How Big Are Corn Fields?

HELLO FOLKS — There are some big corn fields in Freeborn County. I'll wait a couple of weeks and announce the response from you readers as to the size of some of the corn fields. If you know of a corn field that is a big one send in the number of acres and I'll announce it in the column.

—o—

JULY THIS year was the wettest month I have ever experienced at least as far as I can recall. Here at Edvera Farm we got 11.5 inches of rain during July. It started off with a whopping 4 1/2 inches the first. We had 1/2 inch the 4th, over 2 inches the 7th, a half inch on both the 11th and 14th, one-and-one-half the 19th, one-and-three-tenths the 20th, and then off showers the rest of the month.

This is considerably more than the Albert Lea record of over 7 inches for July.

I have been keeping record of the precipitation at Edvera Farm for several years and for the most part we get less than Albert Lea or Austin. This is quite a switch and evens up somewhat for the 2 or 3 inches less rainfall a year that we have been getting each year.

—o—

CHILDREN CAN give more laughs than any clown on earth.

Our four-year-old, Brent, was supposed to give a talk in Sunday School. He wanted to give his own idea of a talk, but we had had some experience with that in the past, so Vera drilled him closely to be sure he had the talk memorized. I understand that he did very well.

That was considerably different than what happened a few years ago to Randy. Randy is an individualist just like Brent. He insisted on giving his own talk in Sunday School. He was taught one that he was supposed to give but when it came time to give it here is what he said.

"Jesus had a little lamb. He took it down to the river. There was a railroad track running alongside the river. The lamb ran onto the railroad track and the train came along and ran over it."

Humor Ends The Tension

HELLO FOLKS — We were traveling over one of the roads near the Mississippi river in the eastern part of the state. It had been a constant suspense of up hill, down hill, around sharp curves, through canyons, along streams and over ridges. Some of us were car sick and most of us were getting a bit tired of it all.

As we came around one of the last sharp turns staring us in the face was a sign, crudely printed and nailed to a tree. It made us us all laugh. It read: "SOMETHINGS GOTTA GIVE".

—o—

WE HAVE all heard the expressions, "You have to have the bitter to enjoy the better." and "It has to be dark before you can see the stars" and quotations of such nature. At the Petersen home we have found the truth of such sentiments.

We had our share of problems the past summer. Problems that I am sure we have profited by. We had a sweet, new daughter in August, and about six weeks later our queen (meaning my wife) developed a severe infection and was confined to the hospital. That and an operation kept her there three weeks, with another couple weeks for convalescence at home.

With a large family and lots of special problems we were hard put to fund the answers to them. This is where we saw the "stars" or should we say the "better"?

All of a sudden the neighbors started bringing in food. Relatives came to clean, cook, bake and wash and friends took care of the baby, along with the relatives. Without even asking if they could neighbors came into the fields to pick corn.

One lady who had just retired from 40 years of teaching and had raised a family of nine, besides, called and said that she wanted to keep house for us while Vera was unable to. She did a magnificent job of management and we are so grateful to her and all the friends, neighbors and relatives who did so much to show their kindness.

Things are pretty well back to normal and we are convinced that there is really a lot of good in the world, and I am convinced that there is no lack of charity.

Roll Up Your Sleeves, Folks!

HELLO FOLKS! — Warning! — When the politicians tell you that you may have to make sacrifices, they mean that taxes are going up.

—o—

THE RAINFALL for July totaled 2.6 inches around here. That makes a total of 16.6 inches for the year, so far.

—o—

THE POULTRY business has been agonizingly slow in returning to normal profit levels. For three years eggs have been selling much below profitable prices. I personally thought that two years of such prices would be all the poultrymen could take, and that before long the supply would level off with the demand, bringing with it fair returns for the producers. Now the experts are predicting better prices for eggs in the days ahead.

Poultry raisers all over the nation have gone broke. In the eastern states, where the trouble started and was caused by integration, there are third and fourth mortgages on some of the enterprizes. Feed dealers and companies who extended credit have found themselves in trouble. I understand that loan companies and banks managed to keep from getting hurt too badly.

I predicted about a year ago that the worst of it was about over and Minnesota could soon be profitable area for expansion of egg production. That prediction has been slow in fulfillment.

I understand now that the astern markets went in for the locally produced eggs, thinging that they would be fresher and therefore more acceptable to the public. In this they were disappointed. The eastern eggs, while fresh, do not have the quality that the midwestern eggs do. Many of the seaboard mixes have feeds that do not produce hih quality eggs. The feeds there are higher in price, and therefore the cost of producing eggs is higher. Now they are again beginning to look to this area for their eggs.

We can produce the best eggs in the world, due to our abundance of corn and soybeans, which make up the best ingredients for quality eggs. If we insist upon quality control in the care of the eggs I believe we can get our markets back and keep them. Competition will always be keen, but that has to be expected and is a good thing if it is not over-done.

Another thing that seems to be in the wind is a trent to smaller or shall we say, family sized flocks. We are finding out that these large flocks cannot maintain as high production per hen as the more moderate sized flocks and that the extra savings made in labor does not offset the loss in feed efficiency.

It all adds up to the belief that perhaps at long last we have learned a big lesson in eggs and that the farmer may again soon be the one to produce the bulk of the eggs. I hope so anyways.

Corn, Milk, Egg Pictures Better

HELLO FOLKS — Got three and one-fourth inches of rain in September. Total for the year is over 26 inches. This appears to be the wettest fall that we have had for quite a few years.

