186 



gross income for the year before had been $41 per acre. His net income was 

 ,$23 an acre. His numageuient of his cows I considered to l)e ideal, and, 

 although I am a dairy farmer, I was not able to think of any improvements be 

 could make in his system of managing his cows. But I found that man util- 

 izing two-thirds of his land for four months in the year growing crops for his 

 cows. It is true that he was growing phenomenally large crops, but he was 

 utilizing only two-thirds of his land for four months of each year for growing 

 feed. On the other third he was growing straw for i)edding. We have made 

 ourselves familiar with the possibilities of farming in that section, and it was 

 plain that be was using a poor cropping system. We suggested a better system. 

 He said notliing. He was a conservative, careful, thinking man. Three weeks 

 later we received a letter from him asking us to outline that system on pai)er. 

 This was done. About a month later he wrote again, saying : " I have decided 

 to adopt the .sy.stem yon have suggested in full, and you are invited to make 

 suggestions upon any feature of my farming at any time a suggestion occurs 

 to you." He has that system now about half in operation. The gross income 

 has been raised the first year from .$41 to .$()7 per acre as the result of an im- 

 proved cropping system. 



Now, the point I want to make is this : That while there is danger, and I real- 

 ize it as fully as any of you, of getting the farmer to rely too much ui)on us, 

 there is an opportunity which is unexcelled of improving agricultural practice 

 in this country by studying the farmer and his immediate problems, and making 

 recommendations where we understand the conditions. 



We get letters from hundreds of farmers — we have gotten as many as 50 

 of these letters in two days — asking us to plan cropping systems. To most of 

 those letters we reply. " We can not help you ; we do not know your locai con- 

 ditions." But many of them come from sections where we do know the condi- 

 tions, and when such is the case we give the information. There are many in- 

 stances where this information has been utilized in largely increasing the 

 income of the farm. I believe it is possible, by putting enough men on work of 

 this kind, to increase very materially the product of the land in this country, 

 by aiding the farmer to iitilize what you men have already discovered and 

 what other farmers have discovered. Of course it is difficult to projihesy, but 

 I think it is possible to double the agricultural products of this country by that 

 means. Now, it may be assuming too much responsilillity, but I believe we are 

 justified in doing it. H is true it calls for conservatism. Ii is true that in this 

 work we are advertising your work. We are teaching people to believe great 

 things of you, and we may be doing some harm along with the good we do. 



W. R. Dodson, of Louisiana, for the programme committee, reconnnended that 

 the subject for discussion by the next convention be "Animal nutrition," and 

 that the committee on that progrannne be H. P. Armsby, C F. Curtiss, and the 

 secretary. 



The recommendation was api)r(>v('(l. and the jirogranmie committee named was 

 instructed to select a second topic. 



Thereupon the section adjourned sine die. 



