Show i rTh The DAy ll DAY IN I It can hardly be disputed that Inmany inmany in ir many industries Improved equipment and lowered cost of production are an antidote for or the lower prices that must be accepted if it goods are arc to be besold besold besold sold at all But there are industries to which this principle does not apply apply ap ap- ap ply as fully as to others R. R G. G Dun Co make the plausible ble statement that with the present lower selling prices for farm commodities com the farmer more than ever everIs everis everis Is dependent on the efficiency of ma ma- to reduce costs I This will vim be a year year when every eve ry me motion mo motion mo- mo tion will count and when every acre must yield the full of its har hare vest The experiences of or the past few years have proved that machinery offers the most dependable way to keep production costs to the mini mini- mum For with modern equipment one man can handle acres or more of corn against an average of about 80 acres aeres a few years ago The combine can harvest and thresh 35 to 40 acres of wheat in a single day with one machine handling han han- dUng as much as acres in fifteen days Combines are used now In instate every state In which small grains are of any importance With modern power machinery only 30 to 35 hours of man labor are arc required to grow an acre of cotton ready to pick as compared with 80 hours under the old one and two mule system a 4 While machine farming is a century cen century tury old the centennial of the grain reaper having been celebrated In 1931 power farming In the inclusive sense of the word has been brought to Its perfection in the past decade The high point of its development was marked by the introduction of a general purpose tractor that could cultivate corn and cotton Prior t to that time it was necessary necessary to us use horses to till tm the row crops which constitute about third one of the entire entire en en- tire acreage The perfection of machinery fo for forthe forthe the use of the corn grower has donmore done don more than almost any other Imp implement ment to reduce the cost of ot production on the farm In 1929 there were 98 98 acres in corn whereas the wheat acreage was but bu Wheat once planted requires re reo re- re quires but little attention until ha harvested hare har- vested whereas corn the acreage o of which is far lar less mechanized than i ithe is the wheat acreage must be cultivated cultivate a number of times during the growing season The trouble with ith making improved improve equipment serve as a substitute fo for natural demand is that in the matter matte of foodstuffs the saturation point i iso is isso isso so positive Other commodities ma maae may be ae bought and used simply because they are at bargain prices but when the world has enough food it has ha enough and wants no more even even eve though the market price falls far below below be be- low the cost of production Besides when the last word in mechanical me mechanical Improvement has been said said the final step in cost reduction taken both poth may be completely neutralized in a very short time by natural forces The weather Is a cost determinant much more powerful than the mos most efficient artificial device A bug o on occasion may beat the best machine Other things being equal its it's a certainty cera that the mechanized farm ha has the better of ot it H. But the farmer even with machinery needs much more t to togo togo go jo with it He needs scientific stalls statis ical adjustment of production to consumption and economically organized organized or distribution |