Just a Sittin' And a Rockin'

HELLO FOLKS! — Worry is like a rocking chiar. It will give you something to do, but it won't get you anywhere.

--o--

THERE IS no - smaller package than a man wholly wrapped up in himself.

--o--

IT LOOKS LIKE the dairy problem is almost solved. Dairy cow numbers are down 3 1/2 per cent under a year ago, and still decreasing. Production is still going up per cow which is good as it spells higher efficiency and lower cost, but the surplus has practically vanished, and within another year the government will probably be out of the surplus purchasing business as far as dairy is concerned. It has been a painful healing process and the price fixers realized that if they lost the battle for control of dairy products they might as well 'throw in the sponge.'

To top it all off the cows left are concentrated in larger herds which makes for even greater efficiency and better handling of milk. It is easier to regulate sanitation in a few large herds than in many small ones.

This all adds up for the benefit of the consumer and producer alike as it contributes to our ever increasing standard of living. The laboring man today has never had so good a buy in dairy products as he now has. The real way to figure the cost of anything is in the number of hours worked to purchase it, or for the farmer the number of hogs, bushels of grain, etc. For instance it takes only eight minutes of work to purchase a quart of milk and twenty or twenty five for a pound of butter.

--o--

WELL, ELECTION is over, as far as the primary is concerned and yours truly can get back to farming.

I want to sincerely thank those of you who voted for me and for the many kind expressions. I did not realize a campaign could be so interesting. I got to meet so many of you that I would never have met otherwise.

I congratulate the winners. As far as I know there was no mudslinging, which shows that at least some politicians are growing up. I think name calling is just a sign of emotional immaturity.

I think I must be very thick skinned, or something because I didn't feel any remorse at losing, at least not enough to lose any sleep over. Guess it wouldn't have done any good to have done so anyway.

--o--

IN RECENT years, farmers have spent about $10 billion annually for production goods and services of nonfarm origin. This according to the USDA. This is more than four times as much as they spent annually for such goods and service in 1938, Prices increased during those twenty years to account for one-half of the increase in these expenses. The biggest in-crease has been for machinery and cost reducing equipment.

Do You Know Interest Pay?

Hello Folks — Usually when a man gets too big for his britches his hat won't fit either.

--

As of today Freeborn can be called the county of 10,000 lakes. My, what a lot of water, I have seen more, I think it was in 1953 we had more during the summer than we have now. This kind of weather does things the politicians could never do — take care of the surplus corn. I don't think there will be much of a surplus next year.

--

How much interest do you pay out in a year? I believe that few of us know, and if we get it figured out we pay a lot more than we realize.

Credit is a wonderful thing when it is used right, but abused it can be. a mill stone and keeps many a man from getting ahead.

There are many ways of figuring interest and some of them are deceiving. One per cent per month sounds pretty reasonable but when it adds up to 12 per cent it gets mighty big. There are a good many people paying much more than that. Most of the time pay plans run around 16 per cent.

...tion it in the contract, It really makes a 'whollaper' of a lot if one gets 'bit' by such a deal.

The best thing is to stay out of debt for anything but a home or business. Then we learn to be thrifty and we are more apt to watch the purchases and see to that they are bought right.

I think it is very important to teach our children thrift and how to buy wisely. They have to learn sometime and it should help by giving them an allowance when they are too young to earn it themselves and see to it that they learn to know that before there can be a penny spent there first has to be one earned. We are all creatures of habit and by teaching the youth the value of a dollar the nation grows stronger and more financially secure.

The credit and finance system is what has aided us in getting the great standard of living that we have but the abuse of it can also be our downfall. Borrowing when money is easy to get and then having to pay it back when the dollar is scarse is a situation that none of us would envy. Let's watch it. Huh.

One day a salesman stopped in and wanted to sell his wares. Had a good product but he didn't want cash. It had to be time payments spread over two years. I insisted on figuring up what the interest rates were and they added up to a mighty 24 per cent per year. No wonder he didn't want to sell for cash. He probably could get his financing for around 6 or 7 per cent, then turn around and get about. four times that for the same money. That is what I call a raw deal. We had better all look out for our own financing lest we get taken into such a deal.

A feed salesman drove in the yard and insisted on selling some feed. He had a grand plan for the farmer, Pay when the hogs are sold.

I asked him what the interest figured out to. His answer was," Oh, just about the same as the bank charges. I took a pencil and figured it out, It came to 11 per cent. The catch was it was on about a 6 months term, The interest didn't sound like much but it counts up when you really go to adding.

Then there is the service charge. I have been told that a lending institution can add a service charge and they don't have to men...

It Tells On Him

HELLO FOLKS — A woman who has a temper she can't control usually has a husband she can.

--o--

FEW THINGS are needful to make the wise man happy, but nothing satisfies the fool.

--o--

HE CAME HOME from his first day at school.
"Ain't going tomorrow," he said.
"Why not, sonny?"
"Well I can't read, I can't write and they won't let me talk, so what's the use".

