LOCATING THE FINANCIAL LEAKS THAT
TAKE THE PROFITS OUT OF FARMING
- . By DAN H. OTIS '
Director Agricultural Commission, American Bankers Association
TNDUSTRIAL lines suffer because of inefficient firms, whose
1 . officers cling to old methods and place goods on. the market,
even at a loss, to compete with the more efficient institutions.
Asrriculture, too, has this problem to face.
We find farmers who fight new methods.
They retard the prosperity of other farmers
by throwing on the market poor quality
products, frequently produced at a los3. .
The nature of the banker's business
places him in a position to help this type of
farmer as well as the more progressive
farmer. At the same time the banker can
assure himself of good loans based on the
farm as a going concern.
A study of the investments, sources of in
come and expenses of the successful farm
ers in his community will give the banker a
measuring stick by which to gage the haz
ard entailed in furnishing loans to other
farmers. This study is readily accomplished
through the use of summaries of farm rec
ords! In the absence of good records, survey
blanks which can be obtained from the agri-
JESL83ES
D.H.OTIS
cultural colleges, may be used for collecting the information.
A banker in a dairy district would use data similar to
Farmer A's summary in the following table as a measuring
stick to Judge the condition of Farmer
B:
Farm receWs
T.. ..
A i in Ajciiac. .. ......
Rec'pti above expenses
. Interest on total invest
ment 6 per cent..
Farmer
A
, S5.4C5
13.343
1,070
Farmer
B
$2,214
1,07
$1,135
989
$146
130
$19,773
4,473
11
$1,205
Net Income after de
ducting interest...... $2,273
Acres 1 27
Total Investment.'..'..." $21,400
Operating capital (ma
, clilnery, livestock.
equipment) 5,802
Number of cows , Ig
Investment in cows.... $2,303
The total Investment of Farmer A
is moderate with a large percentage
(27 per cent) of operating or working
capital. Farmer B Is low in operating
capital. The number of cows Is also
low, which is reflected In the farm
receipts, these being $3,251 less than
those of Farmer A. The expenses of
Farmer B, although about one-half of
those of Farmer A, are, nevertheless,
high la the ratio to receipts.
The only way to safeguard a loan
to Farmer B Is to consider assets and
not income. Before any loan should
be considered at all the banker and
the farmer should go over the situa
tion, uncover the leaks and outline a
definite program of improvement
Diversity of Business Good Sign
Farmer Farmer
B
. $5J
A
$1,476
2,343
Income from crops....
From dairy products..
Bale or livestock (in
cluding increased in
ventory) , 1,65$
Miscellaneous Income.. 327
110
Ml
A good diversity of income serves
to protect the farmer against years
of overproduction of any one farm
product. Farmer A has a good diver
sity of income. Notice that the lead
ing source of income, dairy products,
constitutes less than one-half of the
total income. The various enterprises
that make up Farmer B's diversity of
business all show marked decreased
income. i -
Quality of Business Shows Leaks
.
. . ' .Farmer Farmer
A B
Receipts per cow..... $130 .$6$
Receipts per livestock
units other than
cows ; $4 ... $2
Under the heading, "Qualitf ol
Business," Farmer B shows that his
cows are bringing in $62 less per year
than Farmer A's. The $68 a year which
they are producing is undoubtedly be
low the cost of feed and keep. The
Income per live-stock unit is still
worse, and while this farm needs
more cows to increase its volume of
business, it would be financial suicide
to invest in the same type of caw.
This poor farmer must weed out his
poor cows and feed the balance pro
perly to get results before money Is
loaned to him to increase hit herd
with good stock.
An analysis of the farmer's records
will bring out many other leaks which
the farmer may not have noticed. He
may be paying high prices for feed
when less money spent for fertilizers
and lime may enable him to raise the
right kind of feed on his own farm
and stop this drain on bis pocket
book.
