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Show k THEFUTURE OF AMERi- I i I CAN AGRICULTURE I ; f Hi ' General Manager Internationa! Har- ! vester Company HUH i) - K' ' By C. S. FUNK, B J ' Tliu most hopeful sign of our lirctf- H ! tnt day Is tlio stimulation of interest H f which Is everywhere manifested In H our farming operations ami tho wide- H spread study of agriculture through- H ' out tho country. Parties may rise H ' nnd fall, cities perish by cnjthqiiake H j or conflagratlnn, banks may fall, H biiBlnras may stagnate, nnd wo may H H suffer all the Ills with which clvlllza- H ' j tlon is afflicted, but so long as tho H , eartli can lie mado to produce stiff!- aaaaV H dent food a nation will not peilsh. H Agriculture Is tho oldest employment H In tho world. Thu sustaining of life H by tho products of tho ground haj H , ;. ' been tho fundamental business or oc- H cupatlon in every ago nnd in every H H The ancient pliliosoplicrri realized H !' ' ' even mwo keenly than mnny of our H leaders of this day tho paramount lm- H ' portanco of agriculture. H u men of tho Roman Emplro H deprecated tho growing tendency of H the people to desert agriculture nnd H warned them that thu ltoman Empire H must fall with tho failure of agricul- H B Centuries ago Cato warned his peo- H ' pie, "Let tho oil of tho farm bo good H nnd fertile, let there bo plenty of la- H borers near, let it bo not far from a B largo town; moreover, let there bo , sufficient muans for transporting H' produce either by land or water; also M let here bo a good house and veil B built, nnd let tho husbandman seo to m It that his laud be well muuaged." H Tho wisest men of all times have H known that farming underlies the llfu J of nations, H . Tho future of agriculture gives full H i play to the widest flights of tho lm- H agination. Up to this tlmu our farm- H lug methods have been largely of tho B hit and miss variety. H j We hau had an abuudnnco of good K i land nnd have not felt the crowding of H I, population, which is so seiious u H I problem in tho older couutrleH. Our I' Indifferent farming methods of tho post have been sufficient because tho '- , population to bo supported wns small B I j in compaiisun with the area of till- M ablo land, but with population grow- B I lug by leaps ami bounds thtough lm- PB' l migration and natural inciease and PJB with our ncic.igo lemalnlng thu same, PJK we must learn to conserve the feitll- H j ' Ity of our laud or our descedauts will JW , pay fxr our negligence nnd waste pHi Immigrants aie coming to us at Hi thu rate of seven bundled and fifty H thoiisauud to one million per year. JHi Wo hao a iiopulatlou of about ninety- PH five million. In ten years tho populn- pHt' tlon will probaltly bn ouo hundred and PH twenty millions, in twenty years It will very possibly be one hundred ( hi nnd fifty millions. Hi PK' It Is estimated that within fifty B ' years wu shall liuws to supply the PHj wants of over two hundred million H i I people While hundieds of thousands K- I of these folks will seek homes on tho Bj land, tho vast majority will congre- PPPR goto In the cities and will hae to BBl , be fed and clothed by the products . ( of tho same number of acres of land BBjif as wcro available when Columbus (lis- BB&S covered Amorica. BBB Long before our population has BBS reached the two hundred million mark HBV tho land will all bo occupied and It JBBj will not support his groat population HB If our present methods aro continued. BBX U lias been estimated that tho HflKj ncres now under cultivation "do not R' produco ono-halt of what tho land BJKI might bo mado to yield without losing BBJ an atom of Its fertility." H 'h Wo know llttlo or nothing ot In- BBa J ' tenslvo ngrlculturo such ns foreign BB farmers nro compelled to practice. BBn a Instead of building up and nourish HaMk tBBBk. lnB Xha B0"' wo nre t0 raucU Inolln Bej'JbBBBhvV we can 0llt or H nni1 let the future tuko enro ot Itself. This Is particularly notlconblc whero renteis aie tho most numerous. Hut this must nil bo changed nnd if we aro not foresightcd enough to mnko tho chango voluntarily wo will bo compelled by stern necessity to Improvo our methods Inter. Tho fnrmers of America like to feel that they aro tho most progressive in the world nnd thousands ot them aro umiucstlounhly entitled to this distinction, dis-tinction, but tho yield from our fnrms per nerojfcns compared with tho results re-sults ohtnlued In other countilcs shows the American farmer In a most sorry light. A