of are included not less than 10% should be added for
incidental expenses.
The amount of commercial or natural fertilizers to be purchased is, of
course, related to the yard manure which will be produced on the farm;
therefore some estimate of the probable amount is desirable. In a
roughly empirical way the amount of manure produced may be estimated
at twice the amount of dry food and bedding used, provided it is
hauled daily to the field. Where stored and drawn to the field at
stated periods, the shrinkage in weight, although not necessarily in
plant food, may be as much as one-half.
The estimate of what the inventory should be at the beginning and end
of the year is not so simple a matter as it may at first seem to be.
The purpose of taking the inventory is twofold: First, to determine
whether the inventory has increased or decreased, and second, to
determine on what amount of capital interest is to be calculated. For
example, one must carry forward each year seed for the next year's
crop. Feed must be carried over to feed live stock until other food
becomes available, and there must be money on hand with which to pay
for labor unless there is a cash income from the sale of products
sufficient to care for the labor bills.
In the case of the farm under consideration there is a young orchard
of about one thousand trees. This orchard is not bringing in any
income, but there is a constant expenditure of money on it, and a
constant increase in its value. While, therefore, it decreases the
cash income it increases the farm income and the labor income. On the
other hand, it increases the interest charges because the plant or
farm is increasing in value. How much will it increase in value? In
some sections it is customary to consider that an orchard increases in
value $1 per tree per year. If this is a correct estimate, this
1,000-tree orchard will increase the value of the farm $1,000 a year
until it comes into full bearing. The farm under consideration was
purchased two years ago for $9,500. On the assumption just stated, at
the end of 15 years from date of purchase this farm should be worth
$25,000, at least $15,000 of which will be due to a 30-acre orchard.
This is at the rate of $500 an acre for the orchard itself.
In order to bring out some of the phases of the inventory more clearly
the following classification of items is given below:
INVENTORY
A. PLANT.
The real estate, 200 acres at $60 per acre.
The live stock.
Work horses and breeding stock.
Machinery.
B. MATERIALS.
Seeds, potatoes, oats, maize, wheat.
Feed, hay for cattle and sheep, silage for cows, maize for
pigs.
Growing wheat, 8 acres at $6 per acre.
Live stock, calves, lambs and pigs.
C. SUPPLIES.
Hay and oats for horses.
Money for current expenses.
In estimating the inventory at the end of the year, a deduction should
be made for the decrease in the value of the live stock under the
plant and also for the machinery. Perhaps 5% for the live stock and
10% for the machinery and tools will be a fair deduction. Under
materials and supplies those items have been inventoried which are to
be carried over each year from the preceding year. In the case of
seeds the amount required must be deducted from the amount sold, or
they must appear as a charge in the expense account. Ordinarily they
are carried over from year to year and thus become a part of the
permanent investment. Since on the farm under consideration there is a
considerable monthly income from the sale of butter fat and eggs, it
may be possible that no allowance will be needed in the inventory for
current expenses, although it is always desirable to carry a bank
account in order to be able to make favorable purchases when
opportunity offers.
As a part of the work in a course in farm management, the writer asked
each student to secure the financial history of an actual farm
covering a period of three years. The financial history of 30 farms
during the years 1901 to 1903, inclusive, and 28 farms during the
years 1902-1904, inclusive, was thus obtained and is given herewith.
SUMMARY OF FINANCIAL HISTORY OF FARMS
Average size of farm, acres 143.21 133
Average area in crops (includes pasture), acres 121.1 112
Capital at end of three-year period $14,009 $8,893
Capital at beginning three-year period 12,962 7,704
------- ------
Difference $ 1,047 $1,189
Interest on capital, $13,485, at 5 per cent[B] $ 674 $ 415
Increase in capital per annum 349 396
Average yearly receipts 3,613 2,208
Average yearly disbursements 1,907 1,221
Average yearly cash balance 1,706 987
Average yearly farm income 2,055 1,383
Average yearly labor income 1,381 968
These figures show the application of principles enunciated in this
chapter. A careful reader will have no difficulty in recognizing how
the different items have been obtained. For example, the difference
between the receipts and disbursements in the first column gives the
cash balance of $1,706. The farm income, $2,055, is obtained by adding
to the cash balance $349, which is the annual increase in the capital.
The labor income is obtained by subtracting from the farm income the
interest on the capital at five per cent. The amount of capital is
determined by dividing by two the sum of the inventories at the
beginning and end of the period.[C]
It will be noted that the gross receipts, the expenses, the farm
income and the labor income on these actual farms are all more closely
related to the capital invested than the size of the farm. Thus, on
the 30 farms with a capitalization of about $13,500, the average
yearly receipts were about $25 an acre, while on the 28 farms with a
capitalization of about $8,300, the average yearly receipts were about
$16 an acre. Likewise on the high-priced farms the labor income was
approximately $10 an acre, while on the lower priced ones it was about
$7.
-----
[B] Obtained by dividing by two the sum of capital at beginning and
end of three-year period.
[C] For further details see Hunt, "How to Choose a Farm," Chaps. X and
XI.
CHAPTER XII
GRAIN AND HAY FARMING
An important and primary factor in the production of all wealth is
labor. Aside from the professional and domestic classes, the people of
the world devote themselves to three forms of work: (1) Changes in
substance, or natural products; (2) changes in form, or mechanical
products; (3) changes in place, or exchange of products. The second of
these forms of work gives rise to manufacturing; the third, to trade
and commerce. Under the first sub-division two classes of natural
products may be recognized; first, what, for want of a better name,
may be called chemical products, such as ores, coal and salt, from
which are derived mining and the metallurgical arts; and second, vital
products, or, in other words, vegetation and animals. It is work
applied to the production of vegetation and animals that gives rise to
agriculture. Agriculture is labor applied to the production of living
things.
KINDS OF AGRICULTURE
The industries which deal with the production of living things may be
divided, theoretically, largely on the basis of the character of the
results, but to some extent upon the nature of the activities
involved.
{ Grain Farming--Cereals and }
{ grasses. }
{ } Agriculture
{ Plantations--Cotton, sugar, }
{ tobacco, coffee. }
Plant Production {
(Soil Culture) { Truck Farming, Market }
{ Gardening--Vegetables. }
{ } Horticulture
{ Fruit Growing--Fruits. }
{ }
{ Forestry--Trees, shrubs. }
{ Stock Raising--Work, meat, fats, hides.
{ Stock Feeding--Meat, fats.
{ Stock Breeding--Animals.
Animal Production { Dairy Farming--Milk, butter and cheese.
(An. Husbandry) { Sheep Husbandry--Wool raising.
{ Poultry Raising--Eggs.
{ Beekeeping--Honey.
Mixed Husbandry
The manner in which this theoretical classification has worked out in
actual practice will be indicated in some measure by the inquiries of
the United States Census Bureau. The twelfth census has classified
farms on the basis of their principal income. If 40% or more of the
gross income of the farm was from dairy products, it was called a
dairy farm; if from live stock, a live stock farm; if from cotton, a
cotton farm. If no product constituted 40% of the gross receipts, the
farm was classified as a miscellaneous or general farm.
In 1900 there were 5,740,000 farms in the United States, which were,
according to the rule just stated, classified as follows:
FARMS CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO PRINCIPAL
SOURCE OF INCOME
Gross
Average income
Total area, size per
Kind of farm. acres. Number. acres. farm.
Hay and grain 210,243,000 1,320,000 159 $760
Vegetables 10,157,000 156,000 65 665
Fruits 6,150,000 82,000 75 915
Live stock 335,009,000 1,565,000 227 788
Dairy produce 43,284,000 358,000 120 787
Tobacco 9,574,000 106,000 90 615
Cotton 89,587,000 1,072,000 84 430
Rice 1,088,000 6,000 190 1,335
Sugar 2,689,000 7,000 363 5,317
Flowers and plants 43,000 6,000 7 2,991
Nursery products 166,000 2,000 82 4,971
Miscellaneous 113,144,000 1,059,000 107 440
----------- --------- --- -----
Total 844,000,000 5,740,000 147 $656
Including miscellaneous or general farms, there are just a dozen kinds
of farms mentioned. Of this number, nine kinds obtained at least 40%
of their products, and probably much more, from vegetable rather than
from animal forms. However, live stock and dairy farms constitute
about one-third of the total number of farms, and almost one-half the
farm acreage. There are four kinds of farms on which the production of
grain and hay forms an important part of their activities; namely, the
hay and grain farm, the live stock farm, the dairy farm, and general
farm. These constitute, in the aggregate, 75% of the farms of the
United States, and by virtue of their larger area, they occupy 85% of
the total farm area.
GRAIN AND HAY STATISTICS
At the close of the nineteenth century less than one-half the area of
the United States was owned in farms. Only one-half of this farm area
was considered to be under cultivation. The total area in cereals was
one-tenth the total land area, while 3% was devoted to hay and 2% to
all other crops except pasture.
Without going into details, it may be stated with reasonable assurance
that: (1) During the last half of the last century, the production of
cereals has increased much faster than the population. For example, in
1850, there were raised in the United States one ton of cereal grains
per capita; by 1900 this amount had increased to one and one-half tons
for each inhabitant.
(2) Since the number of persons engaged in agriculture has decreased
in proportion to population, the quantity of cereals produced in
proportion to persons engaged in agriculture has increased in still
greater ratio. So far, therefore, as the amount of cereals is
concerned, the farmer has been getting an increasingly larger return
for his labor.
(3) The quantity of cereals has increased in proportion to the arable
land. This may be due to one or more of three causes: (a) greater
average yield per acre; (b) greater proportion of cereals to other
crops; or (c) to a change in the ratio of the different cereal crops.
The following table, giving the average yield of grain, reduced to
pounds per acre, shows not only how the substitution of one cereal for
another might affect the total production of cereal grains, but also
suggests to the young farmer how he may modify the total product of
his farm:
Yield Lb. Lb.
in bu. per bu. per acre
Maize 24.2 56 1355
Barley 23.7 48 1138
Rye 15.0 56 840
Oats 26.2 32 838
Wheat 13.2 60 792
Rice Paddy 746
Buckwheat 14.0 48 672
Yields will vary relatively in different regions and with different
types of soil, and should be studied with reference to one's
conditions.
(4) The wheat and oat crops have increased about six and one-half
times in 50 years, the hay crop five and one-half times, while maize
has increased four and one-half times. Cotton, the only other great
staple crop, has increased four times in the same period. The oat crop
has increased the most rapidly of any since 1880. It is interesting,
and may be significant, to note that, while the production of wheat
and barley in Great Britain has decreased about one-half in thirty
years, the production of oats has increased somewhat.
(5) The greatest rate of increase in the production of cereals in the
United States during the last half century has taken place since 1870.
This increase is coincident with three other facts of the utmost
importance: (a) The development of the central West, a treeless
plain--prior to this period much of the farm land in the United States
had been hewn out of the forest, tree by tree; (b) the consolidation
of the steam railways into transcontinental lines; and (c) the
introduction of the self-binding harvester. Formerly it took at least
five men to do what is done today by one man in the harvesting of
cereals.
ADVANTAGES OF GRAIN FARMING
(1) The cost of land excepted, the production of hay and grain
requires a small outlay of money. During the past fifty years, many
thousands of persons have been able to obtain farms of 160 acres at
almost no cost. With a few hundred dollars invested in horses and
tools with which to plow the prairie and sow the seed, these fortunate
persons have oftentimes been able to pay the whole of their expenses,
capital included, from the first crop. The renter who operates a hay
and grain farm usually has but a small capital invested in his
business.
(2) The cereals bring a quick return. Wheat may be sown in September
and sold in July; maize may be planted in May and sold in November;
oats may be planted in April and sold in August. The short period
between seed time and harvest makes the oat crop a favorite one among
renters. On the other hand, it takes from three to seven years to
produce a marketable horse. It may take ten to fifteen years to begin
to realize on an apple orchard.
(3) The products are not easily perishable, and hence can be held
almost indefinitely. The development of the magnificent elevator
system, based upon the principle that the cereals can be handled like
water, greatly simplifies the holding and preservation of these staple
products.
(4) The products are in constant demand, and hence they always find a
market.
Agricultural commodities may be divided into three classes, depending
upon the area which controls the price of the commodity, as follows: (a)
price units world-wide, as wheat, cotton, pork; (b) price units local to
large districts--products too bulky to ship long distances--such as hay,
potatoes and apples; (c) price units local to relatively small areas,
such as strawberries and green vegetables. It is obvious that the larger
the area which controls the price, the more constant will be the demand.
OBJECTIONS TO GRAIN FARMING
(1) It exhausts the soil. About two-thirds of the wheat of the United
States is consumed outside the county in which it is raised.
(2) It requires a large quantity of land to produce a competence. Land
must be low in price, or the interest on the money invested in the
land will consume the profits. The relation of crop to income is
suggested by comparing the gross returns from an acre of potatoes or
tobacco with an acre of maize. The average gross income during a
decade was, from an acre of maize, $9.50; an acre of potatoes, $38;
and from an acre of tobacco, $61.50.
(3) Only such part of the land as is suited to tillage can be used.
(4) The marketing of cereals requires the transportation of bulky
products. Hay is handicapped much more seriously. The distance a
product can be shipped depends somewhat on the price per pound
received for it. If it costs one cent a pound to ship maize to a grain
market, obviously it cannot be transported without loss when it brings
only 50 cents a bushel. On the other hand, two cents a pound may
easily be paid for shipping butter which is worth 25 cents a pound.
The transportation of $2,000 worth of maize to a railway station ten
miles distant is a laborious and expensive operation, but when this
same maize is turned into beef or pork, it will transport itself to
the station with comparatively little trouble. Notwithstanding the
excellent transportation facilities which the farmers of the United
States enjoy, 80% of the maize is consumed in the county in which it
is raised. Cereal production demands better transportation facilities
than cotton farming, tobacco growing or the rearing of domestic
animals.
(5) Capital must lie idle much of the time. The self-binding harvester
or the hay rake is only used a few weeks, or perhaps more often only a
few days, each year. A cream separator or a churn may be used every
day in the year. In the first instance, there is not only interest on
unemployed capital, but the capital is actually deteriorating through
nonuse.
(6) The production of hay and grain does not give continuous
employment. The slightest consideration of the following table must
show that unless live stock is kept, there are considerable periods of
the year in which very little labor is required, while at other times
considerable work is necessary to prevent loss.
TABLE SHOWING THE AVERAGE ACREAGE PER
FARM OF PRINCIPAL CROPS.
New York Ohio Wisconsin Virginia
Maize 3 13 9 11
Wheat 2 12 3 6
Oats 5 4 14 1
Barley, rye or buckwheat 2 -- 5 0
Hay and forage 23 11 14 4
Potatoes, beans or other
vegetables 3 1 2 1
Fruits 2 2 0 1
Miscellaneous crops 2 1 0 2
Pasture, wood or unimproved
land 58 45 70 93
--- -- --- ---
Total size of farm 100 89 117 119
(7) Much depends upon natural forces. While there is opportunity for
the use of knowledge and judgment in the production of high-grade
seeds and even of large yields, there is not the same scope for skill
that there is in some other lines of agricultural enterprise. Skill
means the capacity to do something difficult, and the more effort
required to produce an object the more value it has, provided its
utility is unlimited. The farming which requires the most skill pays
the best if one has the skill to apply to it. This is because those
who do not have the requisite skill are usually unsuccessful.
