HISTORICAL RESUME 31 



movement of both men and boys from the farm 

 began. Land depreciated as well as fertility of 

 the soil, and our soil's crisis became a part of 

 our agricultural economy. Our farmers were in 

 a helpless condition; many could not live and pay 

 the interest upon their indebtedness, and fore- 

 closure and loss of their land resulted. But the 

 people of the world continued to eat, so about 

 the year 1895, when our lands had practi- 

 cally been all subdued, and consumption had 

 caught up with and outstripped production, farm 

 products and farm values began to advance, which 

 led to still more extensive and less intensive 

 farming. The growing of certain grains became 

 profitable, so farmers confined themselves to one 

 crop. All these forces led to a further lessening 

 of crop fertility. 



For a long period farming has been a paying 

 business and the farmer has driven his farm to 

 its limit of production, and its soil in conse- 

 quence has been sorely neglected, and the soil 

 robber has become more bold in his nefarious oc- 

 cupation of robbing the soil of its wealth. 



The reader, no doubt, is impressed that the 

 writer's indictment against the American farmer 

 is too severe and his condemnation too strong, 

 and that after all, agriculturally, soil conditions 

 in our land are not so bad. To the casual ob- 

 server this may seem true. He reads the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture Eeports of 1912 bumper 

 crops, and concludes that with our nation, agri- 

 culturally, all is well. And yet if we compare the 

 1912 crops with the general ten-year average, we 

 find a difference of but a small per cent., and dur- 



