FARM MANAGEMENT 167 



buying power. Few farmers realize how much is saved by the even 

 distribution of wares which they buy, which is secured from a knowl- 

 edge of crop prospects. In this saving farmers in the long run are 

 benefited. 



It is important to railroads to know the profitable size of crops 

 in the country in order to provide sufficient cars to ship the grain. 

 The more nearly they can learn the size of the crops the better able 

 are they to move them economically. Here, again, in the long run, 

 farmers are indirectly benefited by the cheaper distribution of the 

 crop, due to better information of crop conditions. 



Under modern trade regulations and conditions, prompt and re- 

 liable information regarding agricultural areas, prospects, and yields 

 is also an important factor in the proper conduct of commercial, 

 industrial, and transportation enterprises. The earlier the informa- 

 tion regarding the probable production of the great agricultural 

 commodities can be made public, the more safely can the business of 

 the country be managed from year to year. 



Retail dealers in all lines of goods, whether in city or country, 

 order from wholesale merchants, jobbers, or manufacturers the goods 

 they expect to sell many weeks, frequently months, before actual 

 purchase and shipment. Jobbers follow the same course, and manu- 

 facturers produce the goods and wares handled by merchants of 

 every class far ahead of their actual distribution and consumption. 



For example, retail shoe dealers place their orders in summer 

 for shoes to be sold during the fall, winter, or following spring 

 months. Wholesale shoe dealers and jobbers, similarly, order from 

 manufacturers the particular qualities and styles of shoes indicated 

 by the orders of the retail dealers in such quantities as the orders 

 show to be necessary. The manufacturers, constantly receiving these 

 orders, adjust, as closely as they can, their purchases of material, 

 employment of operatives, and quantity of output so as to enable 

 them to supply the quantity of shoes which have been or are likely 

 to be ordered, their aim being, on the one hand, to meet fully and 

 promptly the requirements of trade (in other words, the demand of 

 the purchasing public) and, on the other hand, to avoid such over- 

 production as will result in a large surplus unsalable except at a loss. 



The same ideas and rules prevail throughout every branch of 

 trade commerce, and transportation, the shoe business being simply 

 an example of other lines of business in the matter of doing things 

 in advance. 



Now, it is universally conceded that farming agriculture is 

 the basic industry upon which all other industries greatly depend: 

 The measure of the country's crops is to a large extent the measure 

 of the country's prosperity, and the purchasing power of the people 

 is increased or diminished as the crops are bountiful or meager. 

 Therefore the commercial interests of the country are vitally affected 

 by the quantity and quality of the crops; and it becomes a matter 

 of vast importance to them to know in advance what the crop pros- 

 pects are during the growing season and what the output is at 

 harvest. 



