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About The gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925 | View Entire Issue (July 9, 1914)
HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION S Home and Farm Magazine Section Editorial Page Suggestions From Our Associate Editors, Allowing For an Interchange of Views, Written by Men of Experience on Topics With Which They Are Fully Acquainted Hints Along Lines of Progressive Farm Thought HOW AND WHEN TO BOKEOW. FIVE rules designed to convince farmers that there is no magic about credit are set down in farmers' bulletin 593, "How to Use Farm Credit," which the depart ment has just published. Unless tho farmer who is thinking of bor rowing money fully understands these rules and is willing to be guided by them, the government's advice to him is don't. . AS IT IS, THERE ARE PROB ABLY ALMOST AS MANY FARMERS IN THIS COUNTRY WHO ARE SUFFERING FROM TOO MUCH AS FROM TOO LIT TLE CREDIT. Of these rules the three most im portant are: 1. Make sure that the purposo for which the borrowed money is to be used will produce a return great er than needed to pay tho debt. 2. Tho length of "time tho debt is to run should have a close rela tion to tho productive life of the improvement for which the monoy is borrowed. 3. 1'rovision should be mado in long-time loans for the gradual re duction of tho principal. Tho first rule is, of course, the key to the wise use of credit. Be tween borrowing money to buy equipment of some sort with which to make more money there is all the difference between folly and fore Bight, extravagance and thrift. IP THE MONEY IS BORROW ED FOR A WISE PURPOSE IT WILL PRODUCE ENOUOH TO PAY BACK PRINCIPAL AND IN TEREST AND LEAVE A FAIR MARGIN OF PROFIT FOR THE BORROWER INTO THE BAR GAIN. If it is borrowed for a foolish purposo it will produce nothing and consequently there will be nothing with which to repay tho loan. From this point of view it matters comparatively little whether the in terest bo high or low. It is the re payment of tho principal that is the chief difficulty. Rules 2 and 3 deal with tho most satisfactory ways of repayment. Underneath them both is tho same principlo: The loan must be re paid with the money it earns it Bclf. For example, if the money is used to buy a machine that will last 10 years, tho machine must earn enough in that time to pay for it self or it never will. Tho loan, therefore, should be entirely repaid before tho 10 years are up or the farmer will lose money on tho trans action, 'paying out interest ior no benefit in return. On tho other hand, if too early a date is set for repayment, tho ma chine will not have had sufficient Opportunity to make the requisito monoy, and tho borrower may have difficulty in raising it elsowhoro. Rule 3 provides for some form of amortization, the system by which the principal is repaid in install , monts so that the amount of the loan is continually diminishing and ia consequence the interest charges also. Such a system is quite feas ible when the loan is really produc tive, when it returns to the borrow er a definite revenue each year. Tables showing the paymento re quired to pay off principal and in terest in varying periods of time are appended to the bulletin and aro recommended to the serious con sideration of every one who contem plates borrowing money. The bulletin also advises the farmer to secure the lowest possible interest. At first sight this soems too obvious to bo worth mentioning. Of courso, the interest should be as small as possible. Everybody knows that except the lender. But if the other rules are observed, if the borrowor manages his financial affairs soundly, he will be surprised to find how much easier it is to ob tain favornblo terms. THE RIOnT KIND OF LEND ER DOES NOT WANT TO FORE CLOSE MORTGAGES; HH WANTS HIS MONEY BACK WITH A FAIR PROFIT, LIKE ANY OTnER MERCHANT. FOB MONEY THAT IS BORROWED WISELY, FOR MONEY THAT 13 SURE TO BE REPAID, HE CHARGES LOW INTEREST. This, in fact, is why the govern ment has published these rules for borrowers. It is not so much a matter of driving a shrewd bargain as it is of observing a few funda mental principles which alone can make credit a blessing and not curse. SEND FOB COL. GOETHALS. Thorough investigation by gov ernment engineers shows that there is a water supply in the semi-arid and the arid regions of the west sufficient to irrigate ap proximately 30,000,000 acres, or enough