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.

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.

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.

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.

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.