CHAPTER XIII
THE COST OF FARMING OPERATIONS
Several millions of the inhabitants of the United States, not to
mention those of other countries, are engaged each year in the
preparation of the soil for the cereal and forage crops and on the
work of seeding and harvesting them. The welfare of one-third the
population is directly and that of the other two-thirds, although less
directly, is quite as surely dependent upon the effectiveness of this
effort. If, for example, as sometimes happens, one-third the
population receives on account of untoward seasonal conditions but
four-fifths of the usual product, everyone must suffer on account of
this unrewarded labor. Many, perhaps most, financial panics have their
origin in crop failures aided, doubtless, by an improper financial
system.
Although widely and sometimes bitterly discussed, little is really
known concerning the relation between the effort expended and the
returns obtained in producing the great staple farm products; yet one
of the most important and vital considerations in the organization of
a farm enterprise is the income, both gross and net, which may be
expected from the different crops contemplated. Obviously the yield
and price of the several crops will vary with the locality and with
the season. It is, therefore, impossible to predict for any year
either what yield may be obtained or what price will be secured. If,
however, a sufficient number of years are selected, an average may be
found which will form a basis for calculating the probable result for
another series of years. The following table gives the yield and the
average farm values per acre for five staple crops for five years,
1905-1909 inclusive, for the United States and for four widely
separated states, viz., Pennsylvania, Iowa, Texas and Oregon.
AVERAGE YIELD PER ACRE, 1905-1909.
Pennsylvania Iowa Texas Oregon
Maize, bu. 36.6 33.4 21.1 27.3
Wheat, bu. 17.8 15.5 9.6 20.6
Oats, bu. 28.9 28.9 26.6 32.8
Potatoes, bu. 84.4 85.8 67.0 119.0
Hay, tons 1.39 1.56 1.32 2.11
AVERAGE FARM VALUE PER ACRE, 1905-1909
Pennsylvania Iowa Texas Oregon
Maize $22.59 $13.80 $12.17 $19.58
Wheat 16.61 12.42 9.11 16.10
Oats 13.33 9.28 12.97 15.20
Potatoes 55.87 44.75 65.15 71.18
Hay 18.74 10.13 13.92 19.60
Such figures as the above may be compiled by anyone at any time for
any year or series of years from the yearbooks of the United States
Department of Agriculture. They form a fairly sound basis for
calculating the gross income which may be expected from the staple
farm crops, particularly for the cereals, potatoes, hay, cotton and
tobacco. Five questions, however, present themselves, which should, as
far as possible, be settled before applying them to an individual
problem.
(1) How nearly do the conditions, especially those of soil and
climate, of the given location correspond to the averages of the
state? The question can be settled only by a thorough study of soils
and their crop adaptation. It is a matter requiring study, experience
and judgment.
(2) How much larger yields may be expected on account of better
methods employed? It is here that most mistakes are made in estimating
possible farm profits. Necessarily, all statistical averages of
production are much below those which an enterprising farmer considers
an average crop and habitually produces. Not more than 50% increase
upon these figures, however, should be anticipated by reason of the
improved methods which one is going to employ.
While the average yield of maize, even in the so-called corn states,
is not far from 30 bushels an acre, and while it is quite common for
good farmers to produce 60 to 75 bushels of maize per acre, it would
not be safe to assume a yield of more than 45 bushels unless the
conditions are more than ordinarily favorable.
The application of the averages given on pages 149-150 to an
individual farm enterprise may be illustrated by calculating the
possible results which might be obtained on 80 acres of arable land in
Iowa and Pennsylvania with the four great soil products of northern
United States.
Iowa Pennsylvania
Acres Income Acres Income
Maize 40 $552.00 15 $340.85
Oats 20 185.60 15 200.25
Wheat 5 62.10 15 249.25
Hay 15 151.95 35 655.90
Total 80 $951.65 80 $1,446.25
If 50% is added for the increased yields which may be expected on
account of the employment of better methods, the total yield from 80
acres of arable land would become for Iowa $1,428 and for Pennsylvania
$2,169. This does not mean that farming is necessarily more profitable
in Pennsylvania than in Iowa. Not only may the cost of cultivating an
acre of arable land be greater in Pennsylvania, but usually a larger
territory must be owned in order to obtain 80 acres of arable land.
Eighty acres of these four crops is probably as often grown on a farm of
100 acres in Iowa as on one of 160 acres in Pennsylvania. The total farm
acreage in Iowa is, in round numbers, 35 millions; in Pennsylvania, 19
millions. In Iowa about one-half the farm area is in the farm crops
under consideration, while in Pennsylvania these four crops occupy only
one-third the farm area.
[Illustration: Mr. R. D. Maurice Wertz, after several years in railroad
offices, took charge of his fathers farm at Quincy, Pa., in 1891, and
converted it into a fruit farm. He now has about 220 acres in peaches and
apples. It is understood that he has sent from the above shipping station
and one other about $200,000 worth of fruit in the last six years.]
[Illustration: Mr. T. E. Martin, Rush, N. Y., is one of the most
successful potato growers in the United States. He has a farm of 57 acres
of the Dunkirk series of soil. He has three 18-acre fields in rotation
consisting of potatoes, wheat and clover and alfalfa. Mr. Martin has
increased the yield of potatoes from 60 bushels per acre in 1892 to 417
bushels in 1906. In 1906 he produced 7,510 bushels on 18 acres. In 1907
he sold $2,807.89 worth of potatoes from 18 acres, or $160 per acre. He
attributes his large yields mainly to drainage, thorough preparation of
the soil, good tillage, spraying, clover and alfalfa, manure and
commercial fertilizers.]
(3) Will there be a general increase or decrease in the price of crops
during the coming years?
The following table gives the average farm price for Missouri by
five-year periods.
THE AVERAGE DECEMBER FARM PRICE BY
PREVIOUS DECADES COMPARED WITH
AVERAGE OF FIVE YEARS, 1906-10.
1866 1875 1886 1896 1906
to to to to to
1875 1885 1895 1905 1910
cts. cts. cts. cts. cts.
Maize, bu. 40 33 33 35 49
Wheat, bu. 103 87 64 71 87
Oats, bu. 30 27 26 27 39
Potatoes, bu. 57 48 49 53 68
Hay, ton 902 799 704 700 875
An examination of the last column shows that the average price of
these staple farm products has been considerably greater during five
recent years than during the previous thirty years. Will this increase
in price continue, or will there be a series of years of unusually low
prices which will bring the average price of the decade down to that
of the previous three decades? Few persons will care to venture an
answer to this question, which is of the utmost importance to all
farmers and especially to the beginner.
(4) The figures employed are taken from the yearbook of the United
States Department of Agriculture and are the estimated farm price on
December 1 of each year. Can the commodities be sold for the December
farm price? Will potatoes sold at the time of digging bring less than
the December price? Will wheat or maize held until May bring a higher
price? To what extent, by the judicious holding of products, can
advance in price be obtained?
(5) Will the products be sold for cash, or may they be turned into
animal products at an increased profit? In some sections of the United
States animals are reared primarily because of the increased profit
due to manufacturing soil products into animal products; in other
regions, however, they are kept primarily for the purpose of
maintaining the fertility of the soil and only incidentally on account
of the increased profits.
COST OF PRODUCTION
For a number of reasons it is difficult to determine the cost of
growing farm crops. One reason deserves to be especially emphasized. In
any business enterprise it may be necessary to run at a loss, because
to stop would entail a still greater loss. This is particularly true in
farming, where men are employed by the month in order that they may be
had when needed. Since they are receiving pay, it is better that such
men should be employed some days at farm operations which return only a
portion of their wages rather than not to have them employed at all.
Under such circumstances, therefore, the cost of producing a given crop
may be greater than is indicated by the time actually employed in its
production.
Many other factors also enter, as the average number of hours per day
which it is possible to work. This is greatly influenced by weather
conditions. The Minnesota station determined that the working day on
about thirty farms in that state varied from seven and one-half to
eight and one-half hours, with two to three and one-half hours on
Sunday. The average length of the working day for horses varied from
3.1 to 3.3 hours.
The cost for labor of cultivating a given area of land will depend not
only on the crop or crops to be raised, the climate, the topography
and character of the soil, the size and shape of the fields and the
system of cropping, but also upon the man's ability for organization.
It is said that the European farmers, and even the farmers from
eastern Canada, are several years in adjusting themselves to farming
in western Canada. When the farmers from Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska or
surrounding states move into western Canada with their three-horse
teams and other suitable equipment, applying their thorough knowledge
of prairie farming, they are at once successful. The man is thus an
important factor.
TIME REQUIRED FOR CULTURAL OPERATIONS
The following table will be helpful as showing time required to
perform certain operations, since it is a record of labor actually
employed on a field of 18 acres of easily tilled land in central Ohio.
All labor was employed at prices named, board for man and food for
horses being furnished in addition at the prices estimated. The owner
of the land furnished the horse for the harvester.
Plowing 7.5 days at $2 $15.00
Harrowing 3 days at 2 6.00
Planting 2 days at 2 4.00
Cultivating (4 times) 7 days at 2 14.00
Cultivating with harvester 6 days at 1 6.00
Husking and cribbing by the job 45.54
Estimated cost of board 25-1/2 days 7.95
Estimated team maintenance 25-1/2 days 4.90
-------
$103.39
According to these figures the cost for labor of raising the crop and
the cost of harvesting was almost exactly the same, each being a
little less than $3 an acre.
THE COST OF PRODUCING FARM CROPS
The Minnesota station has determined the cost of growing the staple
farm crops on 45 farms in different sections of the State. The total
expense per acre for an average of six years is shown in the following
table, not including land rental or cost of marketing.
COST OF PRODUCING FARM CROPS IN MINNESOTA.
Spring wheat, land fall plowed $5.54
Oats, land fall plowed 5.80
Barley, land spring plowed 6.89
Maize, husked from standing stalks 9.41
Hay, timothy and clover 3.68
Potatoes, land not fertilized 23.36
Potatoes, land fertilized 34.72
Some years ago the writer made an estimate of the cost of producing
maize, oats, wheat and clover hay in a four-course rotation on a
tenant farm in central Pennsylvania. The soil was a heavy clay and
required plowing for each crop, except, of course, the hay crop, one
acre a day being considered a good day's work.
Counting the expense of man and team at $2 per day, the labor cost per
acre was found to be $7 for maize, $5.10 for both wheat and oats, and
$2.30 for hay, or an average of about $4.90 per acre for the four
crops. The interest on the capital invested in operating this farm,
exclusive of the land, was estimated at $1.45 per acre.
INFLUENCE OF YIELD UPON THE COST OF
PRODUCTION
The Illinois station has prepared a set of estimates upon the cost of
producing an acre of maize, showing variations in cost due to
differences in yield. In these estimates, instead of making a charge
for the actual cost of manure or fertilizer applied, an estimate is
made of the value of the plant food removed.
COST OF PRODUCING ONE ACRE OF MAIZE IN
ILLINOIS AS MODIFIED BY YIELD.
Yield Yield Yield Yield
50 bu. 75 bu. 100 bu. 35 bu.
Disking $0.40 $0.40 $0.40 $0.40
Plowing 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00
Preparation .75 .75 .75 .75
Planting .15 .15 .15 .15
Seed .35 .35 .35 .35
Cultivation 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00
Plant food 1.02 1.53 2.04 .71
Husking 1.25 1.87 2.50 .88
Marketing 1.00 1.50 2.00 .70
----- ----- ------ -----
Cost per acre $6.92 $8.55 $10.19 $5.94
Cost per bushel .14 .11 .10 .17
The average yield per acre in Illinois for 12 years preceding date of
this estimate was 35 bushels per acre; the average price per bushel
during the same period was 32 cents.
LABOR COST OF PRODUCING A BUSHEL OF
GRAIN
Not counting rent of land or interest on capital invested in
equipment, nor depreciation of soil fertility, it has been shown that
under favorable conditions, the labor cost of growing and harvesting
an acre of wheat or oats may be as low as $4.50, and that of maize as
low as $5 per acre. Assuming the average labor cost of producing an
acre of wheat or oats at $5.50 and of maize at $6 per acre, and taking
the average yields per acre for a series of years to be 13.8 for
wheat, 30.9 bushels for oats and 24.9 bushels for maize, the average
labor cost per bushel will be: Wheat, 40 cents; oats, 17-1/2 cents;
and maize, 28 cents.
The data given in this chapter are to be accepted as suggestive rather
than as determinative. The chief purpose in presenting them is to
place before the young farmer an appreciation of some of the problems
involved in the production of the chief and basic agricultural
commodities. The young farmer's success will be modified by the role
which they occupy in his farming system and by his ability to adjust
them to the economic conditions in which he may find himself placed. A
thorough understanding of the principle underlying the data submitted
will go far toward enabling him to make this adjustment, although none
of the illustrations given may have been obtained under conditions
identical to his own.
CHAPTER XIV
THE PLACE OF INTENSIVE
FARMING
The doctrine of the survival of the most fit applies equally to the
field of biology and to the field of economics. The general introduction
of vegetables and fruits into the human dietary has, by banishing the
loathsome diseases of the Middle Ages, greatly increased human
efficiency. It follows that those peoples or nations who employ
vegetables and fruits in abundance, other things being equal, will be
most fit to survive and must outstrip others less fortunately situated.
We may for this reason alone look forward to the increasing importance
of vegetable growing and fruit raising; but there is a more obvious and
perhaps more direct reason. There is in the production of vegetables, at
least, a method of satisfying the dietetic needs of an increasing
population. The employment of a part of the area now in cereals and
forage crops for the production of potatoes, cabbages, legumes, roots
and tomatoes is one of the most ready means of increasing the food
supply. Whether such substitution will be advantageous to the human race
depends, however, not so much upon the food returns from a given area of
land as upon the products from a given amount or unit of labor.
KINDS OF HORTICULTURE
In that form of intensive agriculture to which is given the designation
horticulture, there may be recognized several more or less distinct
divisions, as fruit growing, market gardening, truck farming and
floriculture. Each has its own special problems, based upon conditions
of culture and market. While, as in all classifications, there is more
or less overlapping, the tendency is for them to become more and more
distinct. The market gardener is the producer of vegetables for a local
market, while the truck farmer produces similar products for a larger
or wider distribution. The former grows a great variety of products,
disposing of them in relatively small quantity, not infrequently
directly to the consumer. The latter raises a few highly specialized
crops which he sells in gross, usually through a commission merchant.
