FARMERS TO THE FRONT 149 



value, the farms will, of course, be worth more. 

 It has been said that the capital invested in farm- 

 ing amounts to twenty billions of dollars, most 

 of which is, of course, in land. This could easily 

 be doubled, by making the farms more productive 

 of money. Reference has been made to the action 

 of a certain corporation in quadrupling its stock. 

 This is common in the commercial world. Is 

 it not in order for the farmers to declare their 

 farms and plants worth four times the old value? 

 It is quite the style for manufacturers of agri- 

 cultural implements to quadruple their fortunes 

 by the simple act of making a declaration to that 

 effect, and then to put the price of their goods on a 

 basis that will enable them to pay dividends on the 

 increased capitalization. If the farmers must pay 

 prices for their plows, cultivators and other ma- 

 chinery that makes such things possible for the man- 

 ufacturers, why not put up the price of grain and 

 farm produce so that the earning capacity of farms 

 will be increased to such an extent that farmers also 

 may declare their capital stock to be four times as 

 great as it was ? 



But this would not be a case of simple "marking 

 up," for the real value of the farms would be in- 

 creased. With fair prices, close and intelligent cul- 

 tivation, equitable laws for all, wide foreign markets, 

 reciprocity, good roads, irrigation, information as to 

 actual crop and market conditions, ability to direct 

 produce to the best markets, systematic marketing 



