322 
Editorial Page of the American 
American 
Agriculturist 
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VOL. 114 November 8, 1924 No. 19 
Economy Brings Prosperity 
HERE was an article in the New York Times 
of October 20, 1924, on Page 26, which con¬ 
tained the following statement: 
“This great rise in export trade and export surplus is a 
natural accompaniment of a harvest season such as the 
World has witnessed in 1924. All the familiar earmarks 
of a season of foreign scarcity and home abundance, of 
which the people learned in such years as 1915, 1897, 
and 1879, have already been repeated—the crowded 
freight cars, the congested seaboard market, the prosper¬ 
ous farmer and the huge export balance. But there has 
still been one thing missing. The revival of home trade, 
which on those occasions was always impressive and 
sometimes spectacidar, has as yet come into sight only 
faintly. A month from now, perhaps, we shall be able 
to say more positively how far the analogy will be 
rounded out.” 
It no doubt will interest the readers of this 
paper if it is called to their attention that on Janu¬ 
ary 1, 1879, the United States Government re¬ 
sumed specie payment. Although there was great 
confidence as to the ability of the government to 
shake off the lethargy and depression that had 
prevailed in this country during the hard times 
from 1873 to 1879, everyone was surprised that 
the economies practiced by the people during 
these years saved so much that many became 
investors who readily absorbed the U. S. govern¬ 
ment bond issue. This enabled the treasury to 
carry out its programs. The prosperity reached 
in every direction. The Union and Southern 
Pacific Railroad which had become bankrupt 
and had fallen into the hands of the Government 
was reorganized and given a fresh start. Factories 
all over the country resumed their old vigor and 
activity. Real estate in New York and other 
large cities which had gone a-begging, and large 
quantities of which had fallen into the hands of 
the mortgagees, again became the fashion and was 
redistributed among the public. 
Some years ago I had made a calculation which 
showed that if a man had invested $30,500 at the 
valuation prevailing in 1878 in certain standard 
securities, he could have sold those same securities 
in 1880 and realized a profit of $142,000. Every¬ 
thing went along merrily until the assassination 
of President Garfield in July, 1883, which caused 
a sudden and complete suspension of all progres¬ 
sive business activities. In 1896, we had by 
defeating William Jennings Bryan forever de¬ 
stroyed the silver heresy, and as a result of it and 
as well as of the abundance of crops at home, there 
followed ten years of the greatest prosperity that 
perhaps any country ever experienced. From 
1897 to 1907 the wealth of the United States was 
doubled. Iron ingots, which had been piled up in 
the fields down in Tennessee and could not be sold 
for better than $6 per ton, immediately doubled 
in value. Everybody who was conducting busi¬ 
ness or promoting enterprises or manipulating 
values of any kind became rich and many of the 
largest American fortunes were created during 
this epoch. 
In 1915, we had just escaped a serious panic 
through the tremendous demand for our produce 
and goods created by the war and the enactment 
of the Federal Reserve Act gave such confidence 
to the people and enabled the banks throughout 
the country to finance the increasing operations 
of their customers that we again had one of 
those almost indescribable bursts of prosperity. 
So it seems that besides “foreign scarcities” and 
“home abundance of crops” other things occurred 
to help along these spells of prosperity. 
The writer in the Times alludes to the fact that 
the revival of home trade, which on those occa¬ 
sions was always impressive and sometimes 
spectacular, has as yet come into sight only faint¬ 
ly. This is undoubtedly so and is largely due to 
the fact that the manufacturers, distributors, and 
retailers have all been living from hand to mouth 
and have limited their purchases so that even if 
a great demand for goods arises this winter, they 
will find great difficulty to fill the orders. The 
empty warehouses of the manufacturers and 
wholesalers and the empty shelves of the retailers 
will promptly change their appearance as soon as 
confidence is restored and the buying fever 
spreads throughout the country. 
One strange tiling to note is that neither 1879, 
1897, nor 1915 were election years and that 
probably the uncertainty of the present election 
is delaying the revival of home trade. 
—Henry Morgenthau. 
Henry C. Wallace 
ENRY C. WALLACE, United States Secre-; 
tary of Agriculture, died in Washington, on’ 
October 25,following an operation for appendicitis. 
In Mr. Wallace, the farmers of America had a 
secretary of agriculture whose integrity was 
beyond reproach, who had an intimate knowledge 
from first-hand experience of farming and farmers, 
and who had the sincerity and courage to stand 
for the things in his powerful position as secretary 
that he thought farmers needed. His death is a 
real loss to agriculture. Secretary Wallace came 
from a long line of farmers and it is said of him 
that he was able to call more farmers by their 
first names than any other man in the country. 
As far back as family records go, the Wallaces 
have been identified with the tilling of the soil. 