--o--

SUMMING UP the farm situation, as I see it, goes like this.

Dairying needs a good house cleaning, both from the standpoint of the dairyman and the government. Present government support prices are all to the benefit of the consumer. It gives them food cheaply. The dairy herds need cleaning up. More than half the cows are not returning the owner enough to be worth the effort. Were they to be cleaned out as fast as they start slowing up in production there would be a serious shortage of milk that would set prices soaring.

Beef finishing is in a tough spot and I don't see any hope for improvement in the near future. The consumer doesn't want his beef fat any longer. The rancher is doing a lot of his own finishing and so is the processor.

Hog raising is the brightest of all the livestock enterprises. There will be rough going there if these finishing units take the country by storm, just as did roto tubes, laying units and the like.

Poultry is on the decline in this area and likely to keep on declining.

Feed grains are in a brighter spot, as are soybeans. Now if we can just get a better program out of congress.

Overall, there is dire need for better farm economics. It is the blind spot in agriculture. Few farmers know what they are getting for an hour's work or for each operation. They would do some changing in their op-

Demoralizing Advertising

HELLO FOLKS — What, in your estimation, is the most demoralizing advertisement on TV?

We all have our own opinions and they vary with our views. Some will say it is the liquor ads. Others will say something else. To me it is the ads that are slanted to the very young who are in their most formative age. All week They advertise something like this: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. Funnnnnn-day.

We have a host of very young who love to watch animated comics; and there is certainly nothing wrong with that, but the real danger is getting across the idea that the Sabbath day is a day of fun Certainly Sunday is not to be day of sadness or even of somberness, but it is meant to be a day of worship, a day of concentrating or things divine. We need to practice that side of it more than we do.

We recently had a demonstration of parents who were concerned over childrens' physical welfare, which is certainly good; yet some of the more insidious dangers we sometimes overlook until it is too late.

I think that if we could fully realize what some of these things really do to our youth we would have letters by the millions flooding in to some of these advertisers, who probably do not realize the real dangers in their actions.

Observing the Sabbath day is a divine commandment that has existed since creation, and was reaffirmed on Mount Sinai and again by the Galilean 2,000 years ago. It has never been revoked to my knowledge and as far as I can see, if ever the day comes that man revokes it, or tries to, then civilization is doomed. For the beacon of civilization is divine law and guidance. When we become so self sufficient that we think we can sup-plant higher laws by our own choosing we are in for a fall.

—o—

IT LOOKS like Freeborn county is in for another good crop. As bad and late as the season was last spring it seems a miracle that the crops turned out as good as they are. It seems that generally the weather evens up pretty well over a year's time at least in this part of the state.

Even the fellows who had some crops drowned out can plow under a good crop of weeds and probably in a couple of years end up with as good an average as otherwise. I had a spot drowned out and it is a good thing for me. This is the first year I lost a crop on it so I tiled it. It has always been hard to work because it was too water logged. Now I can probably get full production from it along with the rest of the land.

Misleading Statements

HELLO FOLKS! — The father of a rapidly - growing youngster mumbled to a friend on the bus:

"He's getting too smart to outargue and too big to spank. I can hardly wait for him to fall in love so's some little girl will take him down a notch"

—o—

THERE ARE a lot of false notions going around that if not corrected are going to be used by self - interested parties to forward their own interests.

One of them goes something like this: "The farmer is the only businessman who buys at prices someone else sets and sells what others offer." Or they say, "Everyone else's prices are set but the farmers. They take what they can get."

Without much thinking such words seem to have some truth to them. On the other hand — are they true?

A man said to me, trying to prove his point, "If you go and buy a sack of tankage you pay what they ask, but when you sell the pig that ate the tankage you take what they offer."

Tankage is no different than any other item. The manufacturers get all they can for their product just as the farmer gets all he can for his hogs, or what ever it be. There is plenty of competition in protein feeds. If tankage is too high priced, we buy soybean meal and fortify it with vitamins. Or we may go to another dealer who has another brand of tankage at a lower price. Surely the price they are asking is probably marked on the bulletin board. And the hog prices they will pay are marked, but that doesn't mean they aren't competitive.

Then they will tell you that the auto manufacturers set their own prices. I have bought several cars and I shop around and get the best deal I can. There is plenty of competition in the auto industry. The salesmen are constantly at each other's throats to get that sale and the lowest offer usually sells.

The same is true of the manufacturer. He knows what the car costs him to produce. To that he adds the necessary profits and any other that he thinks the "traffic will bear." If he feels that he has an especially good seller he will add a few dollars to it. The opposite might also be true. He may have to take off a few dollars for the [time] being.

There are [plent]y of manufacturers who have gone out of business because they couldn't meet the competition in the long haul the car producer also takes what the buyer offers just as the farmer takes the highest offer he gets for the animal. And there is of course no law that says the farmer can't cooperate with other farmers and butcher the hogs themselves if they feel they aren't getting enough for their products.




