38 



economy. Many a man has gained by setting one side a Sve-foot 

 mower and buying a longer cut. Tlie value of all machines must 

 be gauged by results. Hand labor is more and more to be super- 

 seded by machinery, but this necessitates larger operations that 

 the relative profit may not be reduced. It reduces labor in one 

 direction that more may be done in another. These labor-saving 

 machines are not intended to relieve the brain but the hand. The 

 man saves physical force that he may expend mental, and out of 

 this expenditure obtain what formerly was impossible. 



A large item of loss on many farms is the time necessary to 

 move from field to field in order to complete any given work, and 

 the same lesson applies with equal force to the majority of manu- 

 facturers. We turn too many short furrows, cultivate too many 

 fractions of an acre, travel over too much territory to grow our 

 crops. Economy suggests the massing of land under the plow and 

 the systematic going over the whole farm by a short-term rotation. 



Standing one day recently, looking over the well-tilled fields of 

 a middle-aged farmer, there could be counted ten lots of land 

 under the plow, scattered all over the farm, four or five of which 

 covered considerably less than an acre each. If these could have 

 been in one lot the saving of labor in cultivation and travel would 

 be no mean item. Asking a Kansas corn grower how he made 

 money, his reply was, " By the length of the corn rows." He re- 

 duced loss of time and labor to the minimum. 



Discussing this question from a purely business stand-point with 

 reference to the economies possible these are a few which are sug- 

 gested. They all or nearly all apply with equal force to other 

 lines of labor, and only illustrate the fact that occupation does not 

 settle the question and that waste is universal. At the same time 

 here are some of the steps which may be taken to still further re- 

 duce the cost of production and leave in the pocket of the pro- 

 ducer the evidence of a more satisfactory year's business. 



Asking of nature that she return in ever-increasing ratio and in 

 constantly improving quality, there come correspondingly increas- 

 ing obligations upon the grower and producer which must be appx*e- 

 ciated and observed. Discussing the situ ation from the business 

 side, with special reference to reducing cost of production, these 

 important considerations present themselves with a force not to be 

 lost by the thinking producer. 



The wastes which must be eliminated before the industry reaches 

 its higher levels are not alone along the lines already suggested 

 but bear a direct application to the individual farmer. To-day the 

 successful farmer is not only a mechanic but an artist ; he realizes 

 the necessity for reducing the cost of production, and, to a degree, 



