Show BUSINESS 1 1 IN-i- IN N NfL fL 01 Ti I If FARMING i BY Y HENRY C. C wALLACE wALLACE- WALLAr I Secretary o of Agriculture e It It m must st bo be evident that If Jt the do- do p n jot of agriculture 1 1 t. t r is la to promote oi j t the be agriculture ure o of the nation nation- It If t must moro to tc what wo we wegen gen gen gen- e rally orally Y speak ot of f as aa business matte matters Batters to the tIme lime when W Wo haVo z com c con consumption has practically overtaken pro production j p I IJ In the midst of ot oterioUS J Just st st. now we W are erioUS agricultural depression ca caused caused s unusually large crops and tha the b by brooking y down of our foreign market and a nd in part to our domestic mark market t. t This This d depression in itself illustrates agriculture is Js connected connect connect- intimately h Id how he e ed d ow w with the tho business of ot the tho nation Probably 40 49 0 per cent of ot all aU our pen pen- J ie hive Uvo in the open country Con Con- p pIe which affect tho purchasing power power of ot this 40 O per cent of our pop pop- p are at nt once reflected In the the business of the tho country The Tho period of ot agricultural i t lion io is practically at an end and If If production Is la to be bo maintained ever every effort must be bo made to put agriculture on a n. thoroughly sound business basis Tho The farmer must be able to get prices for his products s which will give ithra him hima a fair rate of interest on tho the mon money y ho has invested and a a. fair fall wage fo for foro his abor and the tho labor of his family Lacking this the farm farmer r will turn his efforts in some somo other direction Now if It the tho farmer is to get a fair 1 wage and at nt the tho same sarno time sell hi his his crops at prices which tho the people of ot the country can afford to pay w wo wc must not only increase our production but we must find better methods of dis dis- 1 We must get the products of ot th farm to tho consumer in tho the city with less loss waste and at less lesa relative cost Also we must learn how to take some of ot the speculative rIsk out of ot tanning farming J JIn In ono s sense nse the farmer is the j greatest speculator in tho the world His business Is is subjected to risks which i h he cannot insure against Ho He is Js at atthe at the tho mercy of ot the weather He has no means of correctly estimating tho the de demand de de- island mand for tor the crops he proposes to pro duce He cannot control production as 08 can the manufacturer He hn has hns nothing noth ing i ng to say about the price What he heets hel g gets ets for his crops constitutes h his wages but he does docs not know until six months or a year after the work Is Is' d done one what his wages are to be I When we have worked our way through this period of ot disorder and have hare shaken ot off the tho terrible grip of or these economic forces which are now noW 1 causing us ls so much discomfort we wilt ourselves at tho the beginning of at a anew anew n new period In our national life Ute f In the future futuro there thero must be a more cons conscious lous direction of ot our growth anda and and anda a much closer coordination of ot our various va- va va 1 va i rious activities The relation between agriculture and business will become become- more and more intimate Without lessening for tor a moment our activities in scientific research our our efforts can find rind chea cheaper r methods of ort oft production our Improvement in varieties vari arI and breeds we must give more mar attention to the problems of ot finance and of marketing and of overy everything thing else which directly or indirectly influences in both production and price |