Tankage - a fertilizer or animal feed obtained from the residue from tanks in which animal carcasses have been rendered.

Farms Cut Food Cost

Hello Folks !

An indication as to how agriculture is progressing; consider the advance in the broiler industry. Ten years ago it took 15 weeks to grow a bird to three pounds. That was gradually shortened to eight weeks and now a new process of feeding and breeeding has been able to get that bird to three pounds in seven weeks.

That means that the same facilities can now produce twice as many chickens as they could 10 years ago. The profit from such progress has been passed on to the consuming public which is a big factor in our increasingly high standard of living.

This efficiency added to the efficiency in production of the feed raised for the broilers, plus the efficiency of other industries accounts for most of the reason the average worker today gets twice as much for his food dollar today as he did 20 years ago.

—o—

Next to being shot at and missed there is nothing quite as satisfying as an income tax refund.

—o—

My wife says figures don't lie but girdles certainly condense the truth.

—o—

A baby is born each eight seconds in the U. S.

—o—

The most valuable time a man has are the hours he spends beyond what is necessary for earning a living. They can be frittered away at nothing; spent on hobbies; used to the disgrace of society or put to the service of one's fellowmen.

My deepest respect go to those who spend these extra hours in service to one's neighbors. We have many such people around about us and could use many more. There is no more satisfying work than that.

I think that success in life can be counted more in time thus spent than it can be in financial gain or social standing.

The one business of life is to succeed. I can't believe that the Lord placed us here to waste our lives. The greatest tragedy in the world is not the devastation that goes with war, nor the cost that goes with crime; nor both of these put together. The greatest tragedy in the world is that human beings, you and I, live so far below the level of our possibilities. It is the lack of this positiveness that causes most of our woes. We can all look hack and see things we should have done that we did not do. These are the seed bed we make for future evil.

We have the basis of this belief from the words of The Great Teacher who gave one of the bitterest denunciations. He ever uttered to the one who hid his talents in the ground, he said "Thou wicked and slothful servant".

In our efforts to better the lives of ourselves and others we need to plan carefully and work our plan. Our efforts have to start at home we can't be at our best if we allow our health, (both mental and phys, cal) to deteriorate, or permit slip shod ways to clutter our lives.

frittered: waste time, money, or energy on trifling matters.

slip shod: (typically of a person or method of work) characterized by a lack of care, thought, or organization.

Do We Owe People Living?

HELLO FOLKS — I think we will all agree that we live in a pretty topsy-turvy world. At least it seems that way at times.

Take the case of employment. I think we will all agree that we as a nation owe everyone the opportunity to make a living. I think we also will agree that it is destructive of everything good to hand out a living to anyone and everyone just because he or she doesn't have quite as full a stomach as the rest of us. And while some of us have more work than we can readily do there are many who want to work and can't find jobs.

We have plenty of work to do. Things that need to be done and aren't being done. Take the case of the Albert Lea lake. It is a pity that it has not been cleaned up, or is not being cleaned up. I believe there are people on relief rolls who can work for what they get, who could be given jobs now and create an atmosphere for future employment growth in the future, such as the tourist trade.

Certainly the welfare officials are to be complimented for their conscientious work in giving such people the opportunity to be self-sustaining. But the job is much bigger than for one organization to do alone. It takes the cooperation of all.

What we need is a reserve of funds to use when such a project is needed and a list of jobs that need to be done whenever there is anyone in need of a job.

There are of course many contributing factors that lead to unemployment. We can price ourselves out of jobs, such as has been done in the auto and other industries. Sometimes it is the need of capital.

Whatever the cause we need to get to the root of it and create a better world, one that gives all the chance, plus the impetus, to become respectable self-sustaining citizens.

Speaking again of this topsy-turvy world, we are putting out millions of dollars to retire land and bolster prices. Then we spend millions (or I should say billions) more to feed people on relief. Many of these people on relief could be given land to put in a garden and the supervision to do it right so they in turn could almost feed themselves. And in this garden spot of the U.S. there is much food going to waste that could be gleaned to feed practically all the needy.

In biblical days the farmers were commanded to leave the edges and corners of the fields that the needy could glean for themselves. Thus all the citizens could be self sustaining, except of course the indigent.

A closer attention to such a program would make better citizens out of many who need the aid.

We go astray in this free world of ours but we gradually seeem to find the way back sooner or later and I think we will someday consider it a major error to dole food and clothing and just as great an error to not have plenty of projects to take care of all the unemployed and the where with all to do it.

Boiling it down to simple terms we owe everyone the right to earn an honest living, but we owe no able bodied man the living itself.

——

Easy but glamorous: serve vanilla ice cream with green creme de menthe, chocolate ice cream with white creme de menthe.

