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Show HOW TO BEAT THE DEPRESSION The Answer Is Increased Yields Tor t'nit. By WALTER F. SMITH, County Agent. no. in. When business becomes inactive inac-tive and the purchasing power of the dollar is small, we call it depression. Agricultural commodities commo-dities are affected immediately by any change in economic stability. sta-bility. They are the first to go up during a war and the first to come down after a war. But no matter which way they go, people must eat, and the products prod-ucts from the farm must be sold to fit somewhere in the consumer's con-sumer's purchasing power. This means that food must be produced cheaper if any profits are to be left to the producer. The purchasing power is down now, and we can't help that, all we can do is produce more efficiently effi-ciently and thus "beat the depression". de-pression". But how can we lower cost of production when we are already al-ready producing at a loss. The answer is: Increase yields per unit. There is no place on the modern farm for the poor cow, the mediocre hen, the badly bad-ly kept orchard, or the low-yielding low-yielding acre. Now is the time to cull and select most rigidly. Now is the time to start with the best. The cow that produces 500 gallons of 5 per cent milk barely pays her board bill when butter but-ter fat is down, while the cow that produces 600 gallons of the same quality of milk pays her board and a small profit to the owner. She is worth more than a dozen of the first kind. It takes 72 eggs to pay a hen's yearly feed bill. The hen that produces 2 50 eggs in a year is worth as much as 2 5 hens that each produce only 75 eggs. It costs as much in initial investment to produce 30 bushels bush-els of barley per acre as it does to produce 80 bushels and the same statement will hold true with fruit trees, garden stuff or alfalfa. The difference is in quality seed or livestock, care and management, experience and ability. All these points must be taken into account when lowering cost of production. Increasing the yields per acre will "beat tht depression." |