Barring temporary emergencies,
farm loans handled on the basis oi
income, indicating a going concern,
would hasten tremendously the day oi
a permanent and prosperous agri
culture. " -
Great Ones of Earth
Not Altoays Imperial
I have met nudities, Infiii'iimlly
and formally, tind nlwiiys us u simple
citizen sociality Inclined. They Im
pressed me Unit they ure rather wist
ful creatures whom no one would
ever suspect of royalty without being
told. I make one exception, mi Afri
can, the king of Wulhv-imd he sent a
tremor through me with n single Hash
of the eye at use insiani oi ms com
plete humiliation.
A very impressive queen called on
me In the wilderness somewhere
southeast of Lake Eyassl In what
was then German East Africa. She
came at nightfall with beating drums
and a bodyguard of powerful war
riors armed with shields and spears.
Behind her walked two handmaids, '
and slaves carrying pots of wild honey
and ground mils as gifts for my uska
rls. This lady was a genuine queen
and respected and olieyed as such
lUit she was rullii-r f '.; t. and waddled
as she walked, ami her only garmcut
was a single string of blue heads
Jiunglns about her mused hips. Site
was as coy in our Interview as u play
ful spluster.
I huve In my possession n iM-autifut
little gold watch presented to me by
an authentic princess of distinguished
royalty. There Is no doulit that unions
those who know her she Is one of Hie
most beloved hearers of tiile In Eu
rope; yet at that lime she was seri
ously considering abandoning her title,
since it was an embarrassing Imperil,
pient to travel. William A. Ander
son, in Adventure Magazine.
No Superlative ,
i An English teacher was making It a
practice of giving an 8A class a re-
jview of a certain point lu grammar
'each day. One day she said, Ton
may compare the adjectivec I shall
igive yon."
The entire class looked puzzled.
I To tha first girl the teacher said,
j high." There was little pause and
j finally In a little hesitant voice, the
girl said, "hello,"
Rainbow Division Plans Paris Meet,
Des Moines, la. Plans for a pil
grimage to France in 1&2S to celebrate
the 10th anniversary of Champagne,
St. Mihiel and Argonne were launched
by the veterans of the Rainbow divi
sion at their annual reunion here. An
Invitation to Paris or Nunc7, France,
tas been received Jrc:s tha French
jcvirtacat w
Literary Fame Came
Slowly to Johnson
Bamuel Johnson gained little money
when he compiled an English diction
ary, but the work served to make his
reputation secure. He bad been In
London ten yeurs, living obscurely as
a hack writer and slowly winning, a
reputation when he was given a
chance to prepare the dictionary, for
which he was to receive $4,500.
it took him seven years to complete
the tremendous work and he hud to
pny several assistants. The work Is
remembered uot because of its merits,
but largely becuuse of Johnson's letter
to the end of Chesterfield, who had
rebuffed the editor until he heard the
dictionary was Hearing completion and
then hoped to be it-gurded us one of
the benefactors of the scholar.
Upon the publication of the diction
ary, Johnson was given recognition as
the greatest living figure in English
literature. Fielding was dead, Uich
ardson was living in retirement, Gib
bon ' was lu Switzerland, Gray and
Cowper were publishing little. John
son was hailed as England's greatest
scholar. The houor had been slow In
coining, for 13 yeurs had passed since
lie had left Lichfield to make his for
tune In London. Kansas City Star.
Freight Bureau Reduces Timoer ruios
Olympia', Wash. Heading off the
pending investigation by the depart
tnent of public works into the meth
ods of scaling logs for freight rate
purposes, with a view of prescribing
a fair method, S. J. Henry, represent
ing the North Pacific Coast Freight
bureau, filed a new tariff of log scale
computations, effecting a material re
duction from present rates, AH prin
cipal railroads of the state are includ
ed in the filing, effective September 1.
" Truth at Any Price
Each man should learn what Is
within htm, that he may strive to
mend ; he must be taught - what is
without him, that he may be kind to
others. It can never be wrong to tell
him the truth; fur, In Iris disputable
state, weaving as he goes his theory
of life, steering himself, cheering or
reproving others, all facts are of the
first Importance to his conduct; and
even if a fact shall discourage or
corrupt hlui It is still best that he
should know it, for It is In this world
08 It is, and not in a world made easy
by educational' suppression, that he
must win bis way to shame or glory.