Words Worth The Saying

HELLO FOLKS — Came across a few clever sayings that are well worth repeating. They have lot of sense to them.. Here they are:

Life is a journey, not a camp.
Snap judgment, like a bear trap, may catch the one who baits it.
It is no use trying to shine your lamp if you. do not take time to fill it.
A used mind is one item that has more value than a new.
Some of us do not need a bushel to hide our light; a thimble should suffice.

—o—

THE FREEBORN County fair has come to another successful conclusion. There are a few observations I would like to make, as one seeing it from the outside.

First, the weather co-operated 100 per cent. It was not too, hot nor too cold. There was no rain yet it was not so dry that it detracted from the joy of the fair.

I don't recalls year that there have been more total exhibits. Certainly the 4-H exhibits were at a record. And the quality of them were never better. While speaking of 4-H; Eldon Senske and his gang are certainly to be complimented for their grand work. They can't possibly be on an eight-hour schedule; more like a set of three, eight-hour schedules during fair time.

The quality of livestock has greatley improved through the years, and fairs have certainly done their share in helping improve them. Freeborn County has an abundance of beautiful riding horses. The hogs have improved hog of today is a far cry from the old fat lardy type of 20 years ago. And the cows of today will double the production of th show winner of twenty years ago.

Thehmidway was the biggest I have seen. While we were parked at the top of the Ferris Wheel I tried to get a count the many rides available. I believe there were at least 20 of them.

Congratulations to the, fair board and all who had to do with the success of the fair.
—o—

WITH A family as big as ours there are bound tobe exciting moments at the fair. We stopped at a stand to get some hamburgers; Mark (aged four) got tired and decided to go to the car. We thought he had gotten lost and started hunting for him. After a 20 minute search we found him asleep in the car. The same thing happened to Zina, only when we looked in the car she had decided to go look for us.

Jared and Ann had their first time at exhibits. They were very excited and learned a lot. Ann was really thrilled when she got a blue ribbon on her pig. Dana never got enough of the fair. I think he could have lived there and not gotten tired of it. He still has two years to go to be able to exhibit.

In the Front Or Back Seat?

HELLO FOLKS—Even if today's cars are supposed to be mechanically perfect and smooth running, some of them have a lot of jerks in them.

That Dad Of Mine!

(While the following may seem mere hero worship, you should note several bits of youthful wisdom in it. Karen attacks current cliches about youth. Her father is frequently absent from home. He demands, and apparently gets, obedience.—Editor)

"That Dad of Mine" ,,
Hi! I'm Karen — eldest daughter of the above. Dad has given me permission to write this article for him. Therefore, I am going to take this opportunity to crow over a favorite relative of mine—Edwin B. Petersen.

The thing I admire most about Dad is how much he has accomplished with as little an education. Oh, yes, he did spend a year at Dana college. There he learned how to flood bathrooms to make swimming pools, find watermelons, and flirt with the girls—all of which must have prepared him for a future of great responsibility! However, for the most part Dad has gained
an education on his own.

As you probably know, Dad is an excellent farmer. Being the oldest son of a hard working homesteader, he gained his first lessons by following example. Then in college he majored in agriculture. The next step was practical application.

Like anyone else, he made a lot of mistakes in his first years of farming, but he learned from his mistakes. Also, he looked at the mistakes and abilities of other farmers. Later on he became active in Farm Bureau and local agricultural committees. They added the latest facts and figures he needed on how to make farming profitable. When Dad showed a real interest in new farming set-ups, the agriculturists worked all the more closely with him.

On our 280-acre pig farm, Dad is still learning something new every day. Three summers ago he found that eldest daughters make for very poor hired men. Today ha found a new antiseptic to cut down on disease hazards.

Last night we went out to the farrowing barn to do chores. As we entered we stepped into a pan of antiseptic. Dad explained that the sows were brought in to farrow. A heater in the back kept the barn at 50 degrees while lamps keep the chill off the litters.

The newborns had their ears notched for future reference and their teeth clipped. Their navels were touched with iodine to reduce infection. Chores didn't take much effort nor time because of the efficient set-up. Perfect records are kept of these litters.

Politics, church and civil affairs have always got a great contribution from Dad. There never seems to be a breather for him. He's always attending a political meeting or something else just as important. Right now he is "President Petersen" twice over. He always holds a position in our church. He is willing to extend a helping hand when he sees need. Dad has given a great deal of service to both God and man. More people than he knows love and respect him.

All these and many other virtues does he have, but the position I like him in best is what is called "Father". Here he excells by demanding obedience and respect while giving an abundance of love. That's my Dad.

Petersens Visit British Columbia

HELLO FOLKS!

It is vacation time again for the Petersen's. By the time this column is being read we will have about finished our leisure time for the summer. We are visiting in British Columbia about 1,900 miles froth home, in the Okanaga Valley.

This is a beautiful valley of fruit, fishing, boating, skiing, hunting, lumbering and cattle. It has a beautiful climate with the warm Japanese current warming up the breezes to give it a temperate climate of few severe extremes.

