302 
Editorial Page of the American 
\ \ f T 7 f> Tp \ XT these marginal producers will rush back to grow- 
1\ 1V1 KK K jA N ing other farm products and will get out of the 
* dairy business as soon as possible. If they stay 
Agriculturist too long, they w mbe mined. 
Lvery farmer who has marginal cows in his 
.—. oim e . 12 dairy, that is, cows that pay less than the costs of 
Henry Morgenthau, Jr . Publisher production, will lose money under the present 
E. R. Eastman . Editor situation so long as he keeps them. Gradually 
Fred W. Ohm . Associate Editor such men and such cows will be forced out of the 
Birge KmNE° HBUSH . : : : : Adv^rtltngManaged bu " iness - This will adjust production and prices 
E. C. Weatherby . Circulation Manager Wl11 come back to a better level. 
contributing staff Another satisfactory phase of the situation is 
Jared Van Wagenen, Jr. H. E. Cook the gradually increasing consumption of milk and 
_ G- T. Hughes _ M. C. Burritt _ other dairy products. 
OUR ADVERTISEMENTS GUARANTEED , In the meantime, let’s eat our marginal pro- 
The American Agriculturist accepts only advertising d,1CerS ' Tins will add beef to our tables and money 
which it believes to be thoroughly honest. Our pockets, it will reduce the costs of pi’O- 
We positively guarantee to our readers fair and honest duction in every individual dairy and improve the 
treatment in dealing with our advertisers. market situation. Turn to page 303 and sign the 
We guarantee to refund the price of goods purchased by little statement and send it to US, or write US a 
our subscribers from any advertiser who fails to make good letter and tell US that you are with US in our “Kill 
when the article purchased is found not to be as advertised. a tv- >> • • i- , , , 
rn v Cx L Iv- x 1 ■> , «T A Kow campaign, providing enough other 
To benefit by this guarantee subscribers must say: I saw dairvmen r . nmo .,l nn<r ton 
your ad in the American Agriculturist” when ordering 1 y me come a O g too. 
from our advertisers. - - 
Published Weekly by Adjusted Production 
Address all correspondence for editorial, advertising, or subscription de- T a recent talk, Commissioner Berne A. P\ I’ke, 
partments to , T X of the New York State Department of Farms 
_ ourt ve -< ew or ’ _ and Markets, said that the State itself was the 
Entered as Second-Class Matter, December 15, 1922, at the Post Office largest farmer in the State, Operating, mostly 
• -- around its institutions, some 36,000 acres ot land. 
Subscription price, payable in advance, $1 a year, $2 for three The Commissioner said, too, that the capitaliza- 
.. yeare - 13 for . five yeara - C,nadlan and torelgn ’ $e a year - tion on these State farms was heavy, chiefly 
VOL. 114 November 1, 1924 No. 18 because of the expensive buildings. Yet in spite 
• . ■■■' - -•• - ■ of this high investment during the last year these 
R n t rr* * i . farms paid an interest of five per cent, upon their 
Racking Uur 1 ax r lgnt total investment, and in addition returned to the 
“I wonder if farmers really know 7 what they owe to State a profit of 11 per cent. 
American Agriculturist for the fight it put up last We can see the eyebrows of our farmer friends 
year to reduce farm taxes. I followed the situation being raised at this statement, for we all know how 
pretty carefully and I know 7 that if your paper had not f ew farms have broken even during the recent 
brought the farm tax situation to the attention of hard times, to say nothing of paying any interest 
Governor bmith and to the Legislature, w 7 e certainly Qr Dro g£ 
would not have received a reduction in the direct State r> , ,1 • • , , , .. . 
tax. This reduction means some saving to every farmer . , Bu ‘ the Commissioner had an explanation of 
taxpayer in the State. tins phenomenon. A very caretul record was kept 
“Others are always claiming and talking about what all expenses in the operation of the farms, and 
they are going to do for farmers. It looks to me as if every cent was charged against them that properly 
you went ahead and did something besides talk in get- could be. But on the other hand, these State 
ting and presenting to the ‘powers that be’ at Albany farms were credited at wholesale market prices 
the real facts which resulted in some benefit to us fel- f or every s i ng l e bit of produce which they raised, 
lows who are paying the bill, and I want you to know There was abso l ute ly nothing wasted, and no 
Oneida Count “nT a M> reclate “• ~ H - R D - matter what any particular farm raised, it could 
. ‘ ' not go wrong, because it was sure of a market. 
