Agricultural commodity

“ While our manufacturing enterprises rank us next to England among the world's manufacturing producers, yet more than nine-tenths of our export trade with foreign countries is in agricultural products, such as: wheat, corn, cotton, tobacco, and beef and pork, which, under the present system of farming, are as much agricultural productions as the grain on which the ox and the hog are fattened. ”

“ If the effect of manufactories should be to detach a portion of the hands which would otherwise be engaged in tillage, it might possibly cause a smaller quantity of lands to be under cultivation; but, by their tendency to procure a more certain demand for the surplus produce of the soil, they would at the same time cause the lands which were in cultivation to be better improved and more productive. And while by their influence the condition of each individual farmer would be meliorated, the total mass of agricultural production would probably be increased. ”

“ Necessity of Purchase.—The necessity of buying plant-food in the form of commercial fertilizers is a mooted question in any naturally fertile agricultural region just so long as crop yields do not drop to a serious extent. The natural strength of the land and the skill that enters into the farming are important factors in determining the profitableness of recourse to purchased plant-food. ”

“ Even in those States and Territories where mining is the principal pursuit, the agricultural products have so far exceeded the local demand as to cause large shipments of cereals to the Eastern States. ”

“ If trade and manufactures offer but small resources to the subjects of his Holiness, they fortunately find some compensation in agriculture. The natural fertility of the soil, and the stubborn industry of those who cultivate it, will always suffice to keep the nation from starvation. While it pays away a million sterling annually for foreign manufactures, the surplus of its agricultural produce brings back some £800,000. Hemp and corn, oil and wool, wine, silk, and cattle, form its substantial wealth. ”

“ The time is not far distant when greater production will be required of the agricultural area in North America in order to meet the home demand for foodstuffs, and many thousands of tons will be needed for export. This need can only be met by agricultural methods that will increase greatly the present yield of the soil. ”

“ You are of opinion that a bad harvest will raise the price of corn, but will lower in some degree the prices of other commodities. Whether it would or would not do so is not material; but, if your opinion is correct, then I say there would be no exportation of money, because money would not be the cheapest exportable commodity. ”

“ It is further true that year by year, with larger areas of land under cultivation, the increasing volume of agricultural products, cotton, corn, and wheat, calls for a larger volume of money supply. This is especially noticeable at the crop-harvesting and crop-moving period. ”

“ The price of wheat rose to an average of 14s. per quarter, thereby encouraging tillage once more. There was steady inflation.
With enclosure of agricultural land there could be more innovation and more efficiency, e.g. the time for sowing could be chosen. It was easier to prevent over-grazing and half-starved animals as a result. The complications of the open system with its endless quarrels and lawsuits were avoided. Now noblemen talked about manure and drainage, rotation of crops, clover, and turnips instead of hunting, horses, and dogs. The breed of horses and cattle was improved. ”

“ The staple crops do not yield as largely as before, and less crude methods of using the soil must be resorted to. Manures have to be applied, and the rotation and selection of crops practised. Meat and dairy products, vegetables, fruits, and the miscellaneous agricultural articles, must take their place in rural economy. ”

“ Natural Resources. The state is preeminently an agricultural one, raising the chief cereals, including corn, wheat, oats, rye and barley, besides hay and potatoes. The farmland area is about 39,000,000 acres, the acreage in 1909 in the following crops being corn, 7,266,000 acres; wheat, 2,662,000 acres; oats, 2,365,000 acres; hay and forage, 4,520,000 acres. There is now considerable stock-raising, with an increasing number of dairy-cows and other cattle, horses, sheep and swine. ”

“ Grain.—During the present unsettled state of the weather, it is impossible for the best informed persons to anticipate upon good grounds what will be the future price of agricultural produce. Should the season even yet prove favourable for the operations of the harvest, there is every probability of the average price of grain continuing at that exact price which will prove most conducive to the interests of the corn growers, and at the same time encouraging to the agriculture of our colonial possessions. ”

“ But it has become national, and even international, rather than local. Town consumers are still dependent upon agricultural producers, who, in turn, are much larger consumers than formerly of all kinds of commodities made in towns. Forty-two per cent of materials used in manufacture in the United States are from the farm, [Pg 42] which also contributes seventy per cent of the country's exports. ”

“ The exports of agricultural products last year were valued at over one billion dollars, representing a great increase in the wealth of the country, though it is to be feared that it in part means the sale of the fertility of the soil. Indian corn is valued at about one third of all farm crops; wheat, hay and cotton at more than one third and the smaller crops at nearly one third. The annual value of animal products is approximating three billion dollars. ”

“ Will raising the average produce from twenty-five to fifty bushels per acre be the utmost limit to which improvement can be carried? I believe not. In conclusion, I would urge on all owners and occupiers of land, the importance of devoting at least a small field to agricultural experiments, as I think there can be no doubt that, if these are carefully and systematically made and followed up by agriculturists generally, we shall be so far from needing an importation of corn in average years that we shall have a large surplus to spare for our neighbours. ”

“ It will study agricultural conditions in the different countries, periodically indicating the supply and the quality of products with accuracy and care, so as to proportion production to demand, increase and distribute the various crops according to the rate of consumption, render the commerce of agricultural products less costly and more expeditious, and suitably determine the prices thereof. ”

“ This determines the cheapness the price of the raw material; it determines therefore the price of the manufacture. When this costs little at home, it can be sold with great advantage abroad; it overcomes all competition; and the greatest quantity of it may be disposed of. When the price of corn on the other hand is high, this raises price of the raw material of all manufactures, of the labour employed in them, and by consequence of the manufactured commodity ”