We took Highway 10 from Fargo to Glendive, Montana; cutting north and going through Glacier Park, Calgary and over the Trans - Canadian to Vernon. It is a beautiful drive. The Canadian Rockies are unsurpassed in beauty.

All along the way, the grass and crops are looking good; with bumper crops coming along. The children were especially impressed with Glacier Park, where they played in the snow. Some of them played their bare feet.

Canada is a young country for the most part in the first stages of a booming economy. Calgary gives the impression of being a city with a tremendous growth period. Everywhere you look buildings are going up, and expanding. The annual Calgary Roundup is the second week in July. This extravaganza is currently being held for five days, however understand that next year it will be extended to 10 days.

It is obvious that the Trans-Canadian highway was a tremendous engineering feat but even so some of it is obsolete almost before it is finished. It has really opened Canada to the tourist trade.

Before completion of the road Canada was almost divided between the West — of the Rocky area and the East; this except for the railroad. No doubt there will soon be much more road building. Tourists are flocking into the area taxing every available, facility. As roads are being built they will flock to move tourist areas. Eastern Canadians obviously want to see what the province to the west of them is like... judging from the license plates.

Canadian farmers have had it hard in the past. They are far behind United States farmers. This is due to the inavailability of credit. Now, however, they in have a Federal Land Bank and Production Credit system. This gives them a chance to expand into efficient units and get the necessary machinery to produce efficiently. They still do some of the work the hard way, however.

Canada having just made a tremendous wheat deal with Russia is urging the farmers to grow all the wheat they can. The government is going all out to encourage farmers to clear land and plant more.

Some farm leaders are complaining that the price doesn't encourage enough incentive for production, but I don't believe this complaint is justified. Farmers are in the drivers seat in many ways. There are no taxes on personal property. There is a 5 per cent sales tax on all commodities except food and medicine. Farmers wanting machinery do not have to pay the sales tax either.

I believe that the Canadian farmers in the plains area could nearly double their production in one year. This through use of nitrogen and other fertilizers and forgetting about fallowing, which I understand is no longer needed with modern farming methods.

High Taxes Can Kill off Business

Hello, Folks! A bit of philosophy that I like goes something like this: It is not the heights you reach that counts. It is the distance you have to travel and the obsacles you must overcome to reach your goal.

—o—

A customer complained that the new barber was driving him crazy with his incessant chatter. The propietor observed mildly, "According to the Constituion of the U. S. he's got a right to talk.'' "That may be," admitted the customer, "but the U. S. has a constitution that can stand it. Mine can't."

—o—

According to the Continental Can Co, Minnesota's real estate tax rate is the highest of any sate in which they have factories. It is $40.70 per $1,000 investment. This compares with $40.25 for California, $38.31 for Florida, $16.90 for Ohio, $23.39 for Texas, $14.50 for Indiana, $17.28 for Washington. The personal property tax rate also is high.

Minesota 26.7, Indiana 9.19, California 15.36, Florida 7.15, Ohio 12.37, Washington 9.1, Texas 10.25.

Thirty - one states have a sales tax which very likely accounts for their lowered property tax rate. The supporters of the sales tax say that the high property tax rate is driving business from the state leaving less people and property to carry the load. The sales tax seems to be working satisfactory in those states. At least I haven't heard of any moves to do away with it. If that is the reason why Minnesota is losing it's population we might well consider ways of adjusting the situation. People have to live where there is employment and employment is where the in-dustries are,

—o—

One thing we can do which I think will do a tremendous amount of good — is work such as Jobs, Inc. is doing — investing in buildings that will be ready for industries to move into. If our community is to grow as it should we must have such expansion. These industrial buildings have been a good thing in the past and will surely continue to be an asset. Any of your farmers who have some money to invest, why hot invest it in Jobs, Inc.? You will be do-ing yourself and your community a service.

—o—

The little one room country school is on its way out in Minnesota. This whether we like it or not. It is going the way of the work horse and hand milking. The school districts surrounding Oakland are considering joining with the Austin school district. I myself held out a long while. I was brought up with a great respect for the neighborhood school. There are a lot of fond memories to be cherished by it, However the change in educational methods and need for higher education make the changes necessary.

I am very fond of horses and if it had been financially profitable to continue using them I would still be using horses. I got a thrill out of taking a colt and taming and training him into a valuable and useful animal. The fact still remains that if we want powerful autos, good roads, television and all the modern conveniences we have to be efficient and with efficiency comes changes.

—o—

The secret of living is to learn to stand on our own feet without walking on someone else's toes.

—o—

Indications are that young farmers starting out are better off renting thean owning their farms. The reasoning is that a man with limited capital can invest it most effectively in livestock and equipment used directly in producing an income: thus concentrating his investment in assets that bring quick I returns.

