Successful Farming in America
Stewart, Robert
June 12, 1929 THE COMMONWEAL 155 sity of a "school of business administration" and other millions each year, uncounted millions, are expended on innumerable other schools of applied science. A...
...Why is it that there is such a wide variation in the returns obtained by farmers in the same region where climatic and other crop factors are so very similar...
...But whether such a scheme as this is possible or not, there is another, more facile of achievement, that should certainly be put in practice, and that is some measure of proper instruction in Christian art, in secu- lar colleges and particularly in theological seminaries...
...Furthermore, this movement of popu- lation includes men, women and children, and does not necessarily mean farmers...
...During the four-year period analyzed above there were over eight million people who left the farm, but nearly five million returned, which is quite a dif-ferent matter...
...The facts are that approximately the same number of farmers now as in 191o are producing food so efficiently and successfully that they are supplying the needs of 20,000,000 more consumers with far less human labor...
...SUCCESSFUL FARMING IN AMERICA By ROBERT STEWART D URING the fiscal year ending June 3 ~ , 1928, there were 53,444 bankruptcies in the United States...
...Eighteen made good interest on their capital invest- ment and an additional $5,512 for services as mana- ger...
...Again facts are stubborn things...
...As in industry elsewhere, success was largely a question of efficient management...
...Is it possible to evaluate these factors...
...They have been at it complainingly these hundreds of years...
...His eyes wandered across the sky in search for the first star of the evening...
...On the basis of invested capital the chances are just twice as great for failure in other lines as in farming...
...The marked mechanization of the farm, as in industry, during the past few years has released a large amount of human labor which has sought employment elsewhere...
...Farm families are usually very large...
...But, Pierrot, see the anguish of the thing...
...They do not indicate any widespread distress in the agricultural industry, and certainly do not imply that agriculture is rapidly approaching a state of penury...
...for the last three centuries it has been, not especially discreditable but to all intents and purposes a blank...
...1,9OO,OOO I,O66,ooo 834,000 1926...
...in 1925 the number was 3,313,49 ~ . Facts are stubborn things...
...The poet selected a pebble from his left hand and flicked it neatly into the brook, on whose bank sat Columbine tinker- ing with a lute...
...This service defines the "labor income" as "all cash receipts from the farms, minus all cash expenses, an allowance for family labor and a 'fair' return on operator's investment...
...In 1926, however, 238 farmers in Iowa made an average labor income of $1,378, while twenty-five farmers made all expenses, including good interest, and had $3,403 left over for their services: twenty- five farmers failed to make expenses by $569...
...Let us make an effort to do so...
...Being engaged at the moment with a new sheaf of poems in which he was lamenting the loneliness and isolation of the human soul, the young poet had been almost goaded into rhetoric by Pierrot's remark that such isolation might well engage his power of praise rather than stimulate his weakness for sadness...
...Said Pierrot: "Columbine, my dear, leave off fingering the neck of that unlovely instrument for the moment, and say for us the paragraph I once read you from a book...
...The farmer in this region who could so organize his enter- prise as to take advantage of all known scientific in...
...Other some have essayed a cure of the sickness by a laying on of hands...
...The net loss of 3,000,000 in farm popu- lation during the years 1924-1927 probably indicate a net loss of 600,000 workers...
...There are failures and successes in all lines of human activity and it always will be so...
...The income on the poor farms was largely consumed in unprofitable labor...
...Many farmers are making good money and are in no way interested in the proposed schemes for farm relief...
...With her rapidly gaining power over the souls of men it is imperative that she should reassume her lost leadership, not only on account of the added energy that so will accrue to her efforts toward the spiritual harmony of Christendom but as well for the immeasurable benefit of all peoples...
...In addition to this the farm furnishes free rent, part of the food consumed by the farm family and part, if not all, of the fuel consumed in the house...
...This is due to the fact that while the farmer receives nothing for his labor, a low inter- est return is received on a high valuation of farm property...
...The gross movement of farm population to the city in 1922 was 2,ooo,ooo, but the movement of city population to the farm was i,i2o,ooo, which puts an entirely different aspect on the situation...
...It is futile to consider the farm situation on the basis of average conditions...
...The thirty-five best farms in this group made a net income of $3,480, which is 5.8 percent on an investment of $6o,ooo...
...These results were obtained by farmers in Florida during the year 1923, one of the years of agricultural depres- sion...
...and Pierrot and Columbine, even they, admitted some strangeness in the process which had made this young man a poet, whose fame went somewhat further than the edge of the water, into which flowed the brook on whose bank they sat at vesper time...
...Pierrot raised the other knee, and after scratching his left eyebrow with the nail of his little finger, he turned him side- wise to look at Columbine...
...The facts in the case are easily obtained...
...These returns are in addition to a fair return on the money invested in the farm enterprise...
...These farmers in the highest group made money because of bigger crop yields, larger amounts of live stock, superior live stock, better selection of crops, efficient marketing methods, the efficient use of power machinery, soil improvement and reduced labor costs...
