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American Agriculturist, January 6, ISi* 
What Do Farmers Need Most? ! 
Is It Leadership, Business Ability, System, or Confidence in the Future? 
ERSONALLY I think we farmers are 
fools and that I, being one, have a 
host of companions. 
This is a dairy section with about 
three hundred farmers contributory. Pos¬ 
sibly three dairymen, or 1 per cent of the 
numbers, are making any money at all. 
Cows, cows, cows everywhere. Most of them 
are eating their heads off—a majority of 
them not paying their owners one cent profit 
for the year, just eating good hay, excellent 
silage and forty dollar grain. 
One of the most successful cheese makers 
in this whole section has often told me that 
the dairy farmer should reduce his dairy to 
where each cow w^ould give at least 7,000 lbs. 
of milk per year or ten months lactation 
period. This man is rich. He has no ax to 
grind. In addition he states that the dairy 
farmer should stop buying fancy mixed, high 
protien feeds at from $35 to $50 per ton. 
One of the best feed men in this county 
tells me that the farmer is a simpleton when 
he buys high-priced feeds for his 
cows when the price of milk is 
where it is. In my humble opin¬ 
ion both cheese maker and feed 
man are correct. We farmers 
are a queer combination. We be¬ 
lieve we are independent. We are 
not. We believe we are business 
men. Most of us know absolutely 
nothing about business. 
A merchant in any line knows 
what his goods of every variety 
costs to a cent. He adds a fair 
(or an unfair) profit and sells it 
to his customers at his price. Do 
you, my fellow-farmers, know 
how much it costs to plow an acre 
of land, to harrow or fit it, to drill 
it or plant it, to harvest or dig it? 
Do you know what it costs to put 
grass seed and clover on one acre 
or ten, or what it costs to produce 
a ton of hay or of silage or a 
bushel of potatoes or a dozen of 
eggs? No! A vast majority of 
us do not know and we are too 
bull-headed to try to learn. 
And what is the result? It is this: When 
we come to market with our products, be 
they what they may, we are at a great dis¬ 
advantage. Our question, our national 
foolish and simple question is: What are you 
paying now, for pork, wheat, oats, corn and 
all grains; for potatoes, cabbage, turnips or 
squash; for milk, butter, cheese, eggs; for 
hay, straw or fresh June peas? What are 
you paying now, for my product and for 
yours? Ye Gods! are we independent? Are 
we business men? 
The average farmer is the back-bone of 
this United States to-day. The crying need 
of this doubtful hour for us farmers is 
Leaders. Paid or unpaid men of ability in 
each town. Leaders that can give black¬ 
board talks on subjects that are directly or 
indirectly connected with your job and mine. 
Leaders that will dig into political questions 
and give us the ‘^straight” of it in an in¬ 
teresting and unbiased way. Leaders that 
will go into the matter of local costs so that 
you will' and I will know how much it really 
does cost locally to produce a pound of pork 
or a bushel of beans. 
Josh Billings says “No one has ever busted 
forth into print ’bout how much money they 
is in farmin’ cause they ain’t no sech ani¬ 
mal.” A recent lengthy magazine article 
states that “there is nothing like an acre of 
cherries to pay the mortgage on a dairy 
farmer.” Ain’t it the truth? I recently 
“heard” a man say that it was no wonder 
that most everyone except a farmer was 
prospering because they had forty million 
fool farmers to “pick on.” Ain’t it the truth? 
This is written in the interest of farmers 
everywhere by One of You.—Gouverneur, 
N. Y. 
In the Rut and Out with Legumes 
I N the issue of American Agriculturist of 
October 21, E. H. Burson, Monroe County, 
N. Y., gives an interesting example of 
“getting out of the old ruts.” In the issue 
of December 16, H. E. Cox, Monroe County, 
N. Y. replies in another very able article. 
Both these articles have a lot of very sound 
reasoning and deserve the careful reading 
and study of every American Agriculturist 
reader. 
I really like Mr. Cox’s statement which 
runs as follows: “The old rut or rotation 
farming has proved in all history to be the 
foundation of agriculture.” Also the state- 
r ent concerning the “plunger.” Plungers 
rarely get far. We need only look into the 
many poultry ventures that paid only in the 
imagination and on paper during the past 
few years. 
I fully agree with Mr. Cox concerning 
diversified farming. If diversified farming 
were to be discontinued and every farmer 
go to specializing, everything in the farm¬ 
ing game would go to the dogs in a short 
time. 
Now, permit us to give a little personal 
experience about getting out of a rut. 