—o—

We have four former Secretaries of Agriculture. They are Henry Wallace, Clinton Anderson, Claude Wickard and Charles Brannon. These four men, all democrats, are evenly divided on the issue of price supports. Wallace and Anderson are for flexible and the latter two for rigid. The interesting part of the fact is how they reason their views. Wallace and Anderson explain the details of their plan and base it on proven facts. The other two do not give the full picture of the consequences of their program and they do not base their beliefs upon proven facts. For instance, they don't say how production would be cont rolled, who would say how many cows you could milk, how many hogs to raise, who could start farming and who could not. Let's listen to the ones who know what they are talking about.

Happy are all free peoples, too strong to be dispossessed; But blessed are those among nations who dare to be strong for the rest. Elizabeth Barret Browning. With America's greatest patriotic holiday with us (July 4), let us reminisce and consider what it really means to us and how we can best preserve the hard fought liberties for which many gave their lives

No More Milk Support, Please

HELLO FOLKS. Back in Grandpa's time they had the ideal prescription for sound sleep. They called it hard work. We will never build patriotism in our youth by discouraging within them the very things that made this nation strong, thrift, frugality, hard work, etc.

—o—

MILK PRICES have started upward. It is about time that they do so. This might not seem like good news to the consumers, but the dairymen have been taking it on the chin long enough.

I have nothing but admiration for the man who has for these many years worked long and difficult hours milking a bunch of cows for as low an income as he has been getting.

Milking has to be done 14 times a week whether the dairyman is well or ill. Whether it is stormy or fair. Whether he wants to go on a vacation or lot. If he is unable to do it himself he has to find someone who will take over until he is back in the swing of it again. It is nearly impossible to hire anyone to do that work and break even doing it.

The average dairyman in Minnesota has been making about a dollar an hour for his time. The better dairymen who have their production well over -00 pounds of butterfat per cow have done better but have still not been getting a return anywhere in proportion to their skills.

I have been in dairying enough to know that it takes more talent and determination to keep a herd in high and profitable production than it does in most occupations. I suspect that anyone who would be as persistent as the dairyman has to be, would do well in most other fields too.

I mentioned in my year-end report that milk prices would on rise to $4 per hundred and that I would not be too surprised to see them go to $5. However the politicians, Republican and Democrat alike, are in there ready to spoil it.

They are doing it by crying for increased government support prices. This would tend to encourage too much and less efficient production and thereby lower total profits.

Would a substantial increase in milk prices hurt the consumser? An increase of 50 cents per hundred for milk would raise the price of milk 1 cent a quart. If the average worker earns $3 an hour and if he buys an average of three quarts of milk a day he would have to work less than one minute a day longer to pay for the extra price.

This for the most nutritious food on earth for which he has been paying bargain prices for these many years. This 50 cent increase in price would not give the dairyman a high income but would give him enough to be able to stay in business. I believe that he should have more than the 50 cent increase. A dollar would be more equitable.

Should the politicians get their way and raise the support price of milk substantially the dairyman is apt to be cut in his milk prices by 50 cents a hundred. This because it would stimulate production unnecessarily.

Family Fun at Petersens

HELLO FOLKS! — I suppose it is only natural that with five lively daughters in the home I should have to take a bit of abuse. Take last week for instance. It all started when I came to the table with my hair standing erect. The kids made fun of it and Zina to cap it off, put a ribbon on it.

As many of you know I have precious hair left, and none to spare. I left the ribbon in the hair after dinner and laid down on the couch to read and have a little nap. When I get sleepy I can go to sleep standing up and I become oblivious to anything going on around.

When I awakened I heard some snickers and knew that something "fishy" had been going on. It took a while for me to get the facts, and it was Merilee who informed, Merilee is my everlasting pal, and besides that she is not good at keeping secrets. She informed me that while I was asleep they had put a ribbon on my chest and a bottle in my arms and taken a picture of me.

I haven't found the film or this story might have ended differently, but I suppose I will get the razzing of my life when the picture gets here.

Living with a houseful of lovely women isn't really too bad. After all is isn't every man who gets to boss around a houseful of them, or be bossed himself. The thing that put the edge on it all is that they have a mischievious mother who encourages all this.

—o—

Our youngest son Brent got the bright idea one day of publishing a newspaper. He was helping me farm and while on the tractor he got it pretty well set in his mind what he was going to write. He calls it the "Hog Town News". Our big hog pasture we call Hog Town. The embellishments are all his and next week this column will be a reprint of what he wrote; or at least a part of it.

—o—

In case you hadn't noticed: the month of May was a wet one. We got 6.3 inches of rain. We had gotten 3.4 in April.

Local Farmers Back From West

Hello, Folks! — I've heard it said that the condition of a man can best be determined by how he takes things two at a time, — pills or stairs.

—o—

Broad mindedness is just high mindedness which has been flattened out by experience.

—

A Smile is something that adds to your face value.