...Five of the farms failed to make 6 percent on the invested capital...
...It goes, let me seem'and that too is a grief' and then something about Perion...
...In Colorado twenty-five farmers made a labor income of $2,771 but one farmer made a labor income of $I2,187...
...It is certainly entirely misleading to say that "the migration from the farm to the city has been going on at the rate of 2,000,000 a year ever since 1922...
...because, while you say it, I myself writhe in my own isola-tion like the witch's eel enclosed in a bottle...
...As he sat at vesper time flicking pebbles into the brook, Pier- rot and Columbine regarded his face of cameo clearness, the strong cleanness of his fingers...
...During the past ten years 1,5oo,ooo workers have been dropped from the payrolls of factories, railroads and other types of industrial employment because of mechanization and changes in the consumers' demands...
...1,978,ooo 1,374,ooo 6o4,ooo 8,1o8,ooo 4,971,ooo 3,137,ooo The implication that the farm has been losing popu- lation at the rate of 2,000,000 per year is entirely mis- leading...
...It is futile and misleading to cite average results in farming as evidence of a decadent industry, just as it would be misleading to give the average results in other lines of activity as evidence of the health of that industry...
...A recent survey of fifty-three farms near Charleston, South Carolina, is typical of the results obtained...
...Neither has there been any marked increase in tenancy during the period...
...This evidence very clearly 156 THE COMMONWEAL June 12, 1929 demonstrates the great value of management in suc-cessful farm operations...
...But everyone admitted some strangeness in the process which had made this man a person whose fame went somewhat further than the water's edge...
...The outstanding result of the farm management studies in the several states of the union during the past twenty years is that many farmers are making a real business success of farming and have done so even during the past few years of farm relief agitation...
...The Agricultural Service, Chamber of Commerce of the United States, has tabulated the available data showing the average labor income of a number of farms in the United States...
...The labor income on this group of farms varied widely--from $437 to $8,483...
...In Iowa in 1921, 237 farmers made a labor income of minus $402, but one individual farmer paid all ex- penses on his farm, including good interest on his in- vestment, and had $3,548 left over for his services...
...A tithe of these vast sums would build, equip and main- tain a school of Christian art in every country in Europe and in the United States and Canada...
...Take, for example, the case of the 12o farms that were investigated in Florida...
...Con-ditions in the corn belt apparently have been steadily unpromising since the low year of 192o...
...And build what bridges he may---does he make words till his mouth is dry, or music till the stars are troubled, or pictures till Dame Nature herself is disturbed with his rivalry--he may not pass over...
...2,155,ooo 1,135,000 1,020,000 1927...
...During the same time, 1,25o,ooo workers have found a new kind of employment in the automotive industry, in garages, service stations and so on...
...The oppor-tunity in farming for making a business success is prob- ably greater than in most other fields for the man who possesses the necessary managerial ability and the necessary capital for investment...
...In New York state fifty-one farmers made an aver- age labor income of $1,o55 but one farmer made a labor income of $4,871 .9 In Florida 12o farmers made an average labor income of $8o7, but one farmer made a labor income of $19,925...
...Pierrot," the poet continued, "it may be that I respect your wisdom, but here in the presence of the beauty of Colum- bine, on which it is absurdly facile to meditate, I cannot per- mit the observation that incarceration is in any way a boon...
...The census of 191o indicates that 3,354,897 farmers oper-ated their own farms...
...She remains as unknown to him as the next one, and he to her...
...The number of farm bankruptcies was 5,679-The total wealth of the country is approxi- mately $29o,ooo,ooo,ooo of which $57,ooo,ooo,ooo is invested in farming...
...Four of the thirty farms paid 6 percent on the invested capital and also a labor income in excess of $2,000 per year...
...When it appeared shining clear in the west Pierrot said : "Yours is a common sickness, well known and well lamented by many of your fellows...
...Thirty-three of these farms showed no profit while twelve had an average profit of $3,367 each per year...
...Here is one who loves a woman, who is quite prodigal in the expression of the eternity of his attraction...
...THE IVORY TOWER By PAUL BUSSARD T HE qualities of creatures are sufficiently difficult to account for in any case...
...another farmer failed to make expenses by $5,852...
...Her record is supreme and untarnished for nearly fifteen hundred years...
...One of them made good interest on the invested capital, and in addition made $19,925 per year for his services as farm manager...
...Many individual farmers are highly successful, and the recorded facts indicate that the industry as a whole is on the highway to success...
...Neither the facts nor the implications the reader is expected to draw from such a statement are correct...
...One farmer worked for nothing and failed to make interest by $3,586...
...The corresponding results for the four years 1924-1927 are as follows: June 12, 1929 THE COMMONWEAL 157 From Farm From City Net Loss Year to City to Farm to Farm 1924...
...The labor expense on the successful farms was $13.oo per $IOO of income, while on the unsuccessful it was $44.oo per farm...
...A study by the University of Nevada in one of the richest agricultural districts of the state gave very similar results...
