PROBLEM OF CROP PRODUCTION 373 



capital for stock and for fencing and buildings. The 

 greater part of this money must be made on our farms. 

 The problem then will be solved but slowly. It is largely a 

 rotation, a farm management and an economic problem. 

 The purely agronomic or crop and soil phases of it are 

 the least difficult to answer. 



In our opinion we shall not control weeds and drifting 

 soil permanently until we adapt our systems of farming 

 to meet those conditions which have caused and are now 

 causing low yields and poor quality in our crops. That 

 adaptation will include a rotation of crops designed 

 chiefly for controlling weeds and drifting soil, for lessen- 

 ing the cost of production and for building up a more 

 permanent agriculture. It will necessarily include live 

 stock, (1) to make use of the forage crops that must be 

 grown, (2) to lessen the amount, and thereby the cost of 

 the tillage nec^sary to control weeds, (3) to lessen the 

 risk of our one-crop system and (4) to turn the wastage 

 and by-products of the farm into a realizable asset. 



336. Business Farming. — It is not long since the farmer 

 did not need to be a business man. He produced his own 

 food, he grew and manufactured his own clothing and 

 built his own house. He lived unto himself largely. He 

 needed little business training. 



The modern farmer cannot live unto himself. He does 

 not produce his own clothing nor the material to build 

 his house, nor does he grind his own wheat into flour. 

 To-day he must spend, even for the necessities of life. 

 Therefore he must have something to sell. In other 

 words, the modern farmer must be a business man. 



It does not take long to learn the art of farming, but 

 unfortunately it takes some of us a long time to learn the 

 art of successful farm business. It would seem that we 