—o—

I am sure a lot of us have had thoughts we would like to express and along comes someone and takes the words out of our mouths and says it better than we can. Charles B. Shuman, President of the A.F.B.F. recently did that in an article in the Nations Agriculture. He entitled it, "The Risks We Take." Here is what he says:

"We have always had prophets of gloom and doom who see little good and much evil in our American social, economic and political system.

"We are also blessed with a relatively small group of rabid radicals who would discard proven methods and ideas for almost any new or revolutionary panacea.

"Fortunately most of our citizens have held fast to those democratic principles and rights that were so well established by the founders of our Republic.

"The Constitution and Bill of Rights set forth the guarantees that assure our political freedom. While no such formal document spells out a bill or rights to protect our economic freedom, experience and the success of our free choice system have demonstrated certain rights that are essential to our continued progress.

"It is commonly recognized that freedom to choose and the individual incentives thus generated are necessary ingredients of the successful system that has made us the world's leading nation. Less well recognized is the fact that for each economic and political right there is a corresponding individual risk and obligation.

"The risk to own property is contingent upon the use of the property in such a way as not to injure the rights of others. Ownership also carries with it the risk of loss as well as the opportunity to profit. The right to choose a vocation brings with it not only the responsibility to engage in work which advances the general welfare, but also involves the risk of business failure.

"The right to save or spend the earnings of capital, management or labor is accompanied by the risk of unwise choice or poor investment. The right to contract, the right to buy and sell in a free market, the right to work and the right of the individual to opportunity all have their corresponding risks.

"...eliminate risk or its cost it can only be transferred or spread over many people. If all risks were transferred from individuals to the public in general it would be necessary to almost completely eliminate all chance for profit and the opportunity for individuals to earn in proportion to their effort and ability.

"The radicals and pessimests among us who, becoming alarmed at occasional business failures and price declines, advocate government intervention to eliminate all risk are actually striking a blow at freedom and individual opportunity.

"The price for government guarantee against loss of job, business failure or market decline is the elimination of opportunity for the individual.

"Yes, freedom and opportunity come only to those who are willing to take risks — but that's how the world's most successful nation was built; by individuals who valued opportunity more than security."

—o—

Once women were said to drive men to drink, now they lead them to it.

—o—

Wesley Pierson and Enoch Peterson went on the Farm Bureau livestock tour to Montana the middle of September. They report a very interesting trip. They left Minneapolis the evening of September 14th in a special car aboard the Milwaukee Hiawatha Olympian. Upon arriving at Harlowtown, Mont., the group was met by Montana ranchers. They were treated to banquets and lodging at the expense of the ranchers and shown around various ranches.

They visited the Harlowtown, White Sulphur Springs, Two Dot, Big Timber, Forsyth, Billings area. This is all mile high country and noted for it's excellent cattle and sheep. The mountain peaks around the area reach a height of 10,000 feet.

The idea of the tour was to create better understanding between the ranchers and farmers of the two states.

—o—

Beans — a vegetable which someone is always spilling.

District Meeting To Be Held Here

I have some interesting figures concerning Farm Bureau. 29 per cent of all farmers belong to Farm Bureau; 3 out of 4 farmers who belong to any farm organization belong to Farm Bureau; The total gain in Farm Bureau membership the past 5 years is as great as the total membership of Farm Bureau's rival, The Farmer's Union. An interesting fact is that there is a higher percentage of farmers in Farm Bureau than there is laborers in Labor Unions; this despite the fact that many unions get their membership by compulsion.

—o—

The little boy looked intently at his father, "Daddy, are you still growing?"
"No, Sonny, what makes you think so?"
"Because the top of your head is coming through your hair."

—o—

"That boy has taken some money!" he stormed.
"How can you be so sure," protested his wife, "why, I might have taken it."
"No, you didn't," Fathers retorted, "there is some left."

—o—

My apologies to Mrs. Ivan Johnson and Mrs. Carroll Olsen. I mentioned in another column that Mrs. Carroll Olson was elected secretary of the Oakland-Moscow Unit. I should have said Mrs. Carroll Olson was elected Woman's Committee Chairman and Mrs. Ivan Johnson secretary. I was at the meeting, but the Moscow men were serving that night and I was working in the kitchen getting lunch ready.

—o—

The Shellrock Unit recently reorganized. Winston Hammersly was elected chairman; Helmer Erdahl vice chairman; Mrs. Martin Struck, Secretary; Mrs. Winston Hamersly, Women's Committee chairman. Mrs. Lawrence Gustafson and myself were speakers at their meeting.

—o—

An important meeting for Farm Bureau members is coming up Wednesday, March 16. The District Spring Conference will be held in Albert Lea. This meeting is open to all Farm Bureau people. Officers especially are urged to attend. This meeting will be for Freeborn, Dodge, Mower, Steele, Waseca and Faribault counties. We expect a large attendance. These conferences are always interesting with pertinent questions of the day analyzed.