His father, familiarly known through the Central 
West as “Uilcle Henry,” became a famous Pres¬ 
byterian minister in Illinois and Iowa. Ill health 
forced him to return to the farm, where he was a 
leader in his community. Later, he became editor 
of “Wallace’s Farmer.” Young Henry C. was 
assistant editor, and another brother was the 
business manager. Through their good manage¬ 
ment and thorough understanding of farm affairs, 
and their courageous leadership for things the 
farmers needed, the Wallaces made this one of the 
outstanding farm papers in America. On the 
death of his father in 1916, Henry C. Wallace 
became editor of the publication. 
Directly after his marriage, and before entering 
the agricultural publication business, Mr. Wallace 
farmed it for five lean years on an Iowa farm, 
selling corn at ten and fifteen dollars a bushel and 
hogs at three or four cents a pound. It was 
through this experience that he came to know the 
real problems of agriculture. 
Perhaps Mr. Wallace’s lifetime of good works 
can best be expressed by the motto at the head of 
his paper, “Wallace’s Farmer,” which reads: 
“Good farming, clear thinking, right living.” 
Large Crops Mean Low Prices 
/ 
A NOTE from a Clinton County farmer in this 
issue speaks of a potato yield in that county 
of two hundred and fifty to three hundred bushels 
per acre and a cardoor price of thirty cents a 
American Agriculturist, November 8, 1924 
Agriculturist 
bushel. Reports from all localities indicate a 
very heavy potato yield and low prices, although 
in some sections there is considerable rot. Again 
we have an illustration of the old truth known to 
every farmer that a big yield of any particular 
crop is usually a calamity, for it results in a large 
amount of harvest labor and a very small financial 
return. 
We do not know that we agree with the cartoon 
on the opposite page, that over-production teaches 
its lesson. As a matter of fact, it does not. 
This year, wheat prices are good. The result is, 
we are informed, that each wheat farmer thought 
he would put in just a few more acres this year, 
thinking that it was too late for his neighbor to 
“get into the game.” But the trouble was that 
several hundred thousand “neighbors” did the 
same thing. So next year, if weather conditions 
break just right, there likely will be more wheat 
than the world market can absorb, with discourag¬ 
ing low prices because of the over-production. 
Strange to say, it seems to us that there is much 
encouragement in the present dairy situation 
because this period will be followed by a lowered 
production. Prices are low, and just because they 
are low, the thousands of “marginal” farmers, 
who rushed into dairying when dairy prices were 
higher than those of other farm products, are now 
rushing out again. When enough of them get out, 
production will come down, and prices will go up, 
and the good dairy farmers will be able to make 
things pay again. 
In the meantime, you can help the situation by 
coming along with the hundreds of others who are 
sending their names in our “Kill a Kow” cam¬ 
paign. The letters that we are getting from 
farmers about this plan are very encouraging. 
Next week we are going to publish some more of 
them. Why not be feeding yourself and your 
family on some good beef, and at the same time 
help the whole dairy business by signing the “Kill 
a Kow” slip on the opposite page, or by sending 
us a letter saying that you will support the idea? 
Get Your Seed Com 
HIS of all years is the one to select and pre¬ 
serve carefully seed corn for next season. 
Everything that we hear from the great Corn Belt 
indicates that corn for next year’s planting is 
going to be scarce in quantity, poor in quality, 
and very high-priced. 
Eastman’s Chestnuts 
F course, tramps are a nuisance, but there are 
certain times of the year, particularly when 
the responsibilities of life weigh especially heavily 
when I can understand something of the appeal of 
the broad highway, when I can even see something 
of the point of view of the vagrant who begs from 
door to door, wears ragged old clothes, and sleeps 
under the hedge. In exchange for the ordinary 
physical comforts of life and for the loss of the 
self-respect which he may have once had, he gains 
a kind of independence, has no responsibility, and 
the broad highway is always stretching away to 
the Promised Land. 
Here is a tramp story, one so old that it will 
probably make most of you groan if you are foolish 
enough to read it. Anyway, you are warned, so 
you do not have to go any further than this point 
if you do not want to. 
A tramp came up to a farmhouse door, and 
when the lady came to the door, he fell on his 
hands and knees and began to eat ravenously the 
grass in the front yard. The lady said to him: 
“Oh, my poor man, what is the matter?” 
The tramp paused in his grazing and looking 
up piteously at her, said: 
“Oh, lady, I haven’t had a thing to eat in three 
days, and I’m so starved that I am finally reduced 
to eating this grass.” 
Whereupon the lady with trembling voice and 
tears in her eyes, replied: 1 
“YOU POOR FELLOW. I AM SO SORRY 
COME RIGHT AROUND IN THE BACK 
YARD. THE GRASS IS FULLY FOLK 
INCHES HIGHER THERE!” 