Truck farming has developed since 1860, in consequence of the growth of
large cities, which require enormous supplies of vegetables of fairly
uniform quality, and on account of the continuous demand for fresh
vegetables as nearly as possible throughout the year. Watermelons and
sweet potatoes can be raised in the southern states and laid down in
New York City or Boston more cheaply than they can be raised in the
suburbs of these cities, and, what is equally important, they will be
of superior quality.
The extension of railway facilities, the introduction of refrigerator
cars and the building of cold storage plants has made it possible to
grow in one climate products to be consumed in another. Cold storage
has enabled the fruit growers of California to supply the eastern
markets with peaches and other fresh fruit. Chicago, to give only one
example, begins to receive strawberries, cabbages and tomatoes from
the shores of the Gulf of Mexico early in the year and continues to
receive these products, until finally they are being shipped late in
the summer from the shores of Lake Superior. It is estimated that the
change of locality from which these products come, travels northward
at the rate of from 13 to 15 miles a day.
IMPORTANT FACTORS IN INTENSIVE FARMING
In the neighborhood of large cities, notably in the environs of Paris,
market gardeners often produce their vegetables in made soil. The
local character of the soil under such conditions is a matter of
comparative indifference, since a board floor would answer every
requirement as a resting place for the artificial soil. The large
expense in preparing and constantly renewing the seed bed is only
economically possible, however, where proximity to a large city
out-weighs all other considerations.
Ordinarily climatic and soil adaptation are prime factors in
successful horticulture--much more than in any other branch of
agriculture. Each fruit has a restricted climatic range, and in most
cases the number of soil types on which a given fruit can be made a
commercial success is likewise limited. Thus, in general, apples and
pears require heavier soils than peaches. Success in commercial apple
growing requires even greater discrimination, since different
varieties of apples demand different soil conditions. Thus Baldwins
are grown the most successfully where a northern climate is modified
by proximity to the Great Lakes. Rhode Island Greenings will succeed
on soils too heavy for many other varieties. The York Imperial has not
yet achieved a great commercial success save on one type of soil. Some
varieties of apples are much more restricted in their adaptation than
others. Thus, while the King is quite restricted, the Ben Davis has a
fairly wide cultural adaptation. No one should plant an orchard until
he has made a thorough study of his soil and climatic conditions and
has received the highest possible expert assistance in choosing the
varieties best adapted to his conditions.
There is an increasing tendency to specialize in vegetable growing.
The production of celery, onions, muskmelons, watermelons, cabbages,
cauliflowers, tomatoes and sweet corn, to mention only some of the
most striking examples, are becoming more and more localized. Even
where vegetables and flowers are grown under glass, not only is each
house devoted to a single species, but, notably in the case of roses,
growers are restricting themselves more and more to a few varieties.
This is due to the fact that it is impossible to give in one house, or
even in one establishment, the special set of conditions required for
the most economic development of each species or variety of plant,
just as in the open air the natural conditions are best adapted to a
limited number of horticultural products.
So much being admitted, it follows that it is folly to attempt to grow
plants under unfavorable climatic and soil conditions when competing
in the same market with those possessing favorable ones. It is true,
of course, that where one man fails another often succeeds, but this
is no reason why a man should apply his talents under unfavorable
circumstances. In fact, one of the important attributes of most
successful men is their ability to recognize and apply their energies
under conditions which will give them the most effective return for a
given effort. There is no virtue in unnecessary toil. Progress in any
enterprise, as progress in the human race, can be accomplished only in
reducing the amount of labor required to produce a desired result.
All this is axiomatic. The purpose of emphasizing it here is that it
is fundamental to the success of those who attempt to produce
horticultural products. The necessity for the emphasis lies in the
fact that these factors are so often disregarded. They are of most
vital importance to the man who attempts to raise tree fruits. A
mistake in the planting of celery, cabbage, or onions may be rectified
the following season, but if a mistake is made in planting tree
fruits, it may, as in the case of apples, require ten or even 20 years
to discover the error.
The growth in commercial orcharding is due in part to the need of
special knowledge and facilities for combating fungous diseases and
insect enemies and to the better markets which a large production of
uniform quality makes possible. While these are extremely important
considerations, there is a more fundamental reason, which may in the
long run exercise an even more potent influence. The location of the
ordinary family orchard, so called, has been determined in almost
every instance by the location of the farm buildings. There is no
necessary relation between a good site for a farm dwelling and a
suitable location for an orchard. It happens, therefore, that family
orchards, taken as a whole, are not grown under as favorable
conditions as are commercial orchards. This is a sufficient reason in
itself, even if the other reasons above mentioned did not exist, why
the commercial orchard must, in time, supplant these accidental
plantings.
ADVANTAGES OF HORTICULTURE
The advantages of this intensive form of agriculture as compared with
the more extensive forms discussed in Chapter XII may be stated as
follows:
(1) A large gross income per acre may be obtained. An investigation of
truck farming made some years ago indicated a gross return per acre
about 40 times as great as that obtained on an average from all forms
of agriculture.
(2) There is a large opportunity for the use of skill in raising and
preparing products for market and an equal opportunity for the
exercise of judgment in choosing the best markets.
DISADVANTAGES OF HORTICULTURE
(1) It requires considerable capital, particularly for machinery and
labor. In the investigation in truck farming above mentioned the
capital per acre invested in land, buildings, implements and teams was
eight times that in the more general forms of agriculture.
(2) The products are for the most part readily perishable, requiring
special facilities if held for any length of time.
(3) Growing out of above-mentioned fact, the market is easily
overstocked at any given point, and hence prices often fluctuate
widely.
(4) The yield is also quite variable, this class of products being
especially influenced by seasonal conditions and particularly subject
to insect attacks and fungous diseases. Since large capital is
invested in labor, the horticulturist may be involved in financial
ruin through causes which he is unable to control.
(5) The labor question, in certain forms of horticulture more than in
others, involves difficulties, among which is need of large quantities
of cheap labor for short periods of time.
CHAPTER XV
REASONS FOR ANIMAL
HUSBANDRY
Animal products in the United States nearly equal in value those of
all other farm products. Those soil supplies which constitute the food
of domestic animals are not implied. Practically every farm in the
United States keeps domestic animals, either for their labor or their
products, and nearly every household in both city and country keeps
one or more animals for companionship. The domestication of animals
has been a prime factor in the civilization of the human race by
furnishing man with motive force by which he has been able to increase
his productive power; by giving him a larger, better and more regular
food supply; and by furnishing the materials for clothing, making it
possible for him to inhabit temperate and even arctic climates.
Animals have not been less important in advancing the spiritual
welfare of the human race, by inculcating habits of regularity and
kindliness, which the care of domestic animals imposes.
INCREASE IN ANIMAL PRODUCTION
During the last half century animals have not increased in numbers as
rapidly as have the inhabitants, but the value of animals has increased
much more rapidly. While a part of this increase in value is due
perhaps to a greater cost of production, a couple of illustrations will
suffice to show that part of this increase in value has been due to
increase in the individual merit of the animals. In 1850 sheep in this
country produced 2.4 pounds of wool per fleece; in 1910 they produced
6.9 pounds per fleece. Thus, while in 50 years sheep have not quite
doubled in numbers, the production of wool has increased more than five
times. This is a striking example of the value of improvement in
breeding, because the improvement in wool production is due to the
influence of heredity in far greater degree than to the effect of
improved feeding. Wool, like the hair on one's head, is not greatly
influenced by the food supply, assuming it to be reasonably ample. Beef
cattle offer another illustration of the way in which animal products
have been increased without increasing the number of animals. Formerly
beef cattle were matured in their fourth and fifth years, or even their
sixth year. They are now placed upon the market in their second and
third years. If animals can be matured in their third instead of their
fifth year, it is obvious that a much smaller number of animals must be
kept upon the farm in order to provide an equal annual supply for
slaughter.
The increase in the size of our horses and the increased production of
butter fat per cow which have occurred in the past half century are
hardly less important factors in increasing the value of domestic
animals and their products.
THE FUTURE OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS
One of the most striking features of recent progress in domestic
animals is the large increase in the number of horses and the still
greater increase in their value. There are those who have believed
that the invention of many beneficent forms of mechanical power would
in time, if not in the very near future, supplant the use of animals
as a motive power. The fact seems to be, however, that they merely
augment man's resources and increase his opportunities without
lessening his need for animal power.
It appears reasonable to suppose that there will be witnessed in the
United States a gradual shifting of live stock centers. During the
past half century, the great central West has been noted for the
production of live stock, particularly for beef, mutton and wool, as
an incident of its pioneer development. Already the production of
large herds of cattle and flocks of sheep has disappeared for the
central West, and is now confined largely to Texas and the mountain
states. The northeastern states are unrivaled in the production of
grass, and have considerable areas less fitted for tillage than the
prairie states. In time, therefore, the tendency will be for the
regions best fitted to rear animals to increase their numbers of
breeding animals. On the other hand, those states which produce grain
in relatively large abundance may give more attention to fattening
animals and to the production of dairy products which can be shipped
long distances. As time advances, the history of other countries will
doubtless be repeated. A greater distinction between the breeding and
rearing of animals, and their fattening and preparation for market
will occur.
ADVANTAGES OF KEEPING LIVE STOCK
Since animals occupy a place in practically all farm organizations, it
is desirable to state briefly the advantages and disadvantages which
may accrue to any individual enterprise. The most striking advantages
affecting the farmer are:
(1) Animals make it possible to use land that would otherwise be
wholly or partly unproductive. Hillsides and mountain slopes, soil too
stony to cultivate, fields traversed by winding streams, and land
partially covered with trees, are familiar examples. As previously
mentioned, only about one-half the farm area in this country is
improved land, and only two-thirds, even of the improved land, is in
cultivated crops. The other third of the improved land and a
considerable portion of that half of the farm area known as unimproved
land are utilized as pasture for domestic animals.
(2) They make use of farm crops which would be entirely or partially
wasted. Straw, the stalks of maize, clover and alfalfa hay and other
leguminous forage crops would not have sufficient value to pay for
raising if animals were not kept to convert them into useful products.
In fact, the usefulness of a given animal may be judged by the economy
with which he converts these otherwise useless products into food or
other materials for the use of man. The most profound studies are
being made to determine the conditions under which this takes place.
(3) In thus acting as machines in manufacturing raw materials into
finished products animals convert these coarse and bulky materials
into those which are much more concentrated, thus making their
transportation economically possible. A pound of beef has required
food containing ten pounds of dry substance, and a pound of butter has
required thirty pounds of dry matter to produce it.
These refined products may be shipped around the world, while the raw
materials may not be profitably transported beyond the county in which
they are raised. Moreover, the farmer has the profit which comes from
manufacturing the raw materials into refined products.
(4) In the production of these finer products much of the essential
materials of plant growth are left upon the farm. The experiments of
Lawes and Gilbert show conclusively that in fattening animals more
than nine pounds out of ten of the essential fertilizing ingredients
of the food reappear in the solid and liquid excrements. Prothero
says: "Farming in a circle, unlike logic, is a productive process."
The fiscal policy of one of the great nations of the globe is based
upon this idea. Everything possible is done by Germany to encourage
the keeping of live stock, because the more live stock that is kept,
the more productive will be the soil. The larger the crops raised the
more people will be required to harvest them and the larger will be
the population to recruit the army and navy. The Kaiser and the German
scientist recognize that the fighting force of the Empire is related
to the number of domestic animals reared. The meat supplies of the
people are, therefore, taxed to bring about this end.
(5) The rearing of live stock makes it possible to arrange a better
rotation of crops. A five-year and, even better, a six-year rotation,
is more effective than a four-year in maintaining the crop-producing
power of the soil and enables the farmer to reduce his cost of
production. It is possible to keep a larger proportion of the farm in
grass and other forage crops, thus reducing the amount of land plowed
annually and at the same time decreasing the exhaustion of the land,
provided the forage crops are fed to live stock upon the farm.
There is an old Flemish proverb which reads:
"No grass, no cattle;
No cattle, no manure;
No manure, no crops."
The point of this proverb is that good grass is the basis of good
agriculture. Investigations have shown that one may go farther and say
that one of the most ready means of increasing the crop-producing
power of the soil is by adding fertilizers to grass land. The large
number of plants per acre enables the plants to utilize the fertilizer
to the highest degree, and plowing under the resulting dense sod is
one of the most effective methods of enriching the soil.
(6) Animals require constant care, thus making possible a more
constant use of labor and other capital. The wheat farmer of North
Dakota sows his wheat in April and May and harvests it in July and
August. He usually threshes it immediately, and is practically without
employment for himself, his teams or his men from September until
April. On live stock farms the labor employed in the summer in the
field is needed in the winter in paddocks and stables.
(7) The management of live stock, including the rearing of poultry and
the manipulation of dairy products, may be made to require a higher
skill than the production of farm crops as ordinarily practiced. The
communities which have given the most attention to dairying and to the
rearing and fattening of animals have generally been the most
prosperous.
DISADVANTAGES OF KEEPING LIVE STOCK
(1) Keeping live stock increases the capital required to operate a
given area of land, especially where animals are kept in connection
with the production of hay and grain. Not only must there be capital
with which to purchase animals, but usually more is invested in
buildings. In a self-contained farm--that is, one which raises
sufficient food for the requirements of the live stock--ten dollars an
acre may be considered a moderate investment for animals. If, however,
the plan is to raise only the coarse feed, while the necessary grain
as well as other concentrates is largely purchased, a farm may easily
carry from $25 to $35 worth of live stock per acre. Lack of capital is
one of the most potent influences in preventing a larger production of
animals and animal products. Cattle paper, or notes given to secure
money for the purchase of fattening animals, is a common bank asset in
the feeding districts of the central West.
(2) The very perishable nature of animals entails a great risk in the
investment of capital in live stock. Not only the products of a single
year, but the growth of a number of years, may be suddenly swept away
by disease. This may include the crops of several years, thus
destroying capital invested in the production of the crops as well as
the capital originally invested in the animals. Many a farmer has seen
the gradual accumulations of years rapidly melt away in the presence
of some contagious disease. Tuberculosis in cattle, cholera in hogs
and liver rot in sheep are striking examples of diseases that have
caused the farmers of this country untold losses.
(3) When an animal has been properly fattened he must be sold. If held
for any great length of time, not only is there a constant outlay for
food to maintain the animal, but the condition of the animal may
actually deteriorate. Hence it is not possible to hold animals for a
better market for a long period of time, as is possible in the case of
the cereal grains.
(4) Serious losses may occur where profit was expected through a rise
in the price of foodstuffs. Scarcity in food supplies, due to an
unfavorable season, often compels the stockman to sacrifice animals
that he has been raising for two or three years. It is sometimes
asserted that, although society suffers from short crops, the farmer
is benefited, because the increase in price is greater than the
decrease in yield. One year, for example, the decrease in the
production of maize was 30%, while the increase in price was 50%. If,
therefore, the crop had been sold it would have brought more than the
crop of the previous year. The farmers, however, require about 80% of
the maize crop in the production of their live stock, so that when
there was a decrease of 30% in the yield of maize, many had none to
sell, while others had to purchase maize at increased prices or use
other crops, such as oats, which they might otherwise have sold. Still
others would be compelled to sell, at reduced prices, their partially
fattened animals. There is a constant fluctuation in the price of
animals and animal products, due to variation in yield and hence in
price of food supplies. It requires continual vigilance on the part of
the stockman to secure food supplies at such cost as will enable him
to secure a profitable return from his animals.