Some few years ago it fell to our lot to 
take charge of a piece of land which had been 
pretty well run-down. The trouble here was 
that diversified farming and a certain rota¬ 
tion had been carried too far. In fact, the 
rotation was so long'it became monotonous 
and crops refused to do any good. We tried 
the thread-bare rotation of corn-oats-wheat- 
clover-timothy-timothy-pasture, as practiced 
by other farmers of this section. A few had 
already shortened rotations to about five or 
six years, but it did very little good. We 
found that we could get no clover started and 
very little else. We got discouraged and felt 
like quitting. 
About this time our good friend Jake 
McQueen of Tuscarawas County, Ohio, was 
boosting soy beans and haying vetch as the 
remedy for land, run-down land like ours. 
We became interested and paid him a visit 
at his famous Rigby Farm. This visit led 
to more and to our trying hairy vetch on 
our very poorest ground. The results were 
very satisfactory. Sufficient to say that the 
hairy vetch was raised for several con¬ 
secutive seasons on the same ground with the 
result that we followed it with a bumper 
crop of mammoth clover in 1919. Besides 
this we raised soy beans for both seed and' 
hay with results that made others stop and 
take notice. This experience alone would, 
make a large article itself. Beginning with. 
1916 we raised soy beans each season except 
1921 when we omitted them because of ill 
health. 
Where does the rut come in some may won¬ 
der as they read the foregoing? Well, we 
were in the same rut others were so far as 
rotations were concerned. We saw that to 
succeed and to make our ground bring re¬ 
suits we had to get out of the rut and change 
crops. Due to what we learned of the value 
of legumes in building up soil fertility, we 
adopted a four-year rotation as follows: corn 
and soy beans—soy beans or oats depending 
on soil—hairy vetch and rye or wheat, de¬ 
pending on soil—clover and timothy. This 
followed for a few years brought us out of 
the rut and brought the soil to' 
a much higher state of fertility. 
One of the best crops of wheat 
we ever raised followed soy beans 
on a piece of ground that brought 
no good pastures before soy beans 
were raised on it for two suc¬ 
cessive seasons—first with corn 
and next for hay. We might 
write indefinitely of the change 
and- the gratifying results, but 
it is needless. We have stated the 
case and the point is quite clear. 
To return to Mr. Cox’s last 
paragraph, he is right. If your 
system is bringing results—be 
slow to adopt a change. Some 
ruts are good and profitable ruts.. 
Others spell loss and need a radi¬ 
cal jerking out of their tracks. 
I just now recall a statement 
made to me last spring by my 
friend McQueen. The question 
was put to him during the course 
of an address by him, of what 
would happen if everybody were 
to stop raising wheat and oats, | 
and where would bread come from, etc / 
McQueen’s reply was short and to the point, 
as follows: “If everybody accepted (Ihrist 
as their Saviour, there would be no further 
work fo: Billy Sunday and Gypsy Smith and 
others. Likewise in raising legumes. Not 
all will change. Not all need to change, but 
many more would change to legumes.” 
The way to view the matter is this:' If the 
system and rotation you follow is bringmg 
profitable returns and your soil remains 
fertile, “go easy’’ as to a change. If, on the 
other hand, your system and rotation are 
spelling loss to you, as it did to us, then make 
a radical change and do not delay. One thing 
is needful, however, which is exercising good 
sound judgment and rea.:omng ipower while 
working the change, -v-V7arner E. Farver, 
Holmes Co., Ohio. 
Future Must Be Bright 
I N a recent issue of American Agriculturists 
I noted a request for opinions on the “fu¬ 
ture of farming.” As things look at times, 
one almost feels that the “future” of farm¬ 
ing is like snakes in Ireland—there “ain’t” 
any! However, my husband and I, with two 
young children, are going on a farm on 
March 1, after some time working for other 
farmers, and we have a great deal of faith 
and hope that farm life is going to offer us 
some advantages impossible to obtain^ else¬ 
where, in return for hard work and inter- 
{Continued on page 13) 
This Is Your Page 
F arm people are doing the best and sanest thinking that 
is being done in America to-day. That is the chief reason 
why we welcome the large numbers of letters that come to us 
in every mail. Let them come. We publish all that we have 
room for, but do not be discouraged if you do not see some of 
yours in print, for these letters from farm people whether 
published or not have great influence on the entire editorial 
policy of this paper. We will not publish your name if you 
do not wish it, but be sure to sign your letters. 
Remember that the letters express all sides of the problem 
and that we do not necessarily agree with all of the arguments. 
Remember also that two short letters are better than one long 
one, and keep in mind the story of Finnegan, the section boss, 
who insisted on writing too long reports on everything that 
happened on his section. Finally he got emphatic orders from 
headquarters that he must boil his reports down, especially on 
unimportant things. A few days later there was a bad wreck 
on Finnegan’s section, and after things were straightened out 
he reported to headquarters as follows: “Off agin, on agin, 
gone agin, Finigin.”—T he Editor. 