land to furnish homes for 5,000,000 people, which is a big item in these days of land scarcity. Tho government is spending more than $1,000,000 a month in reclama tion work, and still it can not sup ply land fast enough to meet the demand. Tho cost of a singlo battleship in vested in an irrigation work will supply 4000 families with perma nent homos on the land, and every dollar will in time be returned to the federal treasury with interest. We have Bpcnt $500,000,000 to construct tho 1'anama canal. A loan of a liko sum invested in irrigation would mako homes of four acres each for 250,000 families and insure the future prosperity of 1, 250,000 people without taking a dol lar permanently from the govern ment treasury. On the basis of the present annual returns from government irrigated lands, the products of this new area each year would have a value of $250,000,000, equal to one-half the total investment. An appropriation of $100,000,000 should bo mado immediately avail able for this work. Under tho wise and comprehens ive plans of Secretary Lane, it is certain that with such a sum avail able the several western states would co-operate by appropriating a like sum for the prompt construc tion of irrigation projects. There aro 30,000,000 acres of des ert that can be reclaimed and there are 1,000,000 fainilios that want to put this land in crop. What are we going to do about itf In ordor to preserve the economic and social balance of this country, wo must during the next decade, Jo voto ronro attention to its Sgticul tural development. The pendulum of population must be swung sharply forward, and the massing of people in centers already congested must cease. During the laBt 30 years the drift has been steadily cityward. In 1880 70 per cent of the population was ru- . ral; in 1910 it was only 54 per cent In all but two states the urban pop ulation is now increasing faster than the rural. It is up to Uncle Sam to get busy. So should western congressmen, regardless oi politics. Let a national loan of $100,000, 000 be made to develop the interior of the United States. Colonel Goethals built the canal, and oversaw the expenditures of al most $500,000,000. There is no doubt that President Wilson and Secretary Lane would be given the $100,000,000 to spend on irrigation of public lands, if they put Goethals in charge of the ex penditure. Goethals has made good. Raise this $100,000,000 and let Goethals spend it. VALUE OF FARM MANURE. IF PROPERLY cared for, the manure from one cow is worth about 50 cents a week. It doesn't pay to toss it outside the barn door and let the rain wash the valuable part of it away, docs itt WHAT DADDY WAS UP AGAINST, fill OOKING back over my boy fta hood days," said an Atchi- son man recently, "I would not exchange them for those my own boy is experiencing. I was poor as a church mouse, while my boy has an average good homo, but he is missing so many good, whole some pleasures I had but did not appreciate. "I was raised out in the country where no person ordered mo out of their way or off their promises. There were fields and woods, creeks to wado in, barns to play in, orchards with no 'keep out' sign displayed. "My son wears sandals in sum mer. I couldn't afford footwear for summer and went barefoot. My boy has shoes than can be put on easy in winter and overshoes. I reveled in cowhide boots. "My boy has overcoats, sweaters and the warmest underwear. I knew nothing about a sweater, bought my first overcoat after I was 20 years old and wore canton flannel, home-made underclothes. My boy has a coaster wagon, roller and ice skates and often rides in an automobile. But he does not have a dog, he never broke a calf to lead, never has made or repaired a wagon of any sort, doesn't know what it is to roam the country over. "I would not give the pleasure I had with my dog, which I broke to pull, a lamb I hitched up with the dog, a calf I broke to lead and finally to work in shafts until it was a year old, the work of mak ing carts for the dog to haul, re pairing his harness, and dozens of other amusements which never cost a cent, for tho coaster wagon, the roller and ico skates, the movies, the automobile and train rides which are the pastime and pleasures of my boy. "Boys of today have their work, pleasure and pastime laid out for them. Boys of my day had to cre ate their own. I am sure I enjoyed life more than do the boys of to day." . HE EATS LIKE A KINO. FROM the