CHAPTER XVI
RETURNS FROM ANIMALS
In any well-considered plan of farm operations it is essential to have
some basis for estimating the amount of food required to carry live
stock through the year in order to know, on the one hand, what portion
of the crops raised are available for sale and, on the other hand,
what food supplies must be purchased. A requisite of any successful
farm enterprise is a proper consideration of these market conditions.
While domestic animals consume a variety of foods, and each class of
animals has special food requirements, the basis of calculation of the
needed supplies is fortunately not complicated. Twenty-five pounds of
dry matter are required per day for each thousand pounds of live
weight of horses, cattle and sheep, and for swine about 40 pounds for
each thousand pounds of live weight. It may be more convenient to
calculate the food requirement of swine on the basis of increase in
live weight, allowing five pounds of dry matter for each pound of
increase. Some further details as to food requirements will be found
in the paragraphs which follow.
COST OF PRODUCING HOGS
Pigs possess two characteristics which make them unique among domestic
animals. They consume concentrated and easily digested foods only, and
they produce nothing but meat, fat and bristles. Cattle furnish milk
and hides; sheep, wool, hides and sometimes milk; fowls furnish eggs
and feathers. On account of their limited range of usefulness and
because of the high value of much of the food consumed, it would not
be possible to rear swine economically were it not for their
prolificacy and the fact that they are employed largely as scavengers.
Many cattle are fattened without direct profit. The indirect profit
comes from the sale of the pigs which have followed the cattle. It is
customary to mature one hog with little or no additional food while
fattening two steers. In many well-known ways, pigs consume products
which would otherwise be wasted. This is especially true in the more
densely settled sections of the world.
On account of their prolificacy, the returns obtained for the amount
of capital invested is greater than in the case of sheep, cattle or
horses. Ten sows, worth $100 to $150, are sufficient to produce 100
pigs; 75 to 80 ewes, worth from $300 to $500, are required to produce
an equal number of lambs; 110 cows, worth $4,500 to $6,000, to produce
100 calves; and 200 mares, worth from $20,000 to $30,000, to guarantee
100 foals. To put the matter in another way, the capital invested in
swine may be reproduced in the offspring ten times in one year; the
capital invested in horses not more than once in five years.
In general, 500 pounds of maize will produce 100 pounds of pork, which
is equivalent to eleven pounds of pork from a bushel. Since hogs are
so largely produced from maize, the price of maize and the price of
pork are very closely related. For example, if maize is worth fifty
cents a bushel, the grain required to produce a pound of increase in
live weight will cost about 5 cents; if 40 cents a bushel, 4 cents; if
30 cents a bushel, 3 cents; and so on.
COST OF PRODUCING SHEEP
In the classic investigations by Lawes and Gilbert, food containing
100 pounds of dry matter produced a live-weight increase of nine
pounds in steers and 11 pounds in sheep. At the Wisconsin station,
sheep required less food than steers per pound of gain. During rapid
fattening of sheep 500 pounds of clover hay and 400 pounds of maize
may produce 100 pounds of increase in live weight. While swine require
a less weight of food for a pound of increase than sheep, on account
of the more digestible character of the food eaten, yet the Wisconsin
station found that the expense of producing a pound of increase was
less in sheep on account of the less expensive character of the food.
MEAT AND MILK PRODUCTION COMPARED
A summary of the investigations of American experiment stations shows
that 100 pounds of dry matter produced ten pounds of increase in live
weight of steers. The same quantity of food when fed to milch cows
produced 74 pounds of milk, plus one pound of increase in live weight.
This 74 pounds of milk contained 3-1/4 pounds of fat. In general,
therefore, the food required to produce a pound of butter fat is about
three times that required to produce a pound of increase in steers.
COST OF STEER FEEDING
The fattening of beef animals is largely conducted by farmers who make
a specialty of it. This is particularly true in the so-called corn
belt. Into this region are gathered the two and three-year-old and,
more rarely, yearling steers, many of which have been reared in Texas
or in the mountain states where the supply of maize is not sufficiently
ample to fatten them. These are placed in paddocks with open sheds,
where they are fed from 90 to 150 days, after which they are sent to
market for slaughter. The food consists usually of maize fodder, maize
stover, hay, maize (usually in the ear), a little bran, linseed or
cottonseed oil meal. The ration per day during rapid fattening is about
20 pounds of dry matter per 1,000 pounds of live weight, containing 16
pounds of digestible substance, of which 1.25 to 1.75 is digestible
protein. One hundred pounds of increase may be obtained under average
conditions from 150 pounds stover, 325 pounds of hay, 775 pounds of
maize and 75 pounds of cottonseed meal.
Great variations will occur, however, depending upon the condition of
the animals at the beginning of the feeding period and the degree of
fatness or finish to which the animals are brought before placing upon
the market. In any case, the food consumed will cost more than the
value of the increase. The only way that steers can be profitably
fattened is by increasing the value per pound of the animal. Thus an
800-pound steer may be purchased at five cents per pound, or $40.
After feeding, say 150 days, he may weigh 1,100 pounds, when to bring
a profitable return he should sell for 6 cents a pound, or $65. This
is a gain of $25, eight of which came from the increase in value of
the original 800 pounds. Usually steers cannot be fattened profitably
unless there is an increase of at least three-quarters of a cent per
pound in the value of the animals and then, as previously explained,
only in connection with the hogs which follow them.
COST OF PRODUCING MILK AND BUTTER FAT
Well-selected and properly fed cows may produce 240 pounds of butter
fat annually. The amount of fat obtained will depend upon the richness
of the milk. Thus, 8,000 pounds of 3% milk, 6,000 pounds of 4% milk,
or a trifle less than 5,000 pounds of 5% milk, will give this quantity
of butter fat. These are customary returns from different types of
cows.
If each cow in the herd is dry for six weeks each year the daily
average of the cows actually milked will be three-quarters of a pound
of butter fat. There are herds which make an average of nine-tenths of
a pound of butter fat per day, but to secure this result requires
superior cattle, careful feeding and more than ordinary care.
The standard ration for milch cows weighing from 1,000 to 1,200 pounds
is 25 pounds of dry matter, two-thirds of which is digestible. The
ration should contain not less than two pounds of digestible protein.
In ordinary practice, about ten pounds of the dry matter of the ration
is obtained from maize silage, nine pounds from hay and about six
pounds from grain or other concentrates. In general, this is obtained
by feeding 35 pounds of maize silage, ten pounds of hay and seven to
eight pounds of concentrates. The silage may be estimated at one-tenth
to one-eighth of a cent a pound, hay at from one-fourth to one-half
cent and concentrates at from three-quarters to one and one-quarter
cents per pound, varying, of course, with the different sections of
the country. The amount of food needed will vary somewhat with the
size of the animals, but will depend much more largely upon the amount
of milk and butter fat given. While maintaining substantially the
general average just given for the whole herd, it is the practice of
careful feeders to vary the amount of concentrates fed to each
individual in accordance with the amount of butter fat or milk given.
[Illustration: Mr. Gabriel Hiester, Harrisburg, Pa., graduate of the
Pennsylvania State College, for many years trustee of the college and
president of the State Horticultural Society, had a beautiful farm home
near Harrisburg. During the first twenty years in bearing his orchard, of
which one-fourth the trees were unprofitable varieties, returned an
average of $80 per acre with apples selling at 60 cents to $1 per bushel.
Mr. Hiester believed, with a proper selection of varieties and a
favorable location, that any well-managed orchard can be made to do much
better.]
[Illustration: Dr. J. H. Funk, Boyertown, Pa., graduate of the
University of Pennsylvania, 1865, farmers' institute lecturer, former
state pomologist, has 50 acres of apples and peaches. Returns from his
plantings begun in 1896 are so phenomenal that he is afraid to permit the
publication of his profits. It is known, however, that he has sold $5,000
each of peaches and apples in one year.]
COST OF MAINTAINING WORK HORSES
At the Minnesota station, the total cost of feeding and maintaining a
farm work horse for one year was estimated to be from $75 to $90, of
which about $20 was charged for interest and depreciation. On the
basis of 3.3 hours as the length of the working day, the cost per
horse per hour was estimated to be 7-1/2 cents. At the Ohio state
university, it was found that four horses weighing about 1,400 pounds
were chosen to perform 2,185 hours of labor during one year, while
under like conditions four horses, weighing about 200 pounds less,
worked on an average but 1,641 hours each. For each secular day,
therefore, the former worked about 7-1/2 hours, while the latter were
employed but five and one-half hours. The cost of food was estimated
at $54; cost of shoeing, repairs of harness and stable supplies at
$6.50; and the cost of feeding, grooming and cleaning of stables at
$23.50, or a total cost of $84 per year. Nothing was charged for
interest or depreciation, but the expense of feeding and caring for
three colts was included in the estimates given. The annual expense of
maintaining a horse was practically the same in both states, but the
cost per hour of labor performed was less because of the possibility
of employing the horses at productive labor a larger portion of the
time. Too much emphasis cannot be placed upon the need of planning a
farm organization which will give continuous employment to horses as
well as to men in order to realize the most profitable returns. An
industrial system that makes it necessary to maintain work animals
three days in order to secure one day's work falls far short of an
ideal.
CHAPTER XVII
FARM LABOR
The problem of farm labor demands thoughtful and frank consideration.
Since work is an essential element in the production of all wealth, it
follows that every industry has its labor problem. The adjustment of
labor to the production of the various forms of wealth must ever
constitute one of the most important problems in any organized
society. It is often remarked that the labor problem is the chief
difficulty in farming. In a certain sense this is true, since work is
a primary element in the production of agricultural as well as all
other wealth. It is not true, however, that the problem of labor is
more difficult or more intricate than that of other industries. In
fact, that problem is less delicate than in some other occupations,
because farming is less industrialized.
It is not possible to settle once for all the problem of labor for any
occupation, since changing conditions will give rise to new questions
or new phases of the old problem. Moreover, the problem of labor on
the farm will grow more difficult as farming becomes more specialized
and as the methods of production become more complex.
However, the labor problem on the farm is different from that in the
manufacturing industries or in trade and transportation. This chapter
will not concern itself with an attempt to settle the farm labor
problem, but will undertake to state the character of some of the
differences between it and other forms of labor and to discuss some of
the changes in recent years.
A large proportion of farm work is done by the farm owner, or renter,
and his family. There is not much opportunity to profit by the labor
of other persons. In 1900 there were in the United States 1,812
industrial establishments each of which employed between 500 and 1,000
persons, while there were 675 establishments each of which had more
than one thousand employees. In the same year there were 5,739,657
farms, which employed in the aggregate 4.4 millions of people, not
including the owners of the farms. Moreover, over one-half of the 4.4
million persons thus employed were members of the families of the
farmer. In other words, aside from members of the family, there was
less than one employee to every two farmers. Since a considerable
number of farmers employ more than one person, it follows that the
majority of farmers employ no help other than members of the family.
In another particular farm labor differs from that of other forms of
labor even more widely. There are sociologic as well as economic
questions involved. Baldly stated, custom permits, and necessity often
requires, the laborer to eat at the same table with the farm owner and
in other particulars he mingles intimately with the farmer's family.
In all its bearings, this is a very important fact. It constitutes one
of the greatest difficulties in the problem of securing suitable farm
help. Industrial corporations employ as common laborers largely
Italians, Hungarians, Poles and negroes. The English, the Irish, the
German, the Swede and the Norwegian have been readily received and
assimilated in the American farming communities. The peoples of
Eastern and Southern Europe are often criticized because they do not
become farm laborers. That they do not is in large part due to the
fact that the farm hand is usually a member of the farmer's family.
Thus the supply of common labor which is today used by the rest of the
industrial world is not open to the farmer.
Farming differs from some other occupations in that it does not
ordinarily offer the laborer much opportunity for advancement. The
fireman on a railway train becomes the engineer; the brakeman becomes
a conductor. There are opportunities in many establishments for the
advancement of the industrious and clever. A man may enter their
service with the hope of being able to marry and support a family. On
the other hand, all our land laws are based upon the idea that each
farm should be of sufficient size to support only one family. Where it
does support two families, the relation is usually that of landlord
and tenant. The farm laborer, therefore, must look upon his employment
as more or less temporary. The young man who intends to become a
farmer will find employment upon the farm a desirable if not essential
preparation for his future occupation.
The introduction of farm machinery has had the effect of increasing
the price of farm labor while at the same time decreasing the amount
of labor needed. The reason is that the introduction, not alone of
farm machinery, but all forms of machinery, has made man's labor much
more efficient than formerly. Farm wages have doubled since the
introduction of horse-drawn machinery. The labor income in the
different sections of the United States is influenced by the extent
and efficiency with which machinery is used. The relation of labor
income to the use of horse power is shown by the following table taken
from a recent census:
INFLUENCE OF FARM MACHINERY AS SHOWN BY
THE RELATION OF LABOR INCOME
TO HORSES AND MULES.
Number of horses
and mules to
Divisions of the 1,000 persons
United States Labor Income in agriculture
North Atlantic $299 1,655
South Atlantic 163 808
North Central 402 3,036
South Central 211 1,603
Western 510 5,476
-----------------------------------------------
United States $288 2,105
In one of the states of the South Atlantic division the average price
of farm labor, without board, was $12 per month, while in one of the
states of the western division the price on the same date was $31.
Why? Because in the latter case a man's labor was more productive. In
the South Atlantic division, in producing the chief crops cotton and
maize, a man uses one mule in preparing and cultivating the soil. In
the western division plowing and harrowing with six-horse teams is
common and nine-horse teams are not unusual. The cotton picker in one
day will be able to gather not to exceed 300 pounds of seed cotton,
worth not more than $15. The western wheat will be harvested by a
machine drawn by 28 horses. In the same time four men with this outfit
will cut and thresh 700 bushels of wheat, worth $500.
When the threshing machine was first introduced in Ohio, it was
stubbornly opposed by all farm laborers. "They claimed it," says
Bateman, "as a right to thresh with a flail, and regarded the
introduction of machinery to effect the same object in a few days
which would require their individual exertion during the whole winter,
not only as an invasion of a time-honored custom, but as absolutely
depriving them of the means of obtaining an honest livelihood. At a
later date, when a reaper had been introduced into a field of ripe
wheat as a matter of experiment only, every one of the harvest hands
deliberately marched out of the field and told the proprietor that he
might secure his crop as best he could, that the threshing machine had
deprived them of their regular winter work twenty years ago and now
the reaper would deprive them of the pittance they otherwise could
earn during harvest." How short-sighted they were! No class gained so
much from the introduction of labor-saving machinery as did those who
did the labor. The reason for the increase in well-being, the reason
society enjoys luxuries and comforts beyond the fondest dreams of
former generations, is due to the fact that the labor of each man has
been made so much more effective through these labor-saving devices.
