HOW ONE FARMER WAS RUINED 



its defender or apologist, because that is not 

 my business. It has effected the greatest 

 revolution ever known in American farming; 

 it has within certain territory abolished or 

 greatly lessened the evils I have been describ- 

 ing, and that seems to be enough to make it 

 worth writing about. And the more so be- 

 cause the farmer's troubles — although we sel- 

 dom suspect it — come home every day in the 

 expense accounts of every one of us, no matter 

 how far we may be from a farm. 



This, then, is the story: 



Beach is a town in western North Dakota 

 where land used to be cheap and settlers few. 

 In 1913 a young man with a great idea came 

 to Beach and took up some of this cheap land. 

 He had been studying soils, climates, and con- 

 ditions, and it seemed to him that for that 

 part of North Dakota flax was a better crop 

 than wheat. Also, he had been studying the 

 markets, and he had convincing figures to 

 show that at the existing prices the growing 

 of flax must be profitable. 



He took prairie land, hundreds of acres of 

 it, and started to break up the tough virgin 

 sod. Prairie-breaking is about the hardest 

 of all hard work known to hmnan endeavor. 

 This young man brought his brother with him, 

 and the two were so confident about flax at 

 the market prices that they did not hesitate 

 to go heavily into debt for the farm machinery 



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