HE FARlA.
Gardes
V
VOL. LXV
INDIANAPOLIS, FEBRUARY 12, 1910.
fc -   7
Written for the Indiana Farmer:
HOW THE FARMER MAY PROTECT
HIMSELF.
By J. W. Strimplo.
Tho farmers of the country are about
tai suffer the loss of millions of dollars
,af the substance that is rightly theirs
unless they quickly arouse to the danger* that confront them in the present
nation-wide crusade against prevailing
prices of farm products.
Prices have already started on the
alecline, the farmer is getting less for
his products today than a few days ago
and yet the various middlemen in the
sundry stages of marketing between
consumer and producer are making as
much profit as ever and will continue
in collect their usual toll. It is the
farmer who is going to stand all the
loss entailed by lower prices. That is,
he is going to carry all the burden, unless he shall strike .back in kind and exercise the same right to guard his interests as is being asserted by those
whose united movement is now bearing
down  on  prices.
The farmer need have no quarrel
with the consumer nor the consumer
hold a grievance against the farmer.
They should be friends. The consumer
lias struck the first blow. It was not
aimed exactly at the farmer, but the
tiller of the soil has suffered the usual
consequence that comes to the innocent
by-stander when a blow or a bullet
goes wide of its mark.
In our present economic and commercial system the farmer, the man
who feeds everybody, supports the entire structure, is the substance that lies
at the bottom and, hence, any pressure
from the top squeezes him most.
That the middlemen are not worrying over the "high-cost-of-living" crusade is illustrated in the statement of
the head of the Armour packing house
that he would welcome lower prices,
would make just as much profit in percentage on a lower basis as at the higher ruling and would do a greater volume of business. Thus his aggregate
profits would be greater. People eat
more when prices are lower, and so it
the middleman's percentage is as great
his net, aggregate earnings are increased. What is true of the packing
house is true of every jobber, wholesaler and retailer of farm products. He
figures for a certain profit in percentage, and he, or they in combination, fix
the prices paid the farmer and the
price charged the consumer. Their
Same is what gamblers call a surething
flay.
There will not be a reduction of a
single cent in the price charged the
consumer that will not eome off the
farmer. "Hogs at the stock yards de-
lined 10 cents today, 25 cents yesterday and 15 cents the day before, but
the price to the retailer remains the
same, for the decline has not yet been
sufflcint to justify the retailer in throwing off a full cent per pound," say the
'ity daily papers. Does not this plain's' tell the story of whose margin is being gouged.
But what is the farmer going to do
about it? We farmers may ask ourselves. The way is plain. Those in
the present crusade of hammering
Prices have pointed out the weapons.
Consumers have been signing    pledges
to quit eating meat for certain periods
and reduce the quantity of tliis and
that on the table. The middleman has
his storage plants and hence is not
suffering from those who refrain from
eating full rations. The hogs and
steers of the farmer are still in life
and need no ice to preserve them. They
will continue to grow in value and pay
for all extra feed. The cellar is ample
for the preservation of such of the
farmer's stores as arc not perambulators. Let him do a little refraining
himself. If he were to hold his stocks
off the market for thirty days the demands would force prices to normal
again. Between the pressure of the
consumer and producer the middleman
renters, I do not say all renters are of
that class; far from it; a great many
are among the best farmers we have;
but in the natural order of things an
owner of land is more likely to take
better care of his land than a non-owner would be.
Another view of the depleted condition of our soil is seen in the washed
or gullied condition of our hill land,
whole farms being impoverished in this
way, so as to be almost worthless. This,
in a great many instances, was done
years ago by the older residents. To
prevent a continuance of this waste of
fertility, let alone a reparation of the
damage already done, would tax the intellect of the  best statesman.
Pen  of Berkshires,  winners of grand  championship  for  barrows,   International  Live  Stock  Exposition   1909.     Exhibited     by   Iowa     Agricultural     College.
could be made to give up some of his
profit, which is, as a rule, away out of
proportion  to  a  reasonable  margin.
Then this might be a good time for
the farmer to come into closer touch
with the consumer. If one farmer
has not enough stuff to justify a trip
into the city why not a few neighbors
club to gether and make up a load. The
consumer would welcome the farmer
at his door. Thus the right to withhold products from the wholesale market and the ability to deal direct with
the consumer furnish ample means for
the farmer protecting himself in this
crisis.       Lets' do it now.
Columbus, Ohio.
