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VOL. Lxvm
INDIANAPOLIS, J J**, 21, 1913
NO. 25
Present and Future Needs of Indiana Agriculture
The contemplation of the present
needs of Indiana Agriculture brings before us so many urgent problems and a
review of the great strides that have
been achieved during the past few years
causes one to hesitate to prophecy as to
the future.
However, the present needs will be
those of the future until the remedy
has  been  applied.
The consideration of this subject
leads one to inquire "Is the Indiana
farmer doing his best?" "Is he fully
equipped for his work?" "Does he get
the most out of his labor?" To all of
these questions we would answer "No."
The average man is not doing as well
as he knows. The reasons may be
varied. He may be handicapped for
want of physical strength, he may be
restricted because of insufficient capital
or it may be just pure laziness.
But the average man who is doing
his best under existing conditions, finds
himself handicapped for want of a
larger fund of technical knowledge of
his  work.
If his limiting factor is his variety of
corn or wheat, he needs to know more
of the principles of breeding plants and
their improvement through selection. If
his limiting factor is his cultural methods, he needs to know more of the influence of cultivation upon the soil as
it relates to the bacterial and physical
condition. If his limiting factor is the
fertility of the soil, he needs to know-
more of the requirements of a fertile
soil, of the influences controlling the
change of the inert plant food into
forms which are readily available to the
plant life and of the necessary balance
which must be maintained between the
different food elements which go to
make up the menu of the most highly
developed farm crops.
He also needs to know how this essential balance may be restored in the
most efficient manner and at the least
outlay of money.
That this balance should be restored,
is acknowledged by all men and their
desires to restore it is evidenced by the
large sums of money spent annually for
the commercial plant foods.
The failure to accomplish the desired
end is forcefully evidenced hy the small
gains in the general averages of crop
yields during the past few years.
Some wit has said: "What you don't
know, won't hurt you, if you only find
out in time."
In Indiana's agriculture with the cry
of the consumer at the high cost of living and the reply of the farmer that
v.ith the appreciating values of farm
property, dividends are wanting, the
time is now here for us to find out.
m
Knowledge Essential to Success.
In the past, the relatively few who
sought to increase the.if fund of information, have made us&of the schools of
agriculture of our own and sister states,
the Experiment Stations and the TJ. S.
Department of Agriculture, but the
number who have been aided and the
help they have received has been all
too small in proportion to the need. No
one has been or is more keenly aware
of this  than  the men  who  have been |
Address by T. A. Coleman before the recent Indiana
Conference on .Agriculture and Country Life
working in the Agricultural schools and
experiment stations.
In the past few years these men have
beei going out to those who could not
or would not, come to them and three
classes of men have been met, the one
his curriculum of farm practices.
As we look over the agricultural horizon, the greatest need today is more
definite knowledge and a will to put
that knowledge into practice on the
part of the farmer.
The kind of farm scenes we like to see.    Well kept buildings and premises, lots
of live stock and a silo.
who was ignorant and poor, the well to
do or rich who was sufficient unto himself (men of this class usually inherit
their farms) and the man who was cognizant of his needs and resources and
was availing himself of every bit of
agricultural knowledge that had a place
in his farm practice.
At this point I would like to say that
the man is indeed fortunate who has a
seive that is tuned to screen out the
useful information from that which is
equally good but which has no place ln
In making this statement I want to
make myself clear.
The man who is growing corn should
have definite information as to the soil,
the preparation of the seed bed, the
selection of a variety best adapted to
his needs, the importance of selecting
corn of strong vitality, the best cultural
methods under existing conditions, the
time and manner of harvesting and the
ultimate disposition of the entire crop
to the end that the greatest financial
returns may be secured and at the same
A typical scene in the better agricultural sections of the State.
time return all of the crop residue to
the land to restore it to its wonted fertility.
I care not where he gets his information, whether through home study, an
university course or through the school
experience. The all important fact
being that he, having the information,
puts it Into  practice.
The fact that it has been but a few
years since the farmer was sufficient
unto himself, causes many men to look
with skepticism upon any suggestion
that co-operative buying or selling has
any place therein.
Changed Conditions.
It is but a few years since the farm
crops furnished the entire menu for
the family, the farm flocks and crops
furnished the raw material from
which the farm women wove the cloth
and tailored the clothing, and farm
labor builded, from timber grown thereon all farm buildings.
However, in this early building work,
co-operative labor had its inception.
The only needed argument as to its
value lies in the statement that it still
prevails.
The question of the cost of marketing
the farm crops is engaging the attention of some of our best thinkers today.
The attitude of our National Government in creating a bureau to give its
time to a study of the existing conditions with a view to making recommendations if any are thought feasible
and the recent meeting in Chicago of
men from all parts of the United States
to discuss the question from all of its
angles, are but indicative of the trend of
public thought.
The need for some shorter and less
expensive route from the producer to
the consumer is so apparent as to preclude discussion. The fact that some of
the brightest minds in the agricultural
world are directed towards its solution
gives us hope.
Through the same sources the matter
of farm credits will be exhaustively
studied and its betterment anticipated.
This brings us to a point where we
can view the farmer from an angle
from which he is not in the habit of
viewing himself, that of a business man.
Not long ago while waiting at a railway station, I asked a chance acquaintance if he was in business. His reply:
"No I am just a farmer," was all too Indicative of this point of view. Such
cases would indeed make us sad if once
in a while we did not hear a man say.
in reply to the same question "Sure, I'm
a  farmer."
The home of a man who is just a
farmer reveals evidences on every hand
of his point of view. The unattractive
appearance of the farmstead, scrub-
bred live stock, the neglected fields, ln
which we find low yielding crops that
are put to no particular use, are but a
few of the many things that convince
him that farming does not pay and
that causes his boys and girls to resolve
to go to the city at the flrst opportunity.
L,ike an oasis in this dessert of neg-
Contlnued on page 16.