...June 12, 1929 THE COMMONWEAL 155 sity of a "school of business administration" and other millions each year, uncounted millions, are expended on innumerable other schools of applied science...
...The truth of the matter is that many farmers in the country are better off financially than they are given credit for being...
...one cut his throat, one went to war and one choked the baker's daughter...
...The gross farm income varied from $492 to $I i,ooo per year...
...This significant difference in net income is due largely to more efficient management...
...in 192o, 3,366,51o operated their own farms...
...It is quite evident from the data presented that there is excellent opportunity in farming for the right man to make money...
...formation and reduce the labor cost made money, while those who could not do this did not make a profit...
...The thirty-five poorest farms made a net income of $5r a difference of $2,9r in income for the best and poorest farmers of the district...
...The illustration of successful farmers cited indicates that they are making as much of a success of farming as could be expected in any line of activity that they might engage in...
...The reason for this astonishing result was clearly brought out in the survey...
...And withal, what does he love beyond eyes and a mouth, and a manner of making words with it...
...In Missouri thir-teen farmers made a labor income of $I,412 but one farmer made $3,635...
...According to the census of the United States there were 6,361,5o2 farmers in 191o, 6,448,343 in 192o and 6,371,64o in 1925 . What the number of farmers is now no one knows or will know until the I93 ~ census is taken...
...At present there is, not only among the clergy but in the public at large, a deplorable indifference to the claims of art, together with a wide inability to recog- nize its function as an integral part of the ecclesiastical organism...
...Twenty-two farmers, however, failed to make interest on their investment by $1,32;o, and received nothing for their services...
...Souls are not communicable...
...It is unfortunate that this should be necessary...
...This study was made on 175 farms in eastern central Illinois where similar climatic and crop conditions pre- vail...
...There are fewer failures in farming than in other lines of activity...
...The labor income is the amount of money left after all the expenses of the farm have been met, including interest at 6 percent, and is the amount of money left to compensate the farmer for labor and management...
...And this I do more because I cannot tell you why I manage to continue the performance...
...While the acre investment was about the same in all cases, the successful farmers had 2oo acres per farm in crops as compared with I 16 acres in crops for the unsuccessful farms...
...In New York state fifty-one farmers made an aver- age labor income of $1,o65 in 1922 , but one farmer paid all expenses including good interest on his invest- ment and had $4,871 left for his services as manager, while another farmer failed to make interest on his investment by $2,807, and worked the entire year for nothing...
...There are misfits, failures and bankruptcies in agriculture, and always will be, just as there are everywhere, but there is really a smaller chance for failure in agriculture than in other lines of industry...
...The number of farmers in the United States has changed but little in the past twenty-five years...
...There is primely the one who medi- tates it and sheds his tears with some decorum...
...and in such brevity of phrase you may find much agony and tears and the cause of countless monstrosi- ties since the race of the world began...
...The successful farmers had on the average sixty-two acres per farm in soil-building legumes, while the unsuccessful were not interested in such methods of soil improvement...
...Nextly, there is he who makes his threnody sometimes with appropriate rhythm...
...In New Mexico fifteen farmers made a labor income of $2,19o but one farmer made a labor income of $5,ooo...
...Approximately one-fifth of the wealth is invested in farming, while only one-tenth of the bankruptcies occur in that industry: farming is therefore more stable and the chances of failure are less in that line that in other lines of industry...
...It would do little good to train artists of any sort were they not to find adequate appreciation and patronage...
...It is, I conceive, the duty of the Church to see that this feature is added to the curriculum of institutions of higher learning, and that seminarians are given adequate instruction in the history and phil- osophy of art, and if possible some training in taste and in the discriminating between good art and bad...
...it is indeed a reflection on the nature and quality of our civilization, for such a thing was never needed before, but the fact remains that, whatever its implications, it is needed now and must be provided if the Catholic Church is to recover its old position as the instigator, the patron and the guardian of good art...
...2,075,000 1,396,0o0 679,000 I925...
...There is one farmer to every 4.4 persons in other lines of work based upon the entire population, and on this basis also the rate of mortality in farm enterprises is only one-half the rate which now exists in other activities...
...The successful farmers used one-thlrd more fertilizer than the unsuc- cessful...
...These numbers refer to actual workers, and do not include dependents, as do the numbers dealing with the movement of the population from the farm...
...On the successful farms the receipts for live stock were eight times as great as on the unsuccessful...
...If our sense of comparative values were not entirely lost, such schools would be in operation within a short decade...
...Farming is the only activity in the world where the business can show a loss and the operator still remain in business...
...These later items consume a large part of the income of the city dweller...
...The study was made on thirty farms in this district...
...A similar study of farming, with exactly similar results, has been made by the University of Illinois...
...Pierrot lay at full length on his back with his hands clasped behind his head and one knee upraised...
...Then there were those in olden time who evaded the issue by various sorts of curious mangle-ments...
...The "flight from the factory" is therefore greater than from the farm...
Vol. 10 • June 1929 • No. 6
