16 ANIiTUAL, REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



substantial part of the out-of-pocket expense. Cooperation of Fed- 

 eral and State agencies with local committees to help worthy farmers 

 help themselves ought to be productive of good results. 



The idea that the Government can arbitrarily fix a price that 

 will cover cost of production and by this means restore prosperity 

 to the wheat grower is no longer entertained by any considerable 

 number. It is clear that such a course would simply stimulate pro- 

 duction, not alone in the wheat country proper but in the great 

 humid sections which can produce large crops of winter wheat and 

 will if the price is more attractive than the prices of corn and oats. 

 A. Government fixed price would make it necessary for the Govern- 

 ment to bo prepared to buy at that price, and without some means 

 of disposing of the surplus bought our last state would be worse 

 than the present. 



The bringing in of foreign farm laborers with the thought of 

 reducing production costs through cheaper farm labor seems vision- 

 ary. The pull of higher industrial wages would operate about as 

 effectively on them as on our own people. If they should stay oft 

 the farms and thereby increase production, that would hurt rather 

 than help, for we already have more farm production in important 

 crops than can be sold at a fair price. A large increase in labor in 

 the industrial centers might tend to reduce costs of the things the 

 farmer buys and would add that many more mouths to be fed here. 



The purchase and holding by the Government of our surplus 

 wheat might prove of temporary help, provided an advance in 

 price, which is the object sought, should be protected by the neces- 

 sary advance in the tariff. The existence of a large surplus, how- 

 ever, would exert a constant downward pressure on the price of the 

 next crop, large or small. Unless production is controlled, an annual 

 crop, except for a reasonable carry over, must be sold annually. 



The proposal to sell a considerable part of our surplus to some 

 country which can not buy for cash but which is in urgent need 

 of food is worthy of consideration. This would involve selling on 

 long time and taking evidences of indebtedness, issued by State or 

 municipal governments, calling for payment over a term of years. 

 Ommercial exporters can not extend credit for the length of time 

 needed nor safely take the risks involved, but the Government, 

 through some suitable agency, might well consider it. Such plan 