Rhymes of a Retired Harvester, in the Atchison Globe: "Tho days are long and heated where toils the harvest hand, and ere the job's completed, ho '11 swear to beat the band. "For wheat beards try to punc ture his weather-beaten skin and at another juncture, the sweat beeB rub it in. And when he seeks his slumber late in the stilly night, mosquitoes in large number drive Morpheus to flight. "When comes the first gray dawning of one more sultry day, he's out where there's no awning to keep the sun away. Out there until the finish, ho, juggles golden grain lest output might diminish, or get caught in the rain. "The work is hard and dreary; the pay is not so great, for working till you're weary from early morn till late. "But here '8 a consolation for those who go that way to feed a hungry nation and garner what they may: "His appetite's a wonder and something hard to beat, and yet he'll find, by thunder, they have enough to cat." WHEN GIRLS LEAVE HOME. ELIZABETH S. M'ATEE, gener al secretary of the Young Wo men's Christian Association, of Cincinnati, has written a letter of advice to girls. "My first advice to every coun try girl is, don't come to the city unless it is absolutely necessary," Bays Miss McAtee. "At tho present timo there are so many ways in which a woman can earn a livelihood in the country ways which require intelligence and brains and which are exceeding ly remunerative. "On the other hand out large cities are crowded with boys and girls working for a few dollars week so few indeed, that they da not supply the necessities of life. "If, in spite of advice, a girl is- ' sists on trying life in the city, ska 1 should have money enough to de fray her first month's expenses and ' pay her way home. "She should know where Bhe if i going when she reaches the eity. "The Y. W. C. A. is always ready to have strangers met at the sta tion and direct them to s?e place "Above all girls traveling alone should not make acquaintances on the train or at the station and should ask information only of of ficials in uniform. "The time is not far distant when the National Travelers' Aid Society will have a repreaentatrva at every railroad station, traetic station and steamboat landing. "Every girl coming to a Btranga city should bring with her a letter , from her pastor or some other per-, sot of good standing in the eon- munity from which she eomea. " The main thing is:" Before lc; ing home, think twice or thrice. ' J . , A GOOD IDEA. IF the rchool children of Portland and other points in Oregon and Washington attend the Colum bia River Interstate Fair, to ba held at Vancouver, Wash, Septem ber 7-12, in as great numbers as there are free tickets for tiuaa, special cars will have to be put oar the run between Portland and Van couver. To the school children of Port land 32,000 free tickets have beam distributed, and some of the chil dren who have gardens there will enter the produce in competition at the fair this fall. To children ia other places outside of Portland 18y 000 tickets have been given to them, good for September 11. This is a good idea. Any fair that interests the school children will bo a success. ' WHAT BIG CROPS MEAH. CROPS are big all over Ua States. This means that lots of money will be paid harvest hands. That the thresherman will ba paid. That the farmers can pay their bills. The banks will get their princi pal and interest on farmers' notes That the warehouses will be folk That the railroads will have lots of cars to haul. All along the lino big crops spell prosperity. It's about time for the pesa mists to get to work. If they were busy doing trr thing they wouldn't have tuna to howL i HEW TO THE LINE. RURAL organizations should ha to the line. Keep alive and doing. Make your power felt in yasa community. . Pull together. Work for better schools, better roads, be. tor marketing. Drop personal rivalries and jeal ousies, church prejudices and politi cal differences. If you have no farmers' clubs in your vieinity, organize one. Work with your noighbors for tne good of all. TO ADVERTISERS. Advertisers in this locality who wish to fully cover all sections of Oregon and Washington and a por tion of Idaho will apply to local pub lishers for rates. General advertisers may address O. L. Burton, Advertising Manager, 411 Panama Building, Portland, Oregon, for rates and information Tho publishers will accept busi ness from no advertiser whose relia bility can be questioned.