The humblest citizen shares in this improvement. Not all share alike
and not all share equitably, but each generation sees its members
sharing more equitably than those of any generation which preceded it.
The proposition is an extremely simple one. If a man produces just
enough food for himself and family, he will have nothing for clothing,
shelter, or education. If, however, a man produces four times as much
food as he and his family consume, he may exchange one-fourth for
shelter, one-fourth for clothing and have remaining a fourth for
education, and recreation or savings. This is only another way of
saying that the greater the amount of any useful commodity produced by
a single day's labor the larger will be the laborer's income or wages.
Although the increase in intensive agriculture and the diversification
in farming tend to increase the need of farm laborers, the introduction
of farm machinery has much more than offset this demand. The tendency
of farm laborers to become farm tenants; or, to state it in other
words, the tendency of landowners to rent their land rather than to
continue to operate it themselves, is not without its influence upon
the labor problem.
The invention and introduction of farm machinery has accentuated the
difficulty of keeping the farm laborer continuously employed. The
decrease in the demand for farm labor and the increasing lack of
uniformity in the amount required have caused a gradual depletion of
the smaller villages and hamlets which were a source of labor supply
during harvest and other busy seasons.
The problem of keeping labor continuously employed has always been a
difficult one on the farm, because of the change of seasons and
because of the variations in the weather from day to day. There is a
wide difference between those industries which are carried on within
doors and farming, which is subject to the caprices of the weather.
Natural causes produce tremendous variations in the return for labor.
For example, in 1901 there were produced in the aggregate 3,006
million bushels of wheat, maize and oats, while in 1902 there were
harvested 4,180 million bushels. Here is an increase of over a
thousand million bushels. The same farmers tilled the same soil in the
same way as far as natural causes would allow, and yet there was a
difference in result amounting to 39 per cent. A variation of one
hundred million bushels of wheat from year to year, due to climatic
conditions solely, is not at all unusual.
The manufacturer also has far greater control of his labor. When it
rains, he has a roof over his workmen, and hence the work is not
interrupted. When it grows dark, he turns on the light and the work
continues. If it gets cold, he lights the fire and still the work
continues comfortably. It is not so in agriculture. There is a great
variation in the working efficiency of men employed in farming. In a
certain locality there were twenty-one days of rain in the thirty-one
days of May. The next year between June 5 and September 5 in the same
locality there was not half an inch of rainfall at any one time.
What is true of labor is also true of machinery. The farmer must
purchase machinery which he can use only a few days in the year, while
the manufacturer, for the most part, employs his machinery continuously,
sometimes day and night. While natural causes prevent the farmer from
using the same business methods, or from being able to calculate his
profits with the same precision as is possible by those following
manufacturing and mercantile pursuits, it is nevertheless important that
farming should be planned to avoid, as far as possible, the influence of
natural causes. Certain kinds of farming are less dependent upon natural
causes than others. Wisdom and foresight can do much to avoid, in all
farming, untoward influences. The clever farmer seldom complains about
the weather.
Farm machinery has made unnecessary, and hence unprofitable, some of
the labor at which children were formerly employed. In the not distant
past many, perhaps most farmers, owed their prosperity in large
measure to the labor of their children. A large family, especially of
boys, was a valuable asset. Even a generation ago conditions were not
far different, and two generations ago were quite the same as those
described by Homer:
"Another field rose high with waving grain:
With bended sickles stand the reaper train:
Here, stretch'd in ranks, the level'd swaths are found;
Sheaves heaped on sheaves here thicken up the ground.
With sweeping stroke the mowers strow the lands;
The gath'rers follow, and collect in bands:
And last the children, in whose arms are borne
(Too short to gripe them) the brown sheaves of corn.
The rustic monarch of the field descries,
With silent glee, the heaps around him rise.
A ready banquet on the turf is laid
Beneath an ample oak's expanded shade.
The victim ox the sturdy youth prepare:
The reapers due repast, the women's care."
There is also another reason why the age of the employed has been
raised. It is due to the growth of higher education. Where formerly
the farmer's children between the ages of twelve and twenty-one did
most of the farm work, now many of them at the same age are attending
schools and colleges. The sons of a man, who a generation ago found no
opportunity to get beyond the district school, graduate from high
school and college, and thus spend most of their time in study until
they are past twenty-one years of age.
Labor unions have doubtless caused a scarcity of farm labor by
increasing the proportion of the created wealth which goes to the man
who labors without capital. When a man can obtain fifty cents an hour
for laying brick, he does not wish to work in the hay field at twenty
cents an hour, even though the difference in the cost of living may in
great measure offset the difference in wages.
There is a growing tendency to perform work by what is called contract
labor. Thus a person may agree to weed and hoe sugar beets at a
certain rate per acre. He, in turn, employs a force of cheap laborers
which he sends from farm to farm to do this work. The harvesting of
fruits and garden crops is not infrequently done in some such manner.
In one instance a contractor of laborers of foreign birth has been
furnishing them for all kinds of farm work. He keeps 20 to 40 of these
laborers on a small farm, furnishing them a dwelling and selling them
food supplies. Farmers telephone for help when in need. The contractor
receives $1.65 for a day's work and pays the laborer $1.50.
It appears from the preceding considerations that there are open to
every farmer at least three methods of increasing the efficiency of
farm labor. He may make every day's labor more efficient by use of
labor-saving machinery and the employment of it in the most efficient
manner; as, for example, using three 1,500-pound horses to his farm
machinery instead of a pair of 1,200-pound horses. He may modify the
character of his farming in order that profitable labor will be more
continuous. He may modify the method of employing labor; as, for
example, by introducing the system of contracting labor for specific
purposes where feasible.
Increase in the price of farm labor is not an evil. It is an
indication that labor applied to agriculture is becoming more
productive and hence more profitable. Since more than one-half the
labor of the farm is done by the owner and his family, the farmer is
benefited through the rise in price of farm wages. The more that labor
can be made to earn upon the farm, the better it will be not only for
the farm owner but for society in general.
CHAPTER XVIII
SHIPPING
The means of facile transportation and the machinery of trade are the
need and the development of a complex civilization. The importance of
these useful adjuncts of everyday life is indicated by the fact that
about one-fourth of all the people engaged in gainful occupations in
civilized communities are employed in them. Nevertheless the expense
of transportation and trade constitutes a tax upon the consumer which
it is the aim of modern methods to reduce to the lowest limits. Recent
investigations indicate that for every thirteen dollars the consumer
expends for farm products the producers receive six dollars. In some
directions most remarkable results have been accomplished. A recent
quotation on wheat per bushel was as follows: Chicago, $0.93; Antwerp,
$1.04; London, $1.06; Hamburg, $1.07. Eleven to 14 cents per bushel
represents the cost of haul and commissions between Chicago and the
European cities named. Methods of handling have been so perfected that
from the time the western farmer places the bundle of wheat at the
mouth of the threshing machine the grain literally flows through the
channels of trade until it reaches the flour sack. On an average the
English miller pays about 20 cents a bushel more for wheat than the
American farmer receives for it.
The cost of distributing many other farm products is greater, although
the range of distribution is much less. The cost of haulage and
selling potatoes is from 25 to 50% of the retail price, while with hay
it is still higher. The cost of distributing all forms of truck and
market garden produce is high and often wasteful. Many attempts have
been made to eliminate a part of this cost as well as to better the
conditions of the supplies when they reach the consumer. While many
individuals have been quite successful in dealing directly with the
consumer, little has thus far been accomplished that affects general
trade conditions. Great improvements have been made in methods of
transportation and methods of preservation. Cold storage and canned
goods have been the direction in which progress has been notable.
WASTEFUL METHODS OF DISTRIBUTION
Owing to customs and traditions there is frequently a great waste of
effort in some of the methods of trade. The meat trade of France is an
excellent illustration. Certain sections of France make a specialty of
rearing cattle. At a suitable age these animals are purchased by other
farmers who fatten them. Many of the small towns maintain market
places at which fairs are held to facilitate these negotiations.
Frequently there is a shipment from one region to another, which is
conducted by a middleman. When fattened the steers are collected by a
stock buyer, who may ship them to La Villette, the live stock market
of Paris. Here they are placed on sale through commission men. There
are the usual charges for yardage and food. After being sold the
animals are driven to the slaughterhouses. The carcasses are then
taken by wagon to the great market of Paris located near the center of
the city. Here the retail vender of meats comes, makes his purchase,
reloads the meat, which may have been unloaded less than an hour
before, carries it to his shop, where the consumer seeks it. The
number of people concerned and the amount of hand labor have been
excessive.
Nor is the American system without its faults. The Iowa or Illinois
farmer fattens cattle that may have been reared in Montana or Texas.
After the stock buyer, the commission man and the stock yard company
have each taken his toll, the packer ships the carcasses back to the
very region where the animals were fattened, when the stockman may
purchase it of the local vender of meats. The facilities and
perfection with which these many transactions are accomplished is one
of the wonderful sights of our country. Nevertheless the producer of
meat products may well consider whether some more economical system of
distribution may not be devised.
SHIPMENTS: SOURCES OF INFORMATION
All railroad rates are now carefully supervised by the federal
government and are open to the inspection of the public. Such
information as is ordinarily needed may be obtained from the local
station agent, who is always glad to be of service to patrons of his
road. If information of a special character is required, it may be
obtained by addressing the division freight agent of the railroad in
the region under consideration. The name of this officer is to be
found in the circulars and upon the posters of the railroad.
In addition to the freight facilities offered by any individual
railroad, there are what are known as fast freight lines. These
agencies enable through and prompt shipment from inland points in our
own country to inland points in another. An individual railroad may
operate in connection with several such agencies. A certain railroad,
for example, is combined with nine fast freight lines. Freight agents
of local roads in the principal towns usually represent the fast
freight lines and are prepared to transact business.
In seaport cities there are firms styling themselves foreign freight
contractors, outward freight agents, steamship agents, or ship
brokers. These firms are prepared to quote prices on shipments to any
part of the world on either regular or tramp ships. They will give
freely to intending shippers full information concerning methods and
conditions of shipment. There is nothing mysterious about the business
of shipping farm products. The necessary details may be acquired by
inquiry in the channels indicated and by a little study of the data,
which will be cheerfully furnished.
RAILROAD RATES
A great many factors are involved in determining the rate which is
charged for transporting different products. In a certain sense it is
doubtless true that the rate charged is based upon what the traffic
will bear. The purpose here, however, is to state some of the customs
which exist rather than to discuss the philosophy or justice of them.
The rate may vary with the value of the product, without any regard to
the cost of the haul. Suppose the cost of shipping a ten-gallon can of
fresh milk between two points to be 32 cents, the cost of shipping a
similar can of cream may be 50 cents. The cost of shipping a carload
of hay is less than a carload of wheat.
In some instances, zones or belts have been recognized, the rate from
all towns within each zone being the same for a given product. Certain
railroads centering in New York recognize four zones for the shipment
of milk and cream, as follows:
Zone A--First 40 miles.
Zone B--Between 40 and 100 miles.
Zone C--Between 100 and 190 miles.
Zone D--Beyond 190 miles.
It will be noticed that the size of these zones varies and may be the
subject of adjustment between railroads and shippers.
While less understood by the public, railroads recognize zones or,
more properly, groups of towns in making rates to them instead of from
them, as in the instance above mentioned. It is possible to change the
rate on a product to a given town by classifying it in another group.
The rate on bran and other stock foods from central western points to
certain towns in New York state has been the same as that charged to
Boston, Mass., while other towns in New York not far removed have
taken a lower rate.
Differential rates are recognized to be legitimate. Railroads are
allowed to charge a less rate for wheat intended for export than that
intended for local consumption. There has sometimes been a wide
difference between the freight rate on wheat between Kansas City and
Galveston, Texas, depending upon whether the wheat was to be exported
or intended for domestic use.
In certain sections and for certain products the railroad rate varies
with the season, because of difference in competition. The railroad
rate between Chicago and New York on grain is higher while the
navigation of the Great Lakes is suspended. As an illustration of the
cheapness of transportation by water, it is stated that sometimes it
is cheaper to ship wheat from Chicago to Buffalo by boat than to store
it in a grain elevator for an equal period of time.
Products may sometimes be sent by baggage to greater advantage than by
express, special arrangements for which are generally required.
FACILITIES FOR FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION
American railway facilities are, perhaps, unrivaled among the nations
of the world, but the United States is still behind other nations in
the matter of means of local transportation, in which good roads is
only a part of the problem. In France, the so-called _messagers_ are a
common feature of local traffic. Thus in the Department of Touraine
there are 246 towns each having from one to four _messagers_, who with
their great two-wheel carts, each with single draft horse, make one or
two trips to Tours each week. The _messagers_ carry freight both ways
precisely in the same capacity as railroads do. While the railroads
are fairly abundant these local agencies continue to thrive because
delivery can be made directly to the consignee and delivery at the
exact time and place is more certain. The enormous loads conveyed in
these two-wheel carts by one horse is an element in this system to
which the good roads of France now contribute. In 1799, France had
constructed 25,000 miles of roadway. Since that time, over 300,000
miles of roadway have been completed and about 30,000 miles of railway
have been constructed--ten miles of roadway for each mile of steam
railway. The good roads of France are of comparatively recent origin,
contributing materially to the improvement in well-being which has
taken place during the same period.
CHAPTER XIX
MARKETING
Without stopping to inquire the reasons, it may be recalled that there
are two rather distinct forms of trade, wholesale and retail. The
wholesale trade is conducted by three classes of persons: dealers or
merchants, commission men, and brokers. The dealer is one who buys the
goods outright and takes his own risk on making a favorable sale to
the retailer. The commission man is one who receives the goods, sells
them at such price as he may be able to obtain and remits to the
seller the amount obtained less expenses and his commission. The
broker is a man who effects a sale without coming in contact in any
way with the materials sold. A cheese broker, for example, receives
instruction from different factories to sell for them a certain
quantity of cheese of a given kind and quality each week or month as
the case may be. At the same time he receives from grocery stores
which retail cheese orders for various amounts, kinds and quality of
cheeses. With this information at hand, he directs the various
factories intrusting their business to him to ship the kind, quantity,
and quality of cheese required by his several customers. For such
service he receives a brokerage, which is less than that charged by a
commission man because he is not required to handle or store the
material.
Since the different farm products are purchased by different classes
of retailers, and since their handling and sale require different
facilities and special knowledge, there have arisen in the great
centers of trade different kinds of markets, each having its
particular facilities for the handling, care and sale, and each
conducted by commission men or brokers with a special knowledge of the
trade. Furthermore, certain cities have become, on account of their
favorable position--to mention but one reason--headquarters for
certain products or groups of products. Thus Petersburg, Virginia, has
the principal wholesale market for peanuts. Elgin, Illinois, has been
noted for its butter market. St. Louis is the leading mart for mules.
