What They Want

Gray Silver, "the Legislature representative" (i. e., head lobbyist) of the American .Farm Bureau Federation, gave out last week a list of some of the things that farmers want from the next session of Congress: P:A bill to develop Muscle Shoals for cheap fertilizer. Mr. Silver spoke repeatedly of the Ford bid, but did not specify that it was the only one acceptable to farmers. He argued that more power must be applied to agricultural processes and showed the effect of increased power; that in 1850, with 1.5 horsepower per farmer, nine farmers were able to feed themselves and one other man; that today, with 4.6 horsepower per farmer, one farmer is able to feed himself and three other men. But, he added, "the value of agricultural products per worker is about $2,000; the value of the manufacturer's nearly $6,000; the miner's, $3,000; the railroader's, $2,500." This is in spite of the fact that the investment in agriculture is twice that in manufacturing, four times that in railroads and ten times that in mining. He admitted that horsepower applied to agriculture does not produce as great an increase in the value of the product per worker as in other lines of activity. If this be true, it means not only that power will be turned to other more profitable uses than farming, but also that there is no legitimate reason why the community as a whole should develop its power for agriculture rather than for more productive enterprises.

P:A bill to permit the Department of Agriculture to dye all imported field seeds which it finds not adaptable to this country. The object of this bill is to exclude in effect large quantities of Italian clover seed. From experiment the Department of Agriculture believes that this seed is inferior for planting in the U. S. Dying would enable farmers to detect it. P:The Ketcham Bill to authorize the Department of Agriculture to report market conditions on farm products, acreages, yields, conditions. This bill has passed the House and awaits action in the Senate. P:The Copper-French Truth-in-Fabric Bill, requiring the branding of woolen goods to show the percentage of virgin wool, shoddy, cotton, silk, or other fibre in the fabric. A bill of this general type has been before Congress for 22 years. P:The Purnell Bill to supply the Department of Agriculture with funds to further agricultural experimentation.