—o—

The new School Milk program available to all schools in Minnesota now; both public and parochi... and private. Here is a chance for all citizens to take advantage of a program that will increase the consumption of milk and create better health for the children. If your school is not now taking advantage of it, better get the facts and help yourself to health. One fifth of Minnesota farmers income comes from dairying.

Fond Memories Of Cold Snow

Hello Folks! Just a year ago we visited Virginia City, Montana. I hadn't heard of the place before, so I wasn't too excited about going there, but this was our vacation and it was hot in the Gallatin Valley where we were staying with my in-laws. We left early one morning. As we looked westward we could see snow capping the mountains over which we were to pass. With the temperature over 90 degrees in the valley it would seem good to throw a few snowballs.

Virginia City is not on a main highway. We left No. 10 and took state highway 34. It is a new road and very good except for a few miles that is rough and gravely. As we climbed the mountain range the temperature became very comfortable; finally we even rolled up the windows. We got very close to the snow but didn't get to throw any snow balls.

Virginia City lies right in the heart of the Rockies. A gulch goes right through the town along side the street (there is only one street). The sights we were to see that day I will remember for a long time. Virginia City has a fabulous history. Silver was discovered there is such quantities that is became a boom town and, at one time it was one of the largest towns in Montana and its capitol. As happens in any boom town prices were exorbitant. Most of the equipment and clothing had to be shipped be stage over poor roads from Salt Lake City, 300 miles away.

Most of the mining was placer or surface mining. Huge equipment was moved in to do the work. The results of the big machinery is still evident as whole hillsides were moved to get at the silver.

A brewery was built and was the next largest industry. A theater was established and New York players were engaged to perform. Of course when the silver gave out everybody got panicky and the town was deserted overnight. Values dropped to nothing and nearly everything left as tho the proprietors had just stepped out for lunch. Hauling costs were too high to warant moving anything out. I'll tell you more about Virginia City next week.

—o—

"Why won't you marry me?" he demanded. "There isn't anyone else is there?"

"Oh Edgar," she sighed, "there must be."

—o—

Sometimes we hear the argument that our surpluses are not so high and that we should prepare for famines just as the pharoah of Egypt did under the direction of Joseph. I think it is a good idea to follow good examples whenever and wherever possible, but we should also analize the conditions and determine whether they apply to us or not. For one thing today we have swift means of transportation, we have knowledge of the use of soils, how to preserve moisture and fertilize them for maximum production. In other words our conditions today do not apply to requirements of ancient days. We know from past experiences about what the needs are for the days ahead, barring any unforseeable conditions. Production by irrigation can be speedily stepped up to meet urgent needs. It doesn't take much surplus to deaden the market and until we have good reason to build up wasteful supplies, I think we ought to keep them within proper bounds.

—o—

You can't kill time without injuring eternity.

—o—

Heaven must be in us before we can be in heaven.

—o—

It seems that congress insists on limiting the flexible program so much that it won't flex off rock bottom. If it won't flex that means we could get lower prices than ever.

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.

Farm Leaders Fight Farmers

HELLO FOLKS! — The way the corn referendum vote went it seems that the pseudo farm leaders who were fighting Benson discovered they were fighting the farmers instead.

—o—

THE CORN referendum vote was not a complete victory for those who believe in the American way of life. There is still that 65 per cent ruling that is going to keep farmers producing corn at an extremely heavy rate, a rate that may make it a ceiling instead of a floor. However it is gratifying to know that there are so many farmers who realize that the Government is not a profitable market for farm produce and that it can not guarantee as much as can be had on a competitive market.

This move in corn is a big step in the right direction, and if our congressmen are smart they will give farmers a chance to vote on other commodities the same way. It is one sure way of getting the farmers to choose their own program instead of the congress getting their own necks wrenched by making a false move.

Farm productivity is moving up at the rate of 6 per cent per year, and there is no indication that it is going to slow up. That means that the consumer is going to get his food cheaper each year. This is good for us all. Food is today the best buy it has ever been but not the best buy it will be in the future. Therefore a change in farm programs is bound to have to take place and the sooner the farmers get the change the better off we will all be. The consumer has as much stake in this as the farmer as his total cost of living is tied to it. If we get a sound fiscal policy going nationally and all segments of the economy use good sense in their demands we can have an ever upward increase in our standard of living. However with our society becoming more and more integrated all the time if some one "goofs" and does too much "rocking" the whole system can crash.

There are so many angles to our economy that it is an almost impossible job to know how each fits in and what effects what. One of the big problems that is going to be an issue is the role to be played by Church and State.

I believe that right now the State is usurping some of the role of the Church should have for best results, and we also know that the Church can usurp some of the State's duties. History has shown that.

To me it is all very interesting, that is why I write this column. We each need to teach the other and learn all we can. None of us know all we should but the sooner, and the better, we do know the better a future we are going to have.

—o—

I GOT so wound up on the going subject I almost forgot to tell a joke; so here goes;

He— "Honey, I loves you' bathing suit."

She— "Sho nuff?"

He— "It sho does."