THE FARMER OF TO-MORROW 



States and their output is controlled by many 

 complex factors, among the principal of which 

 are soil, climate, and individual efficiency. So 

 closely must famine follow on the heels of 

 the last harvest to make the business of farm- 

 ing profitable, that the slightest variation of 

 any one of the many factors influencing pro- 

 duction in a broad way means success or fail- 

 ure for the individuals. Take a recent in- 

 stance in the production of corn, our biggest 

 crop. A widespread drought in the fall of 



1911 reduced the acreage production from 27 

 bushels to 24 bushels. The price of corn 

 soared to 62 cents. In the following year the 

 heavens smiled on the land. An acre of corn 

 measured over 29 bushels. Did this spell pros- 

 perity for the farmer over his returns of the 

 year before? In the light of the "two blades 

 of grass" theory it should have spelled pros- 

 perity. But it did not. The farmer was 

 forced to accept 48 cents for the same bushel 

 that had brought him 14 cents more a year 

 gone by. Actually the American farmer in 



1912 was forced to suffer a loss of $40,000,000 

 over 1911 as a penalty for harvesting an ex- 

 cess of 600,000,000 bushels of corn. 



The business of farming is not operated 



