Farmers' Week in Agricultural College. 127 



the greatest factors entering into the economical operation of the farm. 



One may ask if by becoming a member it assures him a visit from 

 some member of the Farm JManagement staff. The answer is, that it 

 does not. It is the aim and purpose to visit, first, all the members of the 

 Association who desire to have some one come to their farms to help 

 them with their work, and after that others who desire help will be 

 visited. The expenses in visiting a farmer and helping in planning the 

 work are a great deal more than one dollar, so no one can possibly feel 

 that the dollar entitles him to a visit. It is simply an indication that you 

 are interested in the work and wish to get in touch with it. 



Some think it is necessary for us to turn upside down every practice 

 and method that we find being followed when we reach the farm. This 

 is very far from the truth. It is seldom that we make any sweeping 

 changes — in fact we find that in 90 per cent of the cases we can ac- 

 complish more by adjustment than by revolution. Here is a farmer 

 growing crops that are giving very satisfactory yields, but he says to 

 me ' ' I am not making money. ' ' Upon investigation we find that there is 

 little we can do to improve his crop yields, but we find that his stock 

 is being handled at a loss. He is putting good crops through poor stock. 

 He is running efficient fuel through poor machinery. Our work in such 

 a case simply consists in adjusting the running of the farm— namely, 

 putting the successful crops through profitable stock, doing away with the 

 worn-out and hard-running machinery and putting in a kind or quality 

 that can be kept at a profit. Sell two of the boarder cows and buy one 

 that will return a good income. Sell the old gelding and buy a mare 

 that will raise a colt worth one-third to one-half of her purchase price 

 at weaning time. This has been done. We are doing it now and intend 

 to keep on doing it. These practices and ideas are not theoretical — they 

 are being proven every day that our work is being followed. 



We could not help but feel good during Farmers' Week when one of 

 our members said, "We received your letter notifying us that our annual 

 fee to the Missouri Farm IManagement Association was due, and, after 

 talking it over, my wife and I agreed that dollars were not very plenti- 

 ful, but rather than give up the work we would pay a fee of one hundred 

 dollars." These are the things that count. When you make farming 

 more pleasant and at the same time more profitable, then it is that you 

 have solved the real problem for the farmer. 