In a general way, the following five more or less distinct and
important classes of markets for farm products may be recognized:
Grain, Live Stock, Produce, Cotton and Tobacco.
METHODS OF TRADE
The brokers or commission men doing business in any one of these
markets usually form an association called a board of trade, chamber
of commerce or similar title for the purpose of assisting "each other
in the pursuit of common ends." The result has been uniformity of
methods and charges; but above all in importance, perhaps, has been
the definition of classes and grades of the products placed on sale.
The tendency is for the associations in the different cities to adopt
uniform rules for the grading of products, so that No. 2 red winter
wheat may mean the same thing in Toledo and New York; that the
quotation on prime beef may refer to the same quality of cattle in
Pittsburgh as it does in Chicago; and that No. 1 Timothy hay in
Baltimore and St. Louis may be alike. While the tendency is towards
uniformity, much yet remains to be accomplished. The shipper must be
on his guard lest he suffer loss through the variations in the
classification or variations in their interpretations on the different
markets.
There has grown up around these markets some agency which stands as a
disinterested party between seller and buyer impartially determining
the weight and in some cases the quality of the object under
negotiation. The State of Illinois employs agents who inspect all cars
of grain consigned to the Chicago market. These inspectors determine
the kind, grade and weight of the grain in each car. The car is then
delivered under seal to the purchaser. If either seller or buyer is
dissatisfied with the inspector's decision he may, by complying with
certain regulations, have this decision reviewed by a higher
authority. The decision of this higher authority is final and must be
accepted by both parties. Brokers selling grain in carload lots ship
the cars subject to the weight and grade as determined by the
inspector at Chicago. Grain of a specific grade may thus be bought in
Chicago or other great grain markets with almost perfect security as
to weight and quality by persons living in any part of this or any
other country. At Elgin the quality of butter is determined by a
committee appointed by the Board of Trade from its own members. In the
live stock markets, the stock yards company, in addition to furnishing
yards, shelter, food and water, acts as agent between seller and buyer
in determining the weight of the animals. The purchaser or his agent
must determine for himself the quality of the animals he buys.
GRAIN MARKETS
The Chicago and St. Paul Boards of Trade and the New York Produce
Exchange are the three great agencies for dealing in grain in the
United States. Buffalo, Duluth, Baltimore and Philadelphia are also
important markets. Adjuncts to these markets are the great terminal
elevators capable of holding almost indefinitely enormous quantities
of wheat and other grain. On the Pacific Coast all the wheat is
handled in the bags, as is the custom in the other markets of the
world. Canada and the United States alone have recognized the
principle that wheat and other grains will run like water, which has
been a prime factor in their competition with other nations.
Country elevators charge two cents a bushel for storage during the
first 15 days and 1/2 cent for each additional 15 days. The charge for
storage at terminal elevators for the first 15 days is 3/4 cent. The
farmer may thus store his wheat in an elevator in place of his farm if
he chooses so to do, although the wheat he thus puts in storage may
have been made into flour and consumed before he sells it. This may be
looked upon as a sort of intermediary step between storing wheat in
one's own granary and dealing in futures.
The country shipper pays 1/2 cent a bushel commission for the sale of
wheat. There is also a charge for inspection and insurance, and, in
case there is an advance payment, for interest. After five days there
are storage charges. This has given rise to the expression, gilt edge,
regular and short receipts, depending upon the length of time there
remains before storage charges must be paid. Every market has a grade
known as contract grade, meaning the quality that must be furnished
when wheat or other grain is sold without specifying the grade. In
Chicago No. 2 red winter wheat is the contract grade. Where grain is
sold or purchased by a broker, the brokerage is usually 1/8 cent per
bushel.
HAY MARKETS
At least twenty cities have adopted the rules of the National hay
association as to classes and grades of hay and straw. The southern
states constitute an important market for the hay of the north central
states, while Boston, New York and the mining towns of Pennsylvania
are important markets for the northeastern states. The size of bale
varies from 75 to 200 pounds. Small bales of 100 pounds each are
preferred in Baltimore, medium bales of 110 to 140 pounds in
Philadelphia, while New York and Boston usually deal in the larger
bales. The commission charges vary from 50 cents to $1 per car. In New
York, $1 pays all charges. At Chicago, $3 per car has been charged for
the inspection, divided equally between seller and buyer.
PRODUCE MARKETS
Every town of any consequence has its produce market. The South Water
street district in Chicago and the West Washington street market in
New York are noted for their extent and variety. There are also many
special markets for certain classes of produce. Thus Elgin, Chicago
and New York have butter exchanges. Wisconsin, Utica, Watertown and
Cuba (New York) maintain exchanges where cheese is placed on sale each
week during the manufacturing season. There is also a board of trade
for cheese in New York City. The prices quoted upon these exchanges
are made the basis of many transactions between buyer and seller, who
never enter these markets. Not only do buyers and sellers agree to
abide by the quotations of one or the other of these markets, but the
quotations are also used as a basis of settlement for milk furnished
the creamery or factory. These agencies are thus impartial arbiters in
countless financial transactions.
The rate of commission varies in different markets and for different
products. Generally, however, produce is handled on a 5% basis, but
for individual products which are especially bulky and difficult to
handle, such as cabbage, 10% may be charged. In some cases commission
is by quantity instead of on a percentage basis. Thus for potatoes the
commission is sometimes 10% and in other cases 4 or 5 cents a bushel.
LIVE STOCK MARKETS
While poultry and game, as well as the carcasses of the smaller
animals, may be handled through the produce markets, the large animals
require separate facilities. The United States is noted for its large
live stock markets and for the perfection and size of the packing
houses which have grown up about them. The most famous example of
these combined agencies is to be found at Chicago, but important live
stock markets are also maintained at St. Louis, Kansas City, Omaha,
Pittsburgh, Buffalo and more recently Fort Worth, Texas. The
commission charges vary from 50 cents to $1 per head for cattle and
from 10 to 25 cents per head for calves, sheep and hogs. In some
markets, the commission on hogs is 2% of the gross returns. When
located within 150 miles of a central market, it is customary to allow
50 cents per hundred pounds for cattle and 40 cents for hogs to cover
shrinkage, and cost of freight, yardage, food, bedding and commission.
It is possible for an owner to sell his own live stock in these yards,
but the commission man, because of his superior knowledge of existing
trade conditions, is almost universally employed. Firms which handle
cattle, sheep and hogs seldom sell horses. Although handled by
different commission firms, important horse markets are maintained at
Chicago and Buffalo immediately adjacent to the market for meat
animals. In New York the horse markets are in a different section of
the city, that for draft and common work horses on one street, while
the American Horse Exchange, located at another point, handles
high-class light horses. The usual custom is to sell horses at
auction, although they may be purchased at private treaty. In whatever
manner purchased, it is essential to understand precisely the
character of the guarantee.
COTTON, WOOL AND TOBACCO MARKETS
Because of their higher value per pound and the ease with which they
can be stored, cotton, wool and tobacco are dealt in somewhat
differently than other farm products. The two great cotton exchanges
are located at New Orleans and New York, the quotations on these
markets controlling the financial transactions in cotton throughout the
world. The principal wool markets are Boston, New York, Philadelphia
and St. Louis. The principal tobacco markets are at Richmond and
Danville, Va., Durham, N. C., and Louisville, Ky.
[Illustration: Mr. C. W. Wald, graduate of the Ohio State University,
farmer, formerly assistant horticulturist of the New Hampshire and Ohio
Experiment Stations, is shown above in one of the New Carlisle (Ohio)
greenhouses, in which three crops of lettuce occur in one bed. One crop
is ready to cut, another planted and a third in pots between the other
plants, to be planted in another bed when large enough. The net returns
from a quarter of an acre under glass has been greater than from 160
acres devoted to general farm crops.]
[Illustration: C. W. Zuck & Sons, Erie, Pa. One son was a student in
agriculture at the Pennsylvania State College. Father and three sons,
beginning six years ago with a run-down farm of 55 acres, have built an
acre of glass and a heating plant of 260 horsepower. During the period
they have spent $5,000 on the place and at the end of season they will
have very nearly cleared their improvements. "Tell the youthful
readers of your book to get as much education as possible and then go in
partnership with their fathers or brothers. If they do, success will be
theirs."]
The country shipper or the young farmer wishing to place his products
in the ordinary channels of trade must consider and determine among
other things the following: What cities have favorable markets for his
products; choose some commission man or broker to handle them;
calculate the expenses for freight, commission and other customary
items; familiarize himself with the rules for grading his products in
the market or markets under consideration; and determine what agency
there may be for protecting him as to the weight and quality when
sales are effected. Whenever practicable, a visit to the market in
question and a personal study of the conditions under which selling is
done will be wise. Having done so, and perhaps having made a number of
sales through these usual channels of trade, he will be in a position
to consider whether he may organize to advantage some more direct
method of getting his products to the consumer.
CHAPTER XX
LAWS AFFECTING LAND AND
LABOR
Thus far property has been treated as invested capital upon which
interest must be charged in determining the labor income. Labor,
likewise, has been considered principally in its effect upon profits.
Society has thrown around the transfer of property and the use of
labor certain restraints for the protection of all individuals.
Through the ages certain procedures have become fixed by custom. These
legal practices are largely the inheritance of old Roman law and are
usually known as common law. Various legislative bodies having
jurisdiction enact from time to time other laws. This body of enacted
law is called statute law and is much more variable than common law.
In the briefest possible manner it is the purpose here to state a few
of the principles and applications of the law, chiefly the common law,
as it affects the farmer in acquiring or disposing of his property and
in his dealings with labor.
PROPERTY
Property may be defined as anything which is a subject of ownership.
It possesses the characteristics of being acquired, held, sold, willed
or inherited and is of two kinds: (1) Real property, real estate or
realty; (2) chattels or personal property. These two kinds of property
are subject to quite distinct legal practices. In general, real estate
consists of land, things attached to it, such as trees, buildings,
fences and certain rights and profits arising out of or annexed to the
land. The term land as ordinarily used includes all these things, so
that when land is said to be worth so much an acre it includes all
fixtures. Ponds and streams are, under this definition, land. The land
not only has surface dimensions, but extends upward indefinitely and
down to the center of the earth, and hence includes a right to ores,
coal, oil, gas or other materials whatsoever.
An article may, however, be real property or personal property
depending upon circumstances. Thus a tree growing on the land is real
property, but when cut into cord wood becomes personal property. New
fence posts ready for use are personal property. When set in the
ground they become real estate. Just what goes with a farm or what are
fixtures is frequently a subject for legal determination.
FIXTURES
The general rule is that "fixtures are any chattels which have become
substantially and permanently annexed to the land or to buildings or
other things which are clearly a part of the land."[D] The annexation
may, however, be purely theoretical, since the keys to the house or
barn, which may be in the owner's pocket, are real estate. One rule
concerning fixtures is that they must be so annexed that they cannot
be severed without injuring the freehold. The intention of the party
making the annexation also often determines, since if the article is
annexed with the intention of making it permanent, it then becomes a
part of the land. Among the things held to be fixtures, and therefore
a part of the land, are: (1) All buildings and everything which is a
part of any building, such as doors, blinds, keys, etc.; (2) fence
materials which have been once used and are piled up to be used again
are a part of the land, but new fence material not yet used is
personal property. (3) Growing crops are real property. They go to the
purchaser of the land unless specially reserved in the deed. A verbal
agreement is not sufficient. (4) Trees, if blown down or cut down and
still lying where they fell, are real property; if cut or corded up
for sale they become personal property. (5) All manure made on the
farm is real estate and passes with the land. (6) All the ordinary
portable machines and tools are considered personal property, but
certain machines held to be of permanent use upon the land are real
estate. Among the things which courts have held to go with the land
are cotton gins, copper kettles encased in brick and mortar for
cooking food for hogs, cider mills, pumps, water pipes bringing water
from distant springs. In general, motive power machinery and the
shafting go with the land, but the machinery impelled may or may not,
depending upon the way it is annexed. (7) If stones have been quarried
for the purpose of using upon the farm, they go with the farm, but if
quarried for sale they are personal property.
CONTRACTS
The difference between personal property and real property may be
indicated by considering the essential features of a contract. A
contract is an agreement between two or more persons. The foundation
rule concerning a contract is that every man must fulfill every
agreement he makes. An ethical practice grows out of this legal rule
which, if strictly adhered to, will save much embarrassment, viz.,
make but few promises and always keep your engagements.
There are seven requirements generally necessary to a valid contract.
(1) Possibility. The thing to be done must be possible. (2) Legality.
It must not be forbidden by law. (3) Proper parties. The parties to a
contract must be competent. Contracts with idiots or drunken persons
are not binding. Some contracts with minors are not binding, although
contracts for the necessities of life are. (4) Mutual assent. A
proposition not assented to by both parties is not binding on either.
(5) Valid consideration. A man is not regarded as injured by the
breaking of a promise for which he has paid, or is to pay, nothing.
(6) Fraud or deceit. A contract obtained by fraud is void as against
the party using the fraud, but may be enforced by the innocent party
if he sees fit. (7) Written contracts. Here comes the most important
difference between real and personal property. Real property can only
be conveyed by a written instrument, properly executed and recorded,
while personal property passes by mere possession. Contracts relating
to the sale of real estate are not binding unless in writing, while
verbal contracts are sufficient for personal property if accompanied
by payment of a part of the purchase price or the acceptance of the
goods. For amounts under $50 verbal agreement in itself is binding.
TRANSFER OF REAL ESTATE
The purchaser should require of the seller evidence that the title to
the land is straight and clear; if not, exactly what the defects are.
This is done through an abstract of title, which should be prepared by
a competent lawyer. This is not an official document, and its value
depends largely upon the ability and watchfulness of the party making
the abstract. Ownership of land is conveyed by means of a deed. A deed
is an instrument conveying at least a life interest in the land. Care
should be taken that the deed contains the essential parts and that it
is properly executed.
DEEDS
Deeds are of two kinds: Quit claim deeds, which convey all the rights,
title and interest which the seller has in the land, but does not
warrant the title; and warranty deeds, which, in addition to what a
quit claim does, contain covenants which agree that the seller and his
heirs, etc., shall warrant and defend the title to the purchaser
against the lawful claims of all persons.
THE REQUISITES OF A DEED
The requisites of a deed are: The parties to the deed, the
consideration, the description; and with a warranty deed, the
covenants. The seller must be of full age, sound mind and if married
his wife should always join in the deed. Her name should appear
following his at the beginning of the instrument. She should sign and
acknowledge the deed, and the certificate of acknowledgment should
state that she is the wife of the seller. If the seller is a married
woman, her husband does not need to join in the sale of her own
property. It is customary to state the consideration upon which the
deed is given, but this is not necessary, nor will a false statement
as to the amount paid invalidate the deed.
