For Smaller and Better Farms 



By REV. WILDER TOWLE, 

 DeKalb County, III. 



V/^\. HE open country never made 

 ^*'~y^ a man. Man has made the 

 \J open country what it is to- 

 day. The need of today is for more 

 well-trained farmers, living on smaller 

 farms, controlled and operated by sci- 

 entific methods. 



Nels Jensen came to a little village 

 community seventy miles out of Chi- 

 cago thirty years ago. All he possessed 

 besides his head, trunk and limbs was 

 a shirt, overalls and shoes. Today 

 Nels Jensen and wife, for they never 

 were fortunate to have had any chil- 

 dren, own and operate 80 acres. Their 

 farm is one of the best producing units 

 in the county in which they live. They 

 have studied their job, worked at it 

 together and practiced diversified meth- 

 ods. Recently they modernized their 

 , home and out-buildings and paid cash 

 for all supplies and labor. 



During a call at this farm, Jensen 

 said to me, "Preacher, come down in 

 the basement and have a drink on me." 

 So down we went. In the northeast 

 corner of that concrete block walled 

 and slick cement floored basement a 

 shining faucet covered with sweat glis- 

 tened with reflected sunlight. Jensen 

 turned on the faucet. Out poured the 

 fresh cold water. "We'll let'er run a 

 little," he said, and then he handed me 

 a drink. 



Jensen was proud of that new water 

 system, which included an automatic 

 pump with an outside overhead storage 

 tank, as well as every other improve- 

 ment he and his wife had made. How 

 did they do it? They used their heads, 

 and made their soil grow grain and 

 other crops to feed cows, steers, hogs, 

 chickens and produce a large percent- 

 age of table food. It's all paid for and 

 Nels Jensen is a happy man. I could 

 tell that by the way he handed me that 

 glass of water. 



• Another picture might be described 

 of a man with an equally good oppor- 

 tunity but his story is that of failure. 

 He wasn't wise for he never studied 

 his job. If he did, his lessons came 

 from a poor text or whatever he 

 gleaned from a good one was never 

 put into practice. 



Nels Jensen is an example of the 

 kind of men we should have in the 

 open country (plus children of course) 

 in our state, especially where land is 

 capable of being rehabilitated. It is 

 generally accepted that farm acreage 



has been increased and operators de- 

 creased and that the land is growing 

 less and less productive. It would seem 

 then that more scientifically trained 

 farmers plus the desire to work, are 

 needed on smaller farms. Brain plus 

 brawn is necessary today as it has al- 

 ways been. The conflict between sci- 

 ence and uncontrolled nature is an 

 eternal problem. Experienced farmers 

 realize this. It is easier to get rid of 

 thistles on 80 acres than on 900. It 

 is easier to make 80 acres more produc- 

 tive than 900. In the first place it 

 takes less leg work and more brains. 

 In the second place the farmer on 80 

 acres can almost produce enough fer- 

 tilizer to take care of soil need. A 

 man is more apt to take better care 

 of 80. He might neglect the larger 

 unit. With modern equipment, owned 

 privately or cooperatively with neigh- 

 boring farmers, overhead can be cut to 

 the minimum. The 80 acre unit is sug- 

 gested as a minimum. There would 

 be exceptions. 



Our young people can go out into 

 the rural areas and live happily and 

 start from scratch as did Nels Jensen 

 if they have the nerve to tackle the 

 job. Those who are older and hold 

 the reigns should help them by giving 

 them an opportunity to own and be- 

 come independent farmers. 



Farm units should be accessible to 

 our youth through purchase. Land- 

 holding corporations and absentee land- 

 lords should be encouraged to sell. 

 Local units whether political, religious, 

 educational or business, in all rural 

 areas should become vitally concerned 

 in making it possible for youth to be- 

 come landowners. The present prob-» 

 lem of tenancy and the great mobility 

 of rural people from farm to farm and 

 community to community has a dev- 

 astating influence on the development 

 of family life, culture and the aspira- 

 tional influences of any community. 

 Many tenant farmers are strangers in 

 every community and remain so all of 

 their lives. Local communities will be 

 wise in visualizing what this means to 

 the life within all such areas when so 

 much moving of the population takes 

 place. 



A population-mobility survey was 

 taken for the decade 1920-30 in the 

 central part of Illinois and it was 

 found that 80 percent of the farms 

 were tenant operated. Seventy-six per- 



HEN IN THE DOG HOUSE? 

 No. Dogs in the hen house. This old 

 hen, belonging to Gus Staude, Washing- 

 ton countY' took a liking to the puppies 

 soon after their birth. Stranger still, the 

 little Spaniels like their iosler mother 

 about as much as she likes them. When 

 their real mother comes to the nest they 

 leave to get a square meal, then promptly 

 seek the shelter and warmth of biddy's 

 wings. Prize picture by Grover Brinkman. 



cent of these changed hands 3.4 times 

 in the ten year period. Social studies 

 show that it takes a new family com- 

 ing into a community three years to be- 

 come assimilated. The result, therefore, 

 of this tenant system breaks down local 

 loyalties, causes disintegration in the 

 higher morale, and forces upon all 

 such areas a decline in the substantial 

 economic base and retardation in the 

 education of youth. 



These then are the vital problems 

 facing all who are concerned with rural 

 culture of the future. First, larger and 

 larger farms with less and less inten- 

 sification. Second, inability of trained 

 and willing farm youth desiring to re- 

 main on the farm to find a place. 

 Third, absentee landlords and large cor- 

 poration ownership with imp>crsonal 

 management and lack of community 

 centered interests. Fourth, increasing 

 tenancy producing breakdown of ele- 

 ments necessary to the development of 

 a better democracy. 



Rural Illinois will become a new 

 country where the fulfillment of many 

 dreams will come true when rural 

 leaders act to make farms smaller and 

 accessible to youth and encourage the 

 best trained to remain on the soil. 



The new director on the Illinois 



Agricultural Auditing Association 

 board is L. I. Harris, not J. I. Harris, 

 reports G. L. Potter of Livingston 

 county, and his address is Graymont. 



)RD 



MARCH. 1939 