small Hngllsh farm which lias been growing crops for upwards of a thousniul years will produco twenty-five twenty-five to thirty bushels of wheat per acre, whereas thousands of our farmers farm-ers with much better Roll nro producing produc-ing half that nmount per acre. A German farmer will easily raise tin eo times as much in dollar valuo per acre as nn Amerlcnu farmer. Tho Jnpanese, with their lltt'o gar-den-liko patches, get results out ot comparatively barren land which would astound tho nverngo farmer of our country. Kvcry foot ot his soil grows something nnd there Is absolutely abso-lutely no waste. Tho Krench farmer enforces a rigid rig-id economy on his farm, loses no time, fertilizes his land faithfully, and many of tho smaller countries supply sup-ply ten times more peoplo to tho squnio mile than wo euro for under our present methods, Klgliteen hundred years ago Herodotus Hero-dotus saw tho perils of cureless, indifferent in-different agricultural methods quite ns plainly ns wo can see them toda, nnd ho observed In his travels that "tho countries which wero giving Intelligent, In-telligent, careful treatment to tho soil weie rich and prosperous, and those which wero farming for their piesent needs without regard to tho fiituro weie In a process of slow decay." de-cay." The future or agilculturo In tho! United States depends very largely upon tho brains and energy of Its fanning population. This means that tho farmer of tho future must bo a business man and ho must conduct his rami upon a buslness-liko bnsis therefore, first al nil, that he must know his business. Ho must know I how to care for Ills soil, how to re plenish It, liow to protect It from oi oslou or washes, and how to cultl-! vato It. Ho must bo Intelligent enough ! to know the tremendous Impoitnnce or loforesteilng. Ho must bo keenly alive to tho necessity or good seed. Ho must bo mechanical enough to utilize every possible lnbor-savlng machine and Implement In order to take tho place ot the hlied help which appears to bo growing scaicer nil the time. Ho must bo bioad-mluded enough to know that good roads will bring him ten-fold for all that he ovor Invests In-vests in them in tho saving of time and In wear and tear on his stock and vehicles. He must be enlightened enough to know that It Is good sense and good economy to have a co'infoi table home. Thousands ot farmers aro paying annual an-nual doctois' bills sufficient to estab lish their families In comfort A woman carrying water ono bundled bun-dled yards from a pump, and wood two hundred feet from tho kitchen travels a good many miles In a yea,. A girl who spends eight or ten hours per weok pumping water, turning a eln-in or sopaiator, etc., can occupy her timo not only to better ndvanta:;o herself but to groater actual profit The farmer who loses nno or two of Ills boys Just nt tho timo ho needs them most because they would rather wear good clothes ,ln tho town or city nnd earn wages, than - to saw wood, husk corn, nnd tlo tho ot'itr heavy, rough work on tho farm, nlno times out of ten has only himself to blame. It Is nature for boys and girls to remain In their original surroundings and they leave them only .becnuse or suporlor attractions olsQwhorc.Thcso attractions generally mean a picas-qjiter picas-qjiter nnd more congenial manner of enrnlng a living. Agriculture of the future must mnUe tho farm the most nttraetlvo plac for the boys and the girls as well ns foi tho ( father nnd tho mother. Thl la not only good senso but good business; busi-ness; It pays In money. Tho best farmer Is not'neccssanlv tho man who works tho hardest witli his hands. He Is the" man who liai In ulna, who Is willing to learn otory tiny, who profits by tho oxpei lenco ot his neighbors, who keeps In tout a witli tho world nnd esteems education for Its full worth. Such will be the farmers or tin iu-tuio iu-tuio and they will mnko farming n dignified, pleasant mid profitable occupation. oc-cupation. Their sons nnd daughter.) wilt stny an tho farm becauso no other place can offer moro attractions. Tho automobile, tho telephone, e'ec-trie e'ec-trie lights, labor-saving machinery comfortable heating, running water' and nil tho modern conveniences v II strip tho towns and cities of mud of their glamour, 'and frequent Mi i Into tho outside world will only make tho farm more pleasant by contrast. con-trast. Tho possibilities or prorit, comroit and happiness In tho ngrlculturo of ih. t ure aro iiiliul only by tuo ciipf.city of thoso uigngod Iil .( |