The description of the land conveyed should be as minute and careful
as possible, and preferably in the exact language of former deeds. In
case former description is in error, it should be referred to and
correct description given. Where land is conveyed by metes and bounds,
this description governs, although it may not convey the number of
acres of land stated. In describing boundaries the location of
monuments takes precedence of distances mentioned.
EXECUTION OF THE DEED
A deed must be signed, witnessed, acknowledged, delivered and
recorded. In some states deeds must be sealed, but in other states the
law has dispensed with this formality. Witnesses to deeds are not
required in all states. Some states require one, but usually two
witnesses are required. The parties signing the deed are required to
appear before an official designated by statute, usually any
magistrate, justice or notary public, and acknowledge the same to be
his or her free act and deed.
A deed has no effect until delivered, and should be immediately
recorded by the purchaser. Generally an unrecorded deed is not good as
against a subsequent purchaser in good faith. It is well to note that
the laws relating to the transfer of land are those of the place where
the land lies and not necessarily those of the place where the deed is
made.
METHOD OF LAYING OUT PUBLIC LANDS
The public lands of the United States are, whenever practicable, laid
out into townships each six miles square, "as near as may be," whose
sides run due north and south and east and west. The townships are
laid off north and south of a base line which is a parallel of
latitude, and are numbered north and south from the base line: Thus,
T. 3 S., means Township No. 3 south from the base line. Each row of
townships running north and south is called a range, and is numbered
east or west of the principal meridian: Thus, R. 2 E., means Range 2
east of the given meridian.
The townships are then laid off into sections or square miles of 640
acres, "as near as may be," and these are numbered, beginning always
at the northeast section, as shown in the accompanying diagram.
N
+-----------------------------+
| 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
|----+----+----+----+----+----|
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|----+----+----+----+----+----|
W | 18 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | E
|----+----+----+----+----+----|
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
|----+----+----+----+----+----|
| 30 | 29 | 28 | 27 | 26 | 25 |
|----+----+----+----+----+----|
| 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 |
+-----------------------------+
S
Each quarter section is referred to as the northeast or southwest
quarter of the section, and each forty acres as the northwest or
southeast quarter of a particular quarter. For example, an eighty-acre
field may be referred to as the west half of the southwest quarter of
Section 3, Township 5 North, Range 3, west of ----. Base line and
meridian, or in some cases merely the meridian is mentioned.
The curvature of the earth's surface makes it impossible for the sides
of townships to be truly north and south and at the same time six
miles square. The excesses and the deficiencies due to the convergency
of meridians and the curvature of the earth are by law added to or
deducted from the western and northern ranges of sections and half
sections of the townships. While the above has been the rule in laying
out public lands for more than a century, there are many exceptions,
due to many causes.
In the older settled sections the land was laid out in lots, often in
a very irregular manner, although in some cases within a given tract
the area was more or less regular. In these cases, the land must be
described minutely and carefully by metes and bounds. In some of the
southern and western states, also, where there were Spanish grants,
much irregularity in the surveys exists. Over much of the north
Central states this rectangular system of laying out lands obtains and
has worked well in most respects.
THE LANDLORD AND TENANT
Leases of real estate follow the same procedure as deeds, except that
a verbal lease, if for a term of not to exceed one year, is valid in
most states. A written lease should be carefully drawn, because,
according to common law, there are few things implied in a lease that
are not stated. Definite statement concerning repairs and insurance is
desirable. A tenant should also acquaint himself with the law of the
state concerning the surrender of the farm upon the expiration of his
term.
It is the duty of the tenant not only to guard the property, but to
conduct the farm in a husbandlike manner. Unless otherwise stated in
the contract, the tenant must pursue those methods of husbandry which
are customary in the vicinity.
THE RELATION OF THE FARMER TO HIS
WORKMEN
The requirements of a valid contract, as previously stated, control
most of the relations which the employer has with his employees.
Contracts for labor, unless for more than one year, need not be in
writing. If, however, the service to be rendered is unusual, the
agreement should be reduced to writing, because, in the absence of
specific agreement, the law assumes that customary service and wages
are implied.
Like all other employers of labor the farmer is under obligation to
protect his workman from injury. He must not subject them to unusual
and unreasonable risks. He must hire workmen suited to the employment.
For example, if he employs a young boy to drive a fractious horse, he
would be liable for any injury that might occur. In like manner, he
must exercise proper care concerning the safety of the machinery
placed in the hands of his workmen. He must keep his premises in a
safe condition and must not expose his workmen to risks not incident
to the employment for which they are hired.
The farmer is liable in damages for the acts of his workmen which are
within the scope of their employment, although the authority may not
have been expressly conferred. "He who acts by another acts himself."
In case one is sued for the acts of his employee, the burden is upon
him to prove that the act of the workman was without authority,
expressed or implied.
-----
[D] Haigh's "Manual of Law," p. 69.
CHAPTER XXI
RURAL LEGISLATION
Various laws have been enacted by federal and state legislatures for the
better protection of producer and consumer. Much of this legislation
affects in a very special way the interests of the farmer. Not
infrequently, in fact, generally, the state department of agriculture
has more or less direct jurisdiction over their enforcement. State
departments of agriculture usually publish a collection of the laws of
this character. These laws vary greatly in the different states and only
the most general outline, as they affect the interests of the farmer,
can be given here. Persons can inform themselves as to the details as
enforced in a given state by applying to the state secretary of
agriculture.
A number of these acts affect interstate commerce, concerning which
the United States Constitution says: "No state shall, without the
consent of the Congress, lay any impost or duties on imports or
exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its
inspection laws." By a series of judicial decisions it has been
determined that a State has a right to enforce laws affecting
interstate commerce when traffic in the articles thus modified or
prohibited affects the public welfare. When it is necessary to have a
police regulation to prevent fraud in the traffic of an article or for
the purpose of guarding the public health or morals, police laws, so
called, may be enacted and enforced. Around this general question
there has waged a bitter controversy which has occupied some of the
best legal minds and is one involving some difficulty.
FERTILIZER CONTROL
One of the first of the "control" measures to be enacted, and the one
which has been most universally adopted by the several states, is the
law requiring the manufacturer and dealer in commercial fertilizers to
guarantee the percentage of the so-called essential fertilizing
elements--nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium--contained in each bag of
fertilizer offered for sale. Subsequent control laws have been modeled
more or less closely after this law. Hence a description of the
operation and execution of it will serve for all.
The execution of this law is usually under the immediate supervision
of the state secretary of agriculture, while the necessary chemical
analyses are made by the state experiment station. In some states the
enforcement of the law is in charge of the state experiment station,
while in others the state department of agriculture has its own
laboratories or employs a private chemist. It is, however, becoming a
more and more settled policy to place all police regulations in charge
of the state department of agriculture, while at the same time the
chemical analyses and other scientific and technological inquiries are
made at the state experiment station.
In order to facilitate the taking of samples and in order to raise
funds for the execution of the law, the manufacturer is required to
take out a license and to make a statement of the brands of fertilizers
which he will place upon the market in the given state during the given
season.
During the spring and fall season agents traverse the state and sample
the bags of fertilizers as found on sale by local merchants. The
samples are sent by number under seal to the designated chemist, while
at the same time the agent transmits to the state officer in charge of
the enforcement of the law the necessary information concerning these
samples. Upon the receipt of the analysis made by the chemist, who has
had no knowledge of the origin of the sample, the state officer
compares them with the guarantee of the manufacturer, and if he finds
it necessary enters legal complaint. While these laws have been in
force for many years in some states and in many states for some years,
prosecution has seldom been found necessary. The honest manufacturer is
protected from dishonest competition, and the dishonest manufacturer,
if there be such, cannot afford the publicity which noncompliance with
the law would entail.
It has been customary to publish, with the results of analysis, also
an estimate of the commercial value per ton of each brand of
fertilizer. This estimated commercial value is obtained by multiplying
the pounds of each element or combinations of the element in a ton by
a value per pound. To the value of the fertilizer thus obtained is
added something for cost of mixing, bagging and freight, and something
for profit. The price per pound given to each element or combinations
of the elements is based upon the commercial value of the element when
purchased in raw materials. The price for each year is usually
determined by a conference of those in control of the execution of the
law in the several states for certain groups of states. As a matter of
fact, the price varies little from year to year.
The published figures, therefore, constitute a table of comparative
commercial values as determined by the most expert knowledge. While
not constituting a statement of absolute commercial value for any
given locality, they do enable the purchaser to determine whether the
price quoted on a given brand of fertilizer is within reason. Persons
who are unacquainted with the principles controlling the use of
commercial fertilizers may, however, be led to believe that the price
of the fertilizer is an indication of its value for the production of
a given crop. As is well known to all students of the subject, there
is no necessary relation between the commercial value of a fertilizer
and the fitness of its formula for a given soil and crop. For these
and other reasons, the publication of tables of commercial value has
been strongly opposed by some manufacturers, and in certain states the
custom has been discontinued. While granting that tables of commercial
value are subject to misinterpretation, it is perhaps fair to say that
such tables have been of most benefit, and, moreover, have been of
great value to those who were most likely to misinterpret them.
It has been customary in most states to make analyses only of mixed
fertilizers. Thus such raw materials as nitrate of soda, sulphate of
ammonia, dried blood, bone meal, rock phosphate, tankage, muriate of
potash, sulphate of potash, have not been brought under the operation
of the law. If one wishes to purchase nitrate of soda, muriate of
potash and tankage with the intention of mixing them according to a
formula of his own, he may not find any protection in his state.
However, these products can be obtained through reputable dealers who
will willingly guarantee the contents. In case of doubt, the purchaser
may secure an analysis by his state experiment station at a moderate
cost.
The law requires that there shall be affixed to every package of
fertilizer offered for sale a statement about as follows:
The minimum per centum of each of the following constituents
which may be contained therein:
(a) Nitrogen.
(b) Soluble, available and total phosphoric acid, except in
cases of undissolved bone, basic slag phosphate, wood ashes,
unheated phosphate rock, garbage tankage and pulverized natural
manures, when the minimum per centum of total phosphoric acid
may be substituted. This latter applies only in those states
where raw materials are subject to inspection.
(c) Potash soluble in distilled water.
It is possible to comply with the law and yet state the guarantee upon
each bag of fertilizer in such a manner as to mislead the uninformed.
It is not the purpose of this book to deal with such technical
details, but if the purchaser of commercial fertilizers is not already
well acquainted with fertilizer terms, he should secure an elementary
textbook on the subject or write to his state experiment station for a
bulletin discussing them.
FEEDING STUFF CONTROL
The law controlling the sale of stock foods is of more recent origin
than the fertilizer control act and has not been so universally
adopted up to the present time. The necessity for such a law arises
from the growing use as stock foods of various by-products in the
manufacture of liquors, starch, glucose, sugar, cottonseed and linseed
oils and breakfast foods. Various mixtures, varying widely in chemical
composition, especially in protein and crude fiber, were placed upon
the market. In some instances mixtures were grossly adulterated with
such things as oat hulls and ground corn cobs.
The adoption of this law by certain states has served to make other
states the dumping ground for inferior stock foods, thus increasing
the necessity for similar protection. The law does not apply to the
ordinary grains produced by farmers or to the usual by-products of
millers.
SEED CONTROL
From time immemorial it has been the universal custom of seedsmen to
disclaim all responsibility for the purity and germinating power of
their seeds. But as the importance of good seed--good in hereditary
power, good in germination, good in its freedom from adulteration, good
in its absence of noxious weed seed--has become better understood demand
for some method of control has arisen. In at least one state there is a
seed-control law modeled quite closely after the fertilizer-control law.
However, the usual method of protection consists in purchasing by sample
or the insistence of a guarantee, with a subsequent "analysis" of a
sample of the purchased seed.
The germinating power and purity of seed can be determined cheaply by
an expert within from five to twenty days, depending upon the species.
The federal government has a division of seed control in its
Department of Agriculture at Washington, D. C. Any person may send a
sample of seed to this division and have its purity and germinating
power determined, and in some of the states the experiment station
will perform similar services without charge. Clover, alfalfa, grass
and other small seeds should always be purchased subject to such
inspection, unless the purchaser is prepared to make his own
inspection, which a very little training makes possible.
NURSERY INSPECTION
There is no national law concerning the importation of insect-infested
or diseased plant stock.
Several of the states have passed both state and interstate regulations
concerning the sale of nursery stock. The insects usually legislated
against are San Jose scale, gypsy moth and brown-tail moth, while the
diseases usually interdicted are yellows, black knot, peach rosette,
and pear blight.
The enforcement of the law is usually placed in charge of a person
having special knowledge of economic insects and fungous diseases. In
addition to these police regulations this officer may, by various
means, attempt to bring into practice methods calculated to eradicate
or, at least, lessen the severity of existing attacks.
Commerce in vinegar, dried fruits, insecticides and fungicides is also
regulated in some states.
DAIRY, FOOD AND DRUG INSPECTION
An adequate discussion of the rise and development of the control in
the sale of dairy and food products would require a chapter by itself,
if not an entire volume. Suffice it to say here that the laws on this
general subject have acquired an importance in many ways quite beyond
that of any of the other control measures discussed in this chapter.
In the extent of funds handled, the number of agents employed and the
public interest incited, the office of dairy and food commissioner
outranks any other control agency. In some states the office is an
elective one, and the questions with which the office has to deal
become a part of the state political campaign.
The importance of the inspection of dairy and food products grows out
of the fact that not only is the consumer, hence all the world,
interested, but the execution of these laws touch large commercial
interests. Not only are meat packers, distillers and brewers deeply
interested, but the wholesale and retail grocers and, more recently,
the manufacturing and prescribing druggists, are vitally concerned.
Not many years ago the inspection of dairy products, particularly
control of the traffic in oleomargarine, was the chief function of
this office. To-day the enforcement of laws concerning pure foods,
liquor and drugs is of much greater importance.
Interstate commerce in oleomargarine is now regulated through the
enactment of an internal revenue law requiring a tax of ten cents a
pound on colored oleomargarine and one-fourth of a cent a pound on
uncolored oleomargarine and, further, by prescribing the character of
package and method of marking all oleomargarine entering into
interstate commerce. State agencies are charged with the duty of
requiring the compliance of local dealers and restaurateurs with the
general features of the federal law. Some states, however, prohibit
entirely the sale of colored oleomargarine within the state.
PURITY IN DAIRY PRODUCTS
Attempts to define what is pure milk, cream, butter or cheese have been
fraught with much difficulty. Thus, for example, legal definitions of
pure milk have resulted in some cows giving illegal milk. In some
instances the law has declared simply that whole milk is milk from
which no cream has been removed; in others, the minimum amount of
butter fat has been prescribed; in still others, the minimum amount of
total solids containing a minimum proportion of butter fat has been
made the basis of legal milk. In like manner full cream cheese has been
defined as cheese made from whole milk or from milk from which only a
given amount of cream has been removed, while in other instances the
minimum amount of butter fat which full cream cheese may contain is
prescribed. The wide variation in the amount of butter fat carried by
cream has caused much jocular comment and some serious discussion as to
what is cream.
