282 CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 



CROPS, MARKETS, PRICES. 



The farmer not only wants big crops but it is his desire 

 to get the best price for the same. That which the crop 

 brings, directly or indirectly, is the prime object to be ever 

 kept in mind. 



There are a good many elements entering into the price 

 question and men may easily make serious mistakes. Of 

 course there may be at any time in almost any community 

 some advantage gained by taking advantage of temporary 

 or local conditions; but it must be remembered that the 

 price of agricultural products is generally more unchang- 

 ing through a long series of years than of any other class 

 of commodities. Statistics have been kept by the com- 

 mercial associations, including the price of agricultural pro- 

 ducts as well as of other things, and compilation from these 

 shows that the fluctuation in average value of farm pro- 

 ducts from year to year and from decade to decade has 

 not been great. It is gratifying that there has been a 

 tendency for many years to a slight average increase in 

 value. 



The theory that all would be lovely with the farmers 

 if they could only form a trust or combine and artificially 

 limit the production of farm staples so as to force prices 

 up, or to hold grain and produce so that the marketing 

 could be done with special reference to holding up the 

 price, has little to support it. The notion is equally wrong 

 that the farmer who manages to have a good crop when 



