72 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



alfalfa hay to the Wisconsin dairyman at $i . 50 a ton and then 

 imported Wisconsin butter at 40 cents or more a pound bringing 

 coals to Newcastle in that natural dairy country. 



But today the farmer of the North and West is adding animals 

 enough at least to consume products that would otherwise go prac- 

 tically to waste, and "general farming" is largely displacing one- 

 crop methods. At the South diversification has been the cry for 

 several years. The newer slogan, " Safe Farming,' 5 brings out well the 

 likenesses and differences between agriculture and other lines of pro- 

 ^ duction, such as manufacturing. Safe farming means raising "food 

 and feed crops" in quantity sufficient to the farmer's home needs. 

 Such crops are not unlike the by-products of the factory, since they 

 utilize time, much of which could not otherwise be turned to good 

 advantage, and likewise use low-value or waste products as roughage, 

 or secure a good return from pasture land that would otherwise yield 

 no product. The factory sells its by-products; the farmer consumes 

 his in the business. But both specialize in a marketable product. 

 Safe farming does not mean a return to the inefficiencies of the self- 

 sufficing regime, nor the abandonment of cotton or some other cash 

 crop. EDITOR. 



18. THE POSITION OF THE FARMER IN OUR ECONOMIC 

 SOCIETY 1 



BY EDWARD F. ADAMS 



The farmer has been prone to rely too much upon a partisan press, 

 and the utterances of political and other orators, who seek to accom- 

 plish some present end by exciting and increasing his prejudices. As 

 a result, the farmer is continually at a disadvantage in his pecuniary 

 dealings with those better informed than he as to the trend of com- 

 mercial movements. The only remedy for the farmer is a study of 

 fundamental principles, in the light of which he may correctly read 

 the meaning of current events. 



A study of the business relations of the farmer takes us far from 

 the farm. The farmer's interests are intertwined with all other inter- 

 ests. The great social and commercial movements of the day are 

 matters of dollars and cents to the farmer. Whatever concerns the 

 farmer concerns all mankind, and whatever affects other classes 



1 Adapted from The Modern Farmer in His Business Relations, pp. 7, 8, 15-1.7, 

 32-38. (Copyright by Edward F. Adams. Published by N. J. Stone Co.) 