While it is not feasible to indicate the laws for the several states,
the ruling of the federal government as to what constitutes purity in
dairy products under the national food and drug act may be accepted as
a general guide. A circular giving the required information may be
secured by addressing the Secretary of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.
LIVE STOCK SANITATION
The control of contagious diseases in domestic animals and the
inspection of meat products have been the chief work of the Bureau of
Animal Industry of the United States Department of Agriculture since
its establishment.
The bureau inspects all imported live animals and under certain
conditions will inspect live animals intended for exportation. It
inspects all meat products intended for export. Its inspection of
meats intended for interstate commerce is less rigid than that
exported. Meats sold within the state in which they are slaughtered
cannot be required by the federal government to undergo inspection. It
thus happens that the people of the several states enjoy less
protection in the consumption of meat than the foreign purchaser of
American meats unless there is a state meat inspection law. However,
it is becoming more and more the custom for the large packers to have
all their products inspected without regard to their destination. The
meats slaughtered in the locality in which they are consumed are the
ones that receive the least supervision.
The federal government has been especially active and efficient in the
prevention of interstate commerce in cattle suffering with Texas
fever, and sheep attacked with scab and foot rot. Through the agency
of the bureau dipping tanks have been provided in all the great live
stock markets for the disinfection of cattle and sheep when needed.
Several of the states have laws controlling the importation of
diseased animals from other states and the transfer of them within the
state. The following are the diseases most commonly mentioned in the
laws of the several states: Anthrax, black quarter, hog cholera, swine
plague, rabies, glanders and tuberculosis. The law is generally
enforced by a state veterinarian, whose acts are supervised either by
a state live stock commission or the state secretary of agriculture or
these two agencies acting conjointly.
Perhaps the disease which has required the greatest amount of
attention in the several states is tuberculosis in milch cows. It is
customary for this office to apply the tuberculin test, free of
charge, under certain stipulations, to any herd upon the request of
the owner and to supervise the slaughter and disposition of the
reacting animals. In some states the owner is indemnified in part or
in whole for his loss. The amount of indemnity as well as the general
features of the law concerning the control of tuberculosis in domestic
animals has been the subject of much controversy and cannot be said to
have reached an altogether satisfactory solution in most states.
The young farmer should clearly understand that under no circumstances
can he afford to have a tuberculous animal in his herd. The contact of
a diseased animal with other animals of the herd is certain to entail
a greater loss than the destruction of the diseased animal. The farmer
must in his own interest rear healthy animals whether or not it is
necessary for the protection of the consumer.
FISH AND GAME LAWS
The motives underlying the enactment of laws concerning fish and game
are varied. The controversies over these laws in the legislatures of
the several states indicate that there is a belief, whatever may be
the fact, that there are opposing interests; viz., those of the hunter
or sportsman on the one hand, and those of the farmer or landowner on
the other. The law of trespass has been one over which has raged much
bitterness, both with regard to the form of the law to be enacted and
concerning its subsequent enforcement. Sportsmen have usually held
that a distinction existed between wild animals occupying private
property and domestic animals. The landowner has urged that others
should not trespass upon his property for the purpose of shooting wild
animals, although his proprietary right in them was no greater.
In like manner, laws concerning the closed season, made to protect
animals during the breeding period, are the subject of extended
discussion and are being constantly changed; both because there is a
difference of opinion concerning the habits of the different species
and because the motive varies for maintaining the supply. Some animals
are protected on account of their benefit, supposed or real, to
agriculture. Other animals are protected because of their gaming
qualities, even to the extent of sometimes injuring farm crops. The
money spent by sportsmen in the pursuit of game is an element in the
varied interests involved. Humane motives and a desire to prevent the
further restriction of a not too varied fauna have helped, also, to
save certain species from extinction. On the other hand, in some
states commercial interests are involved, as where large quantities of
birds are taken for their plumage.
Some attempts have been made to introduce foreign species, as the
Japanese pheasant. It is, however, with fish that the most has been
accomplished in replenishment. The federal government and several of
the states have been active in regularly restocking, each season,
certain streams with "fry" of edible and game fish.
Information concerning the open season can be obtained from the proper
state officer. The fish and game laws are usually under the control of
a commission with a secretary as the executive officer.
CHAPTER XXII
RURAL FORCES
The United States is a vast domain. Its material resources are
enormous. Its fertile and easily tilled soil, its magnificent forests,
its great stores of ore, coal, oil and gas; its fine water-power sites
and its temperate and healthful climate have all contributed to the
making of a prosperous and progressive nation. Without these natural
resources the United States could not be what it is.
The waste of some of these resources is almost beyond belief. In
mining, one-half the anthracite and one-third the soft coal is left in
the ground in such a manner that it may never be economically
recovered. A ton of coal will produce 1,400 pounds of coke, worth
$1.50, and 20 pounds of sulphate of ammonia, worth 50 cents. If all
the nitrogen in coal which is turned into coke in Pennsylvania were
recovered, it would furnish enough of this element to supply the needs
of every acre of tillable soil in that state. Only about 44% of the
wood in the trees now harvested in the United States is incorporated
into buildings, apparatus and furniture. The rest is wasted in the
process of cutting, sawing and manufacturing into the finished
products.
Facts like these have led the nation to realize that the conservation
of our natural resources is an immediate and pressing problem. The
United States has, however, a greater inheritance than these great and
beneficent gifts of nature and a more fundamental problem than the
preservation and efficient use of them. In a single sentence, the
greatest inheritance of the American people is their Puritan ancestry.
The word Puritan is here used to apply not only to the New England
Pilgrims, but to all our early forefathers, whose traditions and
practices have served to set this country apart from the other
countries of the world. Because of the traditions which have been
handed down to us, we are healthier-bodied and cleaner-minded men and
women. We are more efficient, not merely in making money, but in
everything that goes to make a full and well-rounded life.
It is well to realize the resources of other nations. The agricultural
possibilities of France appear to the casual observer to compare
favorably with any equal area in the United States. One may see farm
land in Italy which has been cultivated for at least two thousand
years which is evidently as fertile as any of the limestone valleys of
the Atlantic States, the prairies of the Mississippi valley or the
Palouse district of the Northwest. Russia has enormous areas of
fertile soil. Careful observers report that in Manchuria there are
great stretches of country, which today possess natural opportunities
similar to those which the Mississippi valley offered one hundred
years ago. The recent stories of the deposits of coal and mineral
wealth in China are almost fabulous. Europe has rich mines, great
forests and unrivaled water-power.
Some years ago a native of Argentina and a native of the United States
were dining together. The Argentinian had served his government as
consul to Canada. He related that he had recently written an official
letter in which he had occasion to refer to the people of Canada and to
those of this country. He explained that in alluding to the former he
could say the Canadians, but the latter he could not call Americans,
since his people were also Americans. After due consideration he
referred to us as "the Yankees." "But," turning to his hearer, he said,
with great emphasis, "I do not look upon the people of the United
States as a nation, but as a new civilization." In other words, our
nation is not simply one of fertile farms, enormous mines, great
forests, unparalleled railroad systems, palatial stores, or wealthy
cities, but he saw that we are a people of different economic,
political, educational, social, moral and religious ideals.
There are in every rural neighborhood certain forces whose objects are
to increase the educational advantages, the social opportunities and
the moral aspirations of the people. This subject need not be
discussed merely in the abstract. There are in every community
concrete evidences of these forces. There is the rural church. There
is the rural school. In many localities are to be found, also,
buildings, for social and fraternal purposes, as grange halls,
structures for holding fairs and picnics. These are tangible evidences
that there are rural agencies at work in the community whose chief
purpose is to increase the educational advantages, the social
opportunities and the moral aspirations of the people.
How are these existing rural forces to be made more effective? If
co-operation in financial affairs is essential under modern conditions,
it is more needed in social matters. Such co-operation does not imply
that these separate forces shall be fused into a single one. Each of
them has its particular and peculiar work to do, but each should work
in harmony and not in the spirit of antagonism with the others.
There should be formed in each locality a committee for which the
following name is proposed: The Community Committee of Rural Forces.
Emphasis should be placed upon the word "community." Like all moral
movements, progress must come from within, and not from without. The
movement must be adapted to its environment. Like the plants that grow
there, it must be indigenous to the soil.
[Illustration: Jared Van Wagenen, Jr., has a son Jared, 3d, who is the
fifth of the name that has lived upon a farm of 224 acres at Lawyerville,
N. Y. Mr. Van Wagenen graduated from Cornell University in 1891, and is a
noted farmers' institute lecturer. He has taken great interest in the
country church and the betterment of the rural community. The view shows
the pond that furnishes the power for the farm's electric light plant.
The plant was installed by Mr. Van Wagenen with his own hands and has
proved a really satisfying success.]
[Illustration: Mr. Lowell B. Gable, Glen Gable Farms, Wybrooke, Pa.,
a graduate of Cornell University, is developing 812 acres of land in
Chester county. He has a herd of 80 Guernsey cows in milk and is breeding
Percheron, registered polling horses and Chester White hogs. Mr. Gable
has been supervisor of the township for two years, during which time nine
and one-half miles of macadam road have been built without materially
increasing the taxes. Mr. Gable firmly believes that one of the best
opportunities to be of help to a rural community lies in the work to be
done for the improvement of social conditions--"to help make what
little leisure there is clean and refreshing." Hence on return from
college he played baseball and football with local teams and helped out
at every opportunity at dances, musicales and other social
entertainments.]
This committee should be composed of representatives of the churches,
the schools, farmers' clubs, granges, fair associations, farmers'
institutes; and other organizations which are striving to increase the
educational advantages, the social opportunities and the moral
aspirations of the people.
Oftentimes the object of these rural forces is confused with efforts
to increase the financial prosperity of the farmer. It goes without
saying that the maintenance of the fertility of the soil is essential
to the food supply of the nation. The problems of the economic
production of plants and animals are of great importance to the
prosperity of the farmer. The idea, however, that the proper solution
of these economic problems is to be the means of solving the
educational, social and religious problems is simply putting the cart
before the horse. Economic questions can only be satisfactorily
adjusted through the application of intelligence and right ideas.
Let it be supposed that when a young man decides to pay attention to a
young woman that instead of meeting her at the church door, or it may
be at the railway station, it is considered better form for him to get
permission of the mother to call upon the young woman in her own home.
This is the most fundamental question in every neighborhood. What has
it to do with the price of wheat?
This illustration has been used to emphasize two points. First, there
are many problems in every community that are in no way related to the
material prosperity of the neighborhood. Second, there is, at present,
no single force in the community with sufficient influence to cope
properly with many of these problems.
A young college graduate who is now managing eight hundred acres of land
recently wrote: "I firmly believe that one of the best opportunities to
be of help to a rural community lies in the work that is to be done for
the improvement of social conditions--to help make what little leisure
there is clean and refreshing." Hence on return from college this young
man has found time to play football and baseball with local teams and to
help whenever opportunity offered at dances, musicales and similar
entertainments. Games and other forms of recreation may be clean and
wholesome, or they may be quite the reverse. It would be the duty of the
community committee to see that dances occurred under proper
environment--not next an open saloon--and that the young women were
properly chaperoned.
In many communities the boys and girls are almost wholly dependent
upon the neighboring towns for their amusement. This condition may or
may not be desirable. If the town and country are virtually one
community, there is every reason why the boys and girls from the farms
should find recreation and social intercourse with the boys and girls
of the village. It is a relationship that should be fostered wherever
possible. When, however, the town and the country are separate
communities, which prevent the ordinary social relationships, it is
usually unfortunate when the young people of the one community are
dependent upon the other community for their amusements.
A deeply earnest man recently said: "I was born and raised upon the
farm. I never knew a dull day in my life. I went fishing. I went
hunting and----"
"Stop right there," said the listener. "There is not the same
opportunity today for a boy to go hunting that there was when you were
a boy."
"That is true."
"Our ideas about such things have changed, also."
"Yes," he replied, humbly enough, for he was a man of fine fiber.
"I propose a substitute," said the listener. "There is much more
pleasure and recreation to be obtained from photographing animals than
from killing them. What is needed in every rural community is a camera
club."
When a boy wishes to go hunting, he merely has to buckle on his
ammunition pouch, shoulder his gun and he is ready. A camera club,
however, requires a social organization and a social center. The
community committee would thus be required to decide whether the
facilities for developing and printing pictures may best be located at
the church, the schoolhouse, the grange hall or elsewhere.
A little reflection will show how many possibilities such a club might
have on its social, moral and educational side. The suggestion has
been made here, however, only as an illustration of the problems which
arise when a rural community is organized for social welfare. The
organization of a book club, or a magazine club in a rural community
presents precisely the same problems. Some method must be devised for
exchanging the books or magazines. Whether they are exchanged at the
church, the grange hall or through the school children will depend
upon local conditions requiring a community committee to decide.
This community committee will do something more than reach immediate
results. It may project its influence far into the future. Not all of
life is comprised in a porcelain bathtub and nickel adornments.
Nevertheless modern methods of heating and plumbing are desirable in
the country as well as in the city. In Indiana there is a one-room
school building. In the basement there has been placed a furnace and a
gasoline engine. The engine is used not only to teach the boys how to
run a gasoline engine, but it makes possible a modern system of
plumbing.
It is well known that many of the states within the past decade have
voted to abolish or very materially restrict the sale of alcoholic
beverages. No great temperance orators have roused the people as was
the case thirty years or more ago. Why, then, has such progress been
made in recent years? In large part because twenty-five years ago, the
teaching of physiology was introduced into the public schools, which
taught the evil effects of alcohol to the human system. During the
past decade young men who studied these physiologies have been voting.
What has the teaching of physiology to do with the one-room schoolhouse
in Indiana with its modern system of plumbing? The girls between the
ages of six and fourteen are now becoming accustomed to modern systems
of plumbing. When they grow older and marry they will find some way to
introduce similar conveniences into their homes without regard to the
price of wheat. A wise community committee will find many ways to
influence future generations. Such a committee would be a priceless
heritage to any community.
The natural resources of the United States are necessary to the
prosperity of the people. The preservation and economic use of these
resources are of vast importance. The natural resources of the world
were, however, as great five thousand years ago as they are today. The
soil was no less fertile then than now. The difference between the
prosperity of the human race at these two periods is caused by a
difference in human motive and efficiency. It is the result of ideals
and knowledge. Sit at the banquet table with men who are the real
powers in shaping the affairs of the world. The chances are that the
champagne remains untouched. These men are not in the habit of
partaking of midnight suppers. They must keep themselves fit for the
next day's work. They have the approval and loyalty of their wives
because they deserve it. In other words, the men who do the world's
work are not drunkards. They are not gluttons. They are not libertines.
They are efficient because they have healthy bodies and clean minds. It
is this efficiency which the critic from Argentina saw when he said, "I
do not look upon the people of the United States as a nation, but as a
new civilization."
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