American Agriculturist, August 18,1923 
113 
The Agricultural Situation 
G. F. Warren Says Conditions Best in New York 
T HE most interesting, most accurate 
and most valuable statement that we 
have seen on the present farm situa¬ 
tion has just been issued by Professor 
George F. Warren, head of the Farm 
Management Department of the New 
York State College of Agriculture. 
Professor Warren is one of the most 
noted farm economists in America. His 
statement is filled with such good 
“horse sense” that we wish it might 
be read as a guide for future opera¬ 
tions by every farmer in the United 
States and particularly by those who 
live in the eastern sections. The state¬ 
ment says: 
“Agriculture has been over-expanded 
and world demand has been checked by 
the war. These facts are in large part 
responsible for the present agricultural 
panic which has lasted four years and 
is the worst panic that American farm¬ 
ers have ever experienced.” Professor 
Warren states that periods of hard 
times cause farmers to rush from one 
thing into another which causes future 
disorganization and dissatisfaction. 
“What is needed is a small readjust¬ 
ment, but a general continuance in the 
type of farming adapted to the partic¬ 
ular region rather than wild shifting 
from one thing to another.” 
Poor Farm Land Not Needed 
His next statement is so important 
that we are running it in capital letters. 
“SOME OF THE POOR FARMS AND 
POOR FIELDS ON BETTER FARMS 
ARE NOT NEEDED FOR A TIME.” 
We wish this statement could be shout¬ 
ed from the top of every farm house 
in the nation. Abandoning the faiuns 
and fields that do not pay to work are 
one of the best things that can happen 
to agricultural industry. Professor 
Warren says further on this same 
point: “New York has much of the 
finest land in the United States. It 
also has much land that will not pro¬ 
duce enough crops to anywhere near 
pay wages to the man who grows them. 
Considerable of this land was cleared 
when, the demand for food was such 
that men were willing to work two days 
for a bushel of wheat. It was not 
adapted to the pre-war conditions when 
men were paid two bushels of wheat 
for one day’s work. It is much less 
adapted to present conditions when 
four or five bushels of wheat are re¬ 
quired to hire a man a day. Much of 
this land should be in forests. Some 
of this cheap hill land might well be 
purchased by the State and re-forest¬ 
ed.” We might add that the same 
statement applies to nearly all the 
other States. 
“There are some farms,” continues 
Professor Warren, “of a little better 
grade that are not now needed but that 
may be needed soon enough so it will 
pay to keep them as farms rather than 
re-forest. Such land can be used for 
pasture or it may be left to grow up 
to weeds for some years. The soils are 
much in need of humus. The natural 
growth is often the most economical 
means of improving the soil. 
Poorer Fields Into Pasture 
“On most of the farms of the State 
there are fields of low fertility that 
will not pay for intensive use. A 
more liberal use of this land for pas¬ 
ture will save feed and labor. Cows 
may be allowed more pasture land and 
horses may be pastured. By leaving 
some of the poorest land in pasture, 
and leaving some that is a little better 
in hay as long as it will stand, a farm 
can be worked with less labor and less 
cost. 
“With the present high prices of 
machinei’y and labor and low prices of 
farm products, it does not pay to go 
through all the motions of crop pro¬ 
duction and then get a poor crop. Only 
the land that promises to yield well 
should be plowed and the area should 
be kept small enough so that it can 
be well cared for. This may mean 
using the manure and labor on smaller 
areas of the best land. Poorer land 
should be left for pasture and hay. 
“This does not mean more hay. 
There are already too many acres in 
hay. Horses in cities have decreased 
so much that much less hay is needed. 
It means putting the poorest hay land 
in pasture and leaving more of the 
next grade of land in hay. At the same 
time that the area devoted to hay is 
reduced, the production of clover and 
alfalfa hay needs to be increased. 
“Much less readjusting needs to be 
done on the best farm lands. A part 
of the areas of such farms is often de¬ 
voted to crops, the consumption of 
which rises as the standard of living 
rises. If the more essential foods are 
cheap, the demand for the less essen¬ 
tial ones rise. Such farms can do very 
well if the area of such crops is not 
too much expanded, and so long as 
there is full employment. 
“The young man who desires to be 
a farmer need not change his plan but 
he does need to change his method of 
procedure.” 
The General Farm Situation 
In speaking of the general farm 
situation, Professor Warren says, “For 
many years, ending with about 1896, 
the general price level was declining. 
Farm prices declined even more rapid¬ 
ly. They were lowered by the same 
causes that lowered the general price 
level and in addition were crowded 
down by the rapid expansion of agri¬ 
cultural production. Beginning with 
1897 prices began to rise more rapidly 
from 1910 to 1920. The rising prices 
causes rapid expansion of agriculture 
in the United States and Canada. 
North America, Australia and the 
Argentine expanded their production.” 
In showing that the demand for the 
farm products of this great agricul¬ 
tural expansion is falling off, Professor 
Warren says, “Europe is now trying 
to be self-supporting. Agriculture 
there, is recovering more rapidly than 
industry so that the need for imports 
is rapidly falling. At the same time in 
many of the countries the ability to buy 
is declining. , 
“There seems to be no reason that 
wheat and pork exports from the 
United States and Canada can continue 
for many years at the present high 
level. Some persons would not have 
some facts known for fear that farmers 
will adjust their production to meet 
the situation. But an adjustment will 
be made and if made before the losses 
are too heavy it will be best for all 
concerned. A SMALL REDUCTION 
IN THE WHEAT ACREAGE NOW 
IS BETTER THAN A VIOLENT RE¬ 
DUCTION LATER WHEN DISIL¬ 
LUSIONMENT COMES AFTER 
TRYING ALL MANNER OF DE¬ 
VICES TO OBTAIN SATISFACTORY 
PRICES.” 
Optimistic About New York 
Professor Warren is particularly 
hopeful regarding the New York sit¬ 
uation which, of course, applies practi¬ 
cally the same to other eastern States. 
Note especially his point that we farm¬ 
ers of the East are especially dependent 
for good prices for our products upon 
high wages which the workmen of the 
cities receive. Therefore while these 
high wages work to our disadvantage 
in hiring farm help, this is much more 
than offset by giving our consumers 
inci-eased buying power for our prod¬ 
ucts. 
Professor Warren says on the New 
York situation: “The weighted index 
for United States farm prices in June 
was 135, for New York farm prices it 
was 163. For some years it is to be 
expected that the high freight rates 
and high wages will act as a protect¬ 
ive tariff to New York agriculture so 
that farm prices will continue to be 
more favorable than the United States 
average. At the present time, the New 
York average is also raised on account 
of the character of its products. 
Dairy and poultry products make up a 
high percentage of the weighting for 
the New York index. Both of these 
products tend to respond to wage con¬ 
ditions. With wages at double the pre¬ 
war scale these products are holding up 
better than grains. 
“With wages at such a high level, it 
is to be expected that there will be per¬ 
iods of full employment at high wages 
and frequent periods of unemployment 
when the demand for New York prod¬ 
ucts will be low. As a whole, the buy- 
(Continued on page 119) 
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