JLfcrt Louis Stevenson,
Mother Ants Employ
Babies as Needles
"A baby that you sew with, u baby
that's needle and thread child labor
with a vengeance, eh?"
The naturalist closed a book by a'
brother-naturalist, Glenwood Clark.
"Glenwood Clurk tells all about it
here,", he said. "The baby I refer to
is an unt, not a human being. In the
chrysalis or baby form this ant se
cretes a silk, and with that silk its
mother sews the leaves together to
make the ant nest, using the baby it
self as a needle, mind you.
"The ant nest is built on a twig
rather high up in a tree. The leaves
that form It are held together by
one group of ants, while another group
mothers armed with their babies
does the sewing.
"They hold their babies In their
claws. They press the tiny heads
against a place where two leaf-edges
Join. ' The heads deposit on the leaves
their cobwebby silk, and then they
are moved across the leaf Joint, needle
fashion, back and forth, and as they
move they make a thread.
"In this manner, thanks v to the
needle-and-thread babies, the ants'
nest Is goon, ready." . .
The Journey of Life.
When about to undertake a Jour
ney Ave consider the way, the people,
and the conveniences of travel, and
try to meet their requirements in ad
vance. An effort is made to learn
what we can from the reports of those
who have traveled that way, and we
accordingly supply ourselves with ac
cessible literature pertaiuing) to It
This is the course that wise people
follow, but there are many inconsider
ate ones who give no attention to sane
preparation, and therefore get con
fused respecting the course, get off at
uninteresting and dangerous places,
suffer much Inconvenience, and derive
little benefit. Therefore, let us give
heed to the proper beginning of ouf
Journey. Psychological Magazine.
Governor to Set Date of Election.
Salem, Or.-The federal constitution
makes it incumbent upon Governor
Patterson to issue writs of election to
fill the vacancy resulting from the
recent death of Maurice- K. Crum
packer, representative in congress
from the third Oregon congressional
district, according to a legal opinion
prepared by the attorney-general at
the request of Governor Patterson.
Plea for Brotherhood
What n great and glorious world
this might be if we always kept the
attitude . townrd one another which
prevails in the hour of flood and Are
and earthquake., Oh I The pity of It
that we watt for some colossal dis
aster to awake us to Mie real
of universal love.- ja
The Churches
Baptist Church
Sunday school at 9:45 A. M. The
right education of the .young was
never so important as it is today,
and perhaps never so difficult.
Divine Worship t U:00 A. M.
Topic, Repeating the Life of Christ.
Young Peoples Meeting at 7:00 P.
M. Education is shifting from dis
cipline and information to experience ;
the expert is in great demand, he is
now defined as the fellow who is
away from home.
Song and Praise service at 8:00 P,
M. Topic for, consideration. "Some
Problems of Modern Youth and How
to Overcome Them!" Young Peoples
Prayer meeting Tuesday evening at
8:00 P. M. Next Thursday evening
our. regular monthly business meet
ing, reports of officers and commit
tees a very interesting part of this
meeting.
All ought to be in christian work
of some kind. You are cordially in
vited to our services.
REV. E. M. BOLLINGER, Pastor.
31 Years Ago
July 31, 1896
George Martin and Owen Rusie
drove down to Pendleton Wednesday.
Born In Athena, July 29, 1896 to
Mr. and Mrs. Harden, a girl, weight
14 pounds.
William Russell claims the honor
of bringing to market the first load
of this season's crop of wheat. It is
graded at No. 1, and is stored with
Dave Taylor, agent for the Hamilton
Rourke warehouse system.
Johnnie McKay is ill with typhoid
fever in Pendleton. Nothing serious
is apprehended and he will soon be
able to be up.
The editor is under obligations to
John Duffy for a fine lot of trout.
John is another one who never fails
to get a basket full.
A. J. Parker informs us that his
three children, who are with their
mother on a visit in the Willamette
valley, are ill with whooping cough.
The band has dispensed with the
services of Frank Henry as instruct
or. Mr. Henry has accepted an en
gagement with Bingham Springs or
chestra. The Press is in receipt of the East
ern Oregon normal school catalogue
for 1896. It is from the press of the
Weston Leader and' like all work
turned out by that house, is A 1.
