Arguments for Diversified Farming 



Farming is becoming a more serious proposition year by 

 year. A long succession of drouths in certain localities 

 and the consequent waste of a large acreage are forcing 

 landowners to consider crop diversity. 



The one weak spot in modern farming is the disposi- 

 tion to do big things with a single interest, such as 

 wheat raising or dairying. When there is a failure either 

 through seasonal causes or accident, the loss is heavy, 

 discouraging, disastrous. The growing cost of land and 

 labor and the increasing importance of the farmer's time 

 cry out against the single crop idea. 



I am confident that those who have in large part lost 

 their wheat crops through drouth will give attention to 

 my plea for a greater diversification on all farms. 



Milk producers whose pastures are dried up by the 

 intense heat of summer are also likely to be ready 

 listeners. Furthermore, the young farmer and the 

 student of agriculture who are observing the conditions 

 described must soon reach the conclusion that it is bad 

 policy to depend on a single crop. 



While grain raising is an attractive scheme when 

 figured on the basis of a dollar a bushel and twenty 

 bushels an acre, it never has been a safe proposition for 

 the person of limited capital. Capitalists in many cases 

 have made it profitable, because through operating ex- 

 tensively the acreage cost is reduced and they are able to 

 wait a year or two for profits. 



There are also numerous instances of men of small 

 means being fortunate enough to escape droughts and 

 other destructive agencies and gaining substantial returns 



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