“ His seeds, fertilizers, ploughs, implements, cake, feeding-stuffs are the raw materials of his industry, which he uses to produce wheat, beef, mutton, pork, or whatever else; and, in my opinion, there should be no differentiation between the farmer when he buys and any other kind of manufacturer. Is it any wonder that agriculture decays in countries where the farmers are expected to buy at retail prices and sell at wholesale prices? We must not, to save any friction, sell the rights of farmers. ”

“ The cost of growing the crop, the specialized farm machinery and equipment needed, the availability of labor, the distribution of the seasonal labor demand, the time of the critical cultural practices or of harvesting, the potential market, and the expected price of the saleable product must all be considered.
The staple farm crops of the region are often preferable to specialty crops, particularly from the labor standpoint. Corn, wheat, oats, potatoes, and legumes can all be grown with a minimum of labor and the use of power machinery. ”

“ The object then is, not to produce the largest crops, but those which make the largest money return, and thus it may be practically economical to grow a crop of high commercial value more frequently than is theoretically advantageous. In such cases the farmer must seek to do away as far as possible with the disadvantages which such a course entails, and this he will endeavour to accomplish by careful management and a liberal treatment of the soil. ”

“ My belief is that if this country imported one or two millions of quarters of wheat from foreign lands, the consumption would increase to that extent, for it is astonishing how much consumption increases where the price of corn is low, and where trade is healthy and prosperous. ”

“ The area devoted to such sales will grow greater because human needs are imperative. Livestock will become more and more a means of working over the material that man cannot eat—the grass, hay, stalks, by-products in manufacture, and coarse grains. The demand for meat and milk will lead to careful conversion of material into this form of food, and the animals on eastern farms will increase in number for a time, while sales of grain and vegetables grow greater. The draft upon soil fertility through sales must increase because every pound of material sold from the farm carries plant-food in it. ”

“ Sales off the Farm.—The day is now here when the major portion of human food must be provided in grain and vegetables and fruit, and the demand for hay and grain for animals off the farm is very large. Fiber products likewise must be supplied. The draft upon the soil is heavy, but it must be good farm practice to supply bread and vegetables and fruit to the 70 per cent of our population that is not on farms. The great majority of farmers do not feed all their crops to livestock, and the amount of food-stuffs, for human beings and animals, that is now going off the farms is none too great. ”

“ First, a greater variety of commodities can be cultivated, and the advantage resulting from a rotation of crops is well known. At a distance, the farmer can raise only those of which the earth yields but little, and which are valuable in proportion to their little bulk—as, for instance, wheat or cotton; but near the place of exchange he may raise potatoes, turnips, cabbages, and hay, of which the bulk is great in proportion to the value. Second, the cost of returning the manure to the land increases as the value of the products of land diminishes with the increase of distance ”

“ Having grown the foodstuffs, it is imperative that all practical means be employed to gather and preserve the fruits of the soil and of man's labor. These “bumper” crops of vegetables, raised in places which formerly were unproductive, can play no part in feeding stricken Europe unless they supply our own needs, thus releasing non-perishable grains for exportation. ”

“ Likewise our dairy farms, our fruit farms, and our market gardens have been segregated from the general farm. This simply means that manufacturing cloth, or cheese, or producing milk, or tomatoes can be done at less cost in separate establishments than upon a general farm.
The general farm will always grow poultry for home consumption, and will always have some surplus to sell. With the surplus, the poultryman must compete. His only hope of successful competition is production at lower cost. ”

“ Taking the question of clearing and total cost of cultivation of lands in these areas, from evidence it will be found over the whole area that growing wheat at the figures named leaves a fair margin of profit, and would provide a food supply, not only for all future local requirements, but leave a large surplus to export. The average cost of production in these areas is now about 2s. ”

“ That therefore the encouragement of agriculture may be greater when the price of corn is low than when it is high? Is it found that, the profit of other trades rises in proportion to the price of the article? ”

“ It is obvious that the greatest and most important service that is required of our agriculture under existing conditions is an enlarged production of the staple food crops. Because of the shortage of such crops practically throughout the world, there is no risk in the near future of excessive production such as sometimes has resulted in unremunerative prices to producers. This is particularly true of the cereals and of peas, beans, cow-peas, soybeans, and buckwheat. ”

“ It raises the price of animal food; because a great part of the land which produces it, being rendered fit for producing corn, must afford to the landlord and farmer the rent and profit of corn land. It lowers the price of vegetable food; because, by increasing the fertility of the land, it increases its abundance. The improvements of agriculture, too, introduce many sorts of vegetable food, which requiring less land, and not more labour than corn, come much cheaper to market. ”

“ If his land is not contributing its fair share of grain, vegetables, etc., to the markets, but has all its products converted into meat or milk, the supply of available plant-food may remain sufficient for so long a time that the matter cannot have any interest for him. If the land is producing some crops for market, there is reduction in its mineral store. It is the rule that the boundary of profitable use of commercial fertilizers pushes westward from the older and naturally poorer seaboard states about one generation after need shows in the crop yields. ”

“ Live stock, cattle, sheep and hogs, as well as goats, horses and mules, are profitable to every farmer. Many farms have woodland; land that overflows at some seasons, and so is unfit for raising crops; or some rocky unproductive land where stock can be raised more profitably than anything else, and if every farmer would use all the land not suitable for [Pg 201] farm crops for pasture land the problem of an abundant meat supply, of dairy products and of fertilizers to enrich the soil would be largely solved. ”