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DRY-FARMING CONGRESS, WICHITA, 1914 



way through organization for the future development of the dairy industry 

 of our country. 



MR. WEBSTER: 



Owing to the fact that two members who were to have appeared on 

 this program are not here, it has been decided to have Director Thomas P. 

 Cooper of North Dakota give you his talk this morning on "The Business 

 of Farming." Mr. Cooper, of North Dakota, Director of the North Dakota 

 Experiment Station, will now talk to us. 



Address of Mr. Cooper 

 THE BUSINESS OF FARMING 



A comparatively short time ago, a discussion of the Business of Farm- 

 ing would have been impossible. The farm and its operation were not con- 

 sidered a business but a means of existence. A family operated a farm 

 and upon it produced the necessities of life — the grain was used to supply 

 the family with flour, the livestock supplied it with meat, milk, butter, and 

 wool. A small portion of the produce was sold to obtain money for 

 taxes and luxuries not produced at home. Little attention was given to 

 organization of the farm for the purpose of profit. With the develop- 

 ment of transportation facilities, the increase in population of the cities, 

 and the invention of effective farm machinery, the farm began to be organ- 

 ized on a business basis. Its operations were developed for the purpose of 

 producing products for sale rather than for use in the farm home. Suc- 

 cessful farmers began to consider the operation of the farm from the other 

 standpoint of profits. The Central-West led in this development, until 

 today the problem of the great group of central states is primarily a 

 problem of the business of farming. If this business is successful and 

 prosperous, the country as a whole is prosperous. The prosperity of the 

 manufacturer, the transportation companies, and the merchants rests upon 

 the successful prosecution of this greatest of all businesses. 



Farmer Confronted by Two Great Problems 



The business of farming is complex and manysided. It is affected to 

 a large degree by factors over which the farmer has no control. They 

 may cause disaster in spite of careful forethought and skill, or, on the 

 other hand, may bring a return greatly beyond what would legitimately be 

 expected from the skill and thought expended. There are many factors 

 such as soil, seed, cultivation, diversification, and the proper farm organiza- 

 tion, that are dependent upon the farmer. When these factors are prop- 

 erly combined and used they make of the farm a business enterprise rather 

 than a somewhat precarious industry dependent on the elements and wholly 

 a subject of chance. As I conceive it, the application of the named factors 

 and principles involved are essential to the business of farming. 



As now constituted, the farm business may be divided into two great 

 fields of effort, one of production and the other of distribution. The 

 relationship between the two classes may be close, as where a highly 