1 ETTERS like this help and we are human Putting it in a different way, the State was able 
Jk enough to like to receive them. ‘But what to do what no individual farmer can do in having 
would help still more is your continued support its market adjusted to its production. Most of 
of American Agriculturist in the fight we are the produce was used in its own institutions, 
going to make this winter for economy in govern- but whether it was or not the farms got credit at 
ment and for further reduction of taxes all the way market prices. 
along the line. _ Some time, perhaps, production will be so bal- 
. anced (see cartoon on opposite page) to consump- 
Marginal Dairymen Must Go tion as to give every farmer a market for every- 
A S we have stated several times recently, a thin S he raises > no matter what it is. In the whole 
dangerous situation exists in the dairy world there is none too much food, but there is 
markets. Whether or not this situation becomes too much in particular spots. In the meantime, 
better or worse depends almost entirely upon the while we wait for this ideal of adjusted production 
producers themselves. There are better than fifty and consumption, the farmer who will survive in 
million pounds of butter more in storage this year thc hard business will be the one who is constantly 
than last. Nearly as bad a situation exists with on the alert in studying the markets so that he 
the amounts of cheese and canned milk in storage, produces with a strict regard to what can be well 
and from nearly every producing section in the sold. He can never hope to find a ready sale for 
country come reports that the markets are everything as the State’s institutional farms do, 
flooded with fluid milk. but by figuring for a long period ahead and by 
The low prices of other farm products as com- learning to interpret the demand, he can come 
pared with dairy products that have prevailed nearer to growing for the market what the market 
until this year is the chief reason for the greatly wants at the time when it most wants it. 
increased milk production. Milk and its products - 
have paid better than almost any other farm Buv in Ouantitv 
product, so farmers throughout the country y ^ y 
turned to dairying. T T OW often the men folks find fault when going 
These comparatively better dairy prices brought XX to town with the milk and other produce 
in what is known as the “marginal” milk. One because the women always seem to have so many . 
good thing about it is that the marginal milk can errands for them to do. It is a spool of thread 
not stay in. It is produced from cows that can number so-and-so to be bought at one store, a 
not pay their costs of production unless the price couple of yards of calico to match something at 
of dairy products is high. Much of it is made by another, and five pounds of sugar at some other 
unskilled dairymen who have turned from other store. Inasmuch as the men get as much, or 
farming to milk production. Grain prices have more, benefit out of the purchases eventually, 
gone up, other milk products costs have increased; as do the women, there is little for them to find 
and milk prices have gone down. Therefore, fault about. 
American Agriculturist, November 1, 1924 
Agriculturist 
But from another standpoint, buying in such 
small quantities is a w r aste of time and money. 
It seems to us that it is another way by which we 
have gone too far “from the ways of our fathers.” 
Mrs. Ruby Green Smith said recently that some of 
the women of Colorado buy at one time enough 
supplies to last them for a whole year. We can 
not help but wonder about the loneliness and 
isolation from which these women must suffer 
because of not getting away from the farm oftener, 
but from an economic standpoint, they have the 
right idea. Our forefathers were independent of 
the markets. They went only a few times a year 
and purchased in quantities supplies that would 
last for months. 
We of today are market slaves. The women of 
the city and village especially have the habit of 
visiting the stores, often several times a day. 
Moreover, they depend upon the storekeepers 
to deliver their supplies, thus adding to the 
already high costs. The custom is spreading to 
the country. Under modern conditions it is not 
possible or practical to buy in too large quantities, 
but there is a happy medium. What a satisfac¬ 
tion there is in plentiful supplies stored against 
the wants of the future; a satisfaction doubly good 
because they were bought at better prices than 
could be had from buying in small quantities. 
The American Agriculturist Service 
W HAT particular problem is troubling you? 
Is there something about your farm organ¬ 
ization or about the operation of some other public 
institution that affects your business that you do 
not understand? Are some of your animals sick 
or not doing well? Perhaps you are worried 
about crop plans for the coming year. Maybe 
you have hay or potatoes on hand or some other 
crop and want some definite information about 
the markets. 
Or it may be that some law like that of cutting 
brush or weeds, or making a lease or will is not 
clear and you want more information. It may be 
too that you have been offered what looks like 
a good investment for some of your funds, but 
you are not quite sure; or it is possible that you 
have replied to an advertisement or had dealings 
with some commission men that were not satis¬ 
factory. To answer all of these and many other 
questions, American Agriculturist maintains 
a service bureau and a corps of trained workers 
to get the correct information for you. All you 
have to do to make adjustments and to clear up 
misunderstanding is to send full information 
about your problem to American Agriculturist, 
461 Fourth Avenue, New York City. This 
service costs you nothing but a two-cent stamp. 
Eastman’s Chestnuts 
T HERE is a lot of talk going the rounds all of 
the time about the lack of enforcement of 
prohibition. I have no doubt that there is still a 
lot of booze finding its way to the consumer, but 
here is one of the things I have wondered about. 
In the course of the year, I see a good many 
thousand people, both in the country and city, 
but I cannot now recollect having seen during the 
past year a single person who was badly under the 
influence of liquor. So I think the gentleman in 
the following story must have had his adventure 
back in the good (?) old days. 
This particular chap, so the story goes, was on 
his way home after a nice hilarious party, which 
had lasted into the wee small hours of the morning. 
In order to save time, he took a short-cut across 
the city park and managed to fall into a large 
fountain in the center, which fountain was well 
filled with statuary of various kinds and sizes. 
When he struck the cold water, he set lip a howl 
and a policeman came running to haul him out. 
When the policeman reached down to grab him, 
the drunk pulled away and, waving an expansive 
and heroic hand at the statuary, he stuttered: 
“N-NEVER M-MIND ME, OFFISHER—N 
NEVER MIND ME; RESHCUE THE WOMEN 
—AND SH-SHILDREN FIRST—WOMEN 
AND SH-SHILDREN FIRST, OFFISHER!” 