—o—

TWO MORE parties have been to the Rebild National Park in Denmark. Pete The (South Broadway) Welder states in a note that he was there at the dedication in 1912, and still has a program.

Also a letter from Nora Jensen stating that she was there a few years ago and is very proud of being of Danish descent. —So am I.

—o—

THERE ARE a lot of people worried about the corn program as it now functions. Most of them seem to think that with controls off we are going to produce too much corn. I'll admit that we are going to have a lot of it around for some time, but is that bad? I think not, at least not at the price it is. I would say if we had two prices on it, one high support price way up there and another at the market place we would be in a pickle. However, when the price is not too far out of line (and I think the price is about right) a good hefty supply is a mighty healthy thing for the farmers, consumers and the nation as a whole. It helps to stabilize the supply and price, which is a good thing. It also has a healthy effect on the rest of the crops. It cut the soybean crop which should help to stimulate the price on beans. At the present prices will not encourage the marginal producer to go heavy on corn. 

I think the corn famers have used good judgement in voting for the present program. The only hitch is the 65 per cent of parity floor which may get cumbersome if we get much more efficient in producing the corn. 

If we could convince the rest of the farmers that their best interests would be served to have such a program for the other basic commodities we would be well on the road to a sane and sensible farm program. 

—o—

IT LOOKS as though the dairymen are just about "out of the woods." We have had dead milk prices for so long that it seemed that the dairy farmer was doomed for poor incomes. Right now the government is buying neither butter nor cheese, and the amount of dried milk is not too burdensome. Already most of the prices are about the 'floor'. The number of dairy cows is still going down and the production has leveled out. Along with the greater efficiency of the dairy farmer and the increasing population I feel very confident that there is reason for confidence in the dairy barns. I for one am very please about it. I know what it means to head for the barn 14 times a week whether one feels like it or not and knowing full well that unless you are an exceptional dairyman there is less than a dollar an hour in it for you. It doesn't take a very big raise in prices to get that net over the dollar mark; a cent a quart might do it and it should not make the housewife unhappy to know that the farmer who is producing one of the most nourishing foods (and one of the cheapest) is getting a fair return for his efforts.

—o—

THE POULTRY man, too, seems to be heading for better days. Too, liberal credit in the south has been a thorn in the side of the corn-belt farmer. It has given him unrealistic competition which has hurt, especially lately. Actually we can produce eggs cheaper here than they can anywhere in the U. S. but the southern farmers were sold a bill of goods and went over their heads in production and debt. That credit, as it now seems, has dried up and there will be room for the egg producer around here to get a fresh breath. I look for more expansions of laying hens around here and I think we can do it profitably. I know that the people in the 'Twin Cities' would welcome the chance to buy really fresh eggs the year around and are willing to pay the price for them. Incidentally, it costs about 33 cents to produce eggs efficient;y, and allow a fair return per hour. 

California Corn Hurts Mid-West

Hello Folks: If a man offends you, buy each of his children a drum. A Chinese proverb.

—o—

This is the final test of a gentleman: his respect for those who can be of no possible use to him.

—o—

We have a couple of new creatures at our house. I had never heard of them before. One is a "Skeekmuk". It lives upstairs and as far as we can determine, this skeekmuk is somewhere between the size of a cat and a dog. Whether it has fur, hair or feathers, we don't know. Nobody has seen it but Randy, he sees it quite often, and it is under the bed when he sleeps. It has been around about a month apparently.

The other creature is an "earb". This one also we only know from what Randy tells us. It lives downstairs in the bedroom. When we eat, it slips into the living room for a romp. From all indications, is is about the size of a rat or mouse, as least it can be stepped on. The other day it followed him upstairs. It leaves no tracks, requires no food, and can be seen only by some one with as good an imag[i]nation as Randy (and no one has one that good!)

We get a lot of kick out of these two creatures, plus Randy. All we have to do is mention the "earb" or "skeekmuk", and we are in for another session of stories.

—o—

Speaking of imagination, have you ever gone traveling with your imagination? It is lots of fun. You can sail on oceans, visit tropical isles, swoop down on crowded cities on your imaginary carpet, do a lot of things you always hoped you could do someday. All this, without ever leaving a cozy home — and no travel fatigue at all.

—o—

There is a lot of talk about a "soil - bank" plan. Here is my viewpoint on it for what it is worth to the readers. I think the only real worth of "soil fertility bank" is in connection with acreage controls. If a farmer is at the position where he feels he wants price supports on his crops, then the extra acres should be placed in suspension until they are needed. This should be done by the farmer himself and not at the expense of the taxpayers.

In the past when acreage allotments were in effect on a commodity, the extra acres were just diverted into another crop. Such a condition is not fair to the farmers who wish to take their own chances with the law of supply and demand. Suppose the farmers in Freeborn county rent a lot of land to the Government, and that land put in suspension as it would be under a "soil bank" plan, that would mean less production, which in turn means less industry.

California and other western states have learned that there is money in raising corn and feeding cattle — so while we are crying for high supports and storing our corn in bins, California is doubling her production of corn each year. On top of that she is competing with us for western range cattle to feed out and out-bidding us a lot of the time.

We are actually holding an umbrella over the west all at our own expense.

The fair price for corn has dropped a lot the past few years because we are learning to produce it cheaper. Nobody knows what actual parity is on corn, but it is not over $1.50 — probably closer to $1.25, this due to more efficient production, by the use of better machinery, fertilizer and tillage.

Just as surely as some of us are afraid to get in to the economic area and fight our own battles, there are others who will and they are the ones who win.