CONSERVATION     OF       SOIL     FERTILITY.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
Perhaps no other subject should occupy our attention more than the conservation or retention of the soil fertility of this great state of our3. What
was once a virgin soil naturally rich in
all the elements of fertility that go to
make enormous crops of grain, now
in some places is so depleted of that
fertility as to make cropping unprofitable. Undoubtedly there will have
to be somewhat of a change in tho system of management of these areas of
land, or they will go from bad to worse.
The overflow of rivers is in most
cases responsible for a non-rotation of
crops; for instance clover that great
restorer of fertility is impracticable to
use on account of being easily killed
by the overflow, however a great deal
more could be used to the financial
benefit of owners of lands. Another
frequent drawback appears to be too
much renting,     especially  to     careless
We know from the natural lay of
this land that it is not only impracticable but ruinous to cultivate such land
as   we   would   the   more   level. We
know that the washing caused by cultivation offsets the good done in a rotation, using clover as a fertilizer; however I have used clover on pasture land
with considerable success by scattering
the seed thinly over it, February being
about the proper time to sow. This
will not only make more and a better
variety of pasture but benefits the land.
Undoubtedly there are other avenues
for handling such land, such as fruit
growing, nut growing, planting trees
suitable for posts, railroad ties, etc. As
in other occupations the people will
have to be educated in that way, a
great deal being done that way now by
the faculty to our great horticultural
and agricultural institution, Purdue
University. Probably in the not far
distant future there may be a commission of our brightest and most intellectual farmers appointed by our governor to look after such matters, as is
being done by tho federal government
in  other  parts of the United  States.
Morgan  Co. W.  R.  Abraham.
THINKS AUTOS ARE TRESPASSERS
Editors Indiana Farmer:
We have noticed several articles in
the Farmer on automobiles that we do
not agree with. We were raised on a
farm, and are also the owner of a good
farm on the gravel road. We claim
that the roads were built by the farmers for their use, and that all automobiles are usurpers and trespassers, and
have no more right to run their machines on our roads than they have to
run them on the railroads or street car
lines, and should by right be driven off
our public roads. I have seen an automobile full of school boys and girls
(chewing gum as an old cow chews her
cud) come whooping down our highways driving everything off the road
before them. Poultry, dogs, pigs,
hogs have been run over and killed,
men and women have been thrown out
of their buggies and injured by their
reckless driving, school children have
been crippled by them, and one was
run over and actually killed, right here
in this neighborhood, eight miles from
Vincennes.
It is getting to be dangerous for our
women folks to be on our own roads
with a horse and buggy any more.
Must we, shall we submit to such
things as these? It seems that a certain class of city folks, those who can
afford a new dress every day and a
cock-tail every hour, and that have an
assortment of vernal diseases are the
ones that can afford an auto to gallaoot
over the  country.
And this reckless driving has created
a bitter feeling that bodes no good to
the autoist. Beware, how-you drive
your  machine. T.  S.   Young.
Vincennes.
EVIDENTLY HE OWNS A M.U MINE.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
When the reader takes a cursory
glimpse of John J. News tirade against
the automobile and the "Three Track
Road," as published in your January
29th issue he sees only the rippling vein
of humor that bubbles out all over the
surface of that rambling invective. After perusing it thoughtfully, however,
and giving it careful study, one readily
perceives that there is a deep undercurrent of cruel hatred, not only of the
automobile with its modern equipment
for annihilating time and space, but his
less fortunate neighbor who cannot afford to purchase an airship, but by
scrimping is able to indulge himself
the luxury of a long deferred visit to
mother's and the old boyhood home,
around which and its hallowed associations, are clustered so many happy
memories; or perhaps it is the wife and
babies he is giving the exhilarating joy
of an outing in the country, away from
the rushing surging turmoil of the busy
city, in a "Big Touring Car," falls ruthlessly beneath the scathing censure of
that caustic pen—a hatred that actuates him to view with sullen contempt
every enterprise that is progressive and
up-to-date in twentieth century methods, both in the building of public
highways and the mode of travel on
such as we already have.
Owen  Co. C.   S.   L.
GRANT   COUNTY   INSTITUTE  RESOLUTION.
Editors   Indiana   Farmer:
The following resolution was passed
by the Farmers' Institute of Grant
county, at Fairmount, without a dissenting vote.
Whereas, The professors sent out
from Purdue are on a salary as instructors of that institution, and we as taxpayers bear out part of the burden of
the same, therefore be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of
this institute that hereafter when these
professors come to us as institute workers we  pay their expenses only.
Marion. A.  A.   B.