J. W. Chapman, the painter, has
just finished painting Joe Rainville's
new residence, south of the city. Mr.
Chapman is a first class workman
and always gives satisfaction.
Mrs. Harvey Whiteman is now at
the home of Tom Mosley on the
mountain southeast of Weston, and
though she is very weak, she hopes
to be benefitted by the trip. Mrs.
Whiteman has been a sufferer for
several years.
Jinks Taylor, Charles Henry and
Quill Gerking will assist Dave Taylor
on the Hamilton-Rourke platform
this year,
William Wilkinson is preparing to
receive a goodly portion of this sea
son's crop at the Pacific Coast eleva
tor. Wood is coming from the 'moun
tains with a rush. Now is the time
to lay in a supply.
Hugh Robie and wife have return
ed from a camping trip on the North
Fork of the Umatilla. Plenty of fish
found thejr way into the frying pan
and Hugh killed a bear, preserving
the pelt. Bear are reported plenti
ful in thj mountains this year.
Monday night someone ' entered
Wells' saloon and got away with
three revolvers and some' change,
which was left in the cash drawer.
Entrance to the building was made
by prying open the back door, and
bursting the night latch.
The merry and thrilling whistle of
"Bob White" greets the ears of our
citizens every morning from tho cool
shades of the grove below town. The
Eastern quail is with us and if the
man and small boy with a gun will not
kill them, in a short time there will
be many of those beautiful birds in
this section. Louie La Brash counted
eleven at his place, one morning re
cently.
Pendleton
Marble and Granite
Works
A Hometown Business for
Local People
Special Prices for July
All Work Guaranteed
T. L. REEDY,
Successor to T. A. Wyle
You Always Have a
Good Time at
Bingham Springs
We Always Treat You
Right
Dolph Thompson, Manager
Gibbon, Oregon
Hey! You Harvesters!
We Can Fit You Out
In Work Shirts, Overalls, Jumpers, Sox
. and Gloves
The Kind You Want
at the Right Price
Good health is the greatest possession you and your family can have. Be sure
and keep iti The best safeguard you can have is to eat good foods. When
your foods come from our store you can depend upon them being fresh
and pure. The quality will be high but the price will be right down as low as
our good quality can be sold for. Give us your grocery order today.
STEVE'S GROCERY
Quality Quantity, Service. Phone 171. Athena, Oregon
I
GO
The Athena Hotel
MRS. LAURA FROOME, Prop.
Courteous Treatment, Clean Beds
Good Meals
Tourists Made Welcome
Special Attention Given
to Home Patrons
Corner Main and Third
Athena, Oregon
We
Department
Store
insurance, real estate
farm loans at lowest
rates
B.B RICHARDS,
Athena
Continental Oil Company
Prompt Service
Always
Bryce Baker, Agent
Phones 761 and 31F11, Athena -:
THE
KILGORE CAFE
GERALD KILGORE, Proprietor.
FRIGIDAIRE COLD DRINKS
Malted Milk, Sodas, Coca Cola, Root Beer, Sun
daes, Ice Cream, Bricks, Dixies, Eskimo Pies, etc.
Gerald Kilgore, Proprietor - - Athena, Oregon, i
THE ATHENA MARKET
J. L. Harman
Blacksmithing
We Carry the
Pendleton
Machine Works
Hinged Weeder
Main Street Athena, Oregon
Bell & Dickenson
I'hones 452 and 21
Two Auto
Truck Drays
Always At Your Service
City and Country
HAULING
and Horse Team Work
We carry the best
Meat
That Money Buys
Kippered Salmon, all Kinds of Salt Fish. Fresh
Fish, Oysters, Crabs, Clams, Kraut in Season.
A. W. LOGSDON
Main Street Athena, Oregon.
au
Foley's Kidney Cure
I makes bilncys aai llsiJcr r!s,H
The Lumber
You Need
; If you are planning alterations or ad
ditions to your building, let us give
you an estimate on the Lumber need
ed. You will be pleasantly surprised
at the reasonble total we will quote.
Wood and Coal
Fence Posts
Tum-A-Lum Lumber Co. Main Street, Athena