#73 
 
 
Cornell University Library 
 S 441.A73 
 
 Amours's hand book an agriculture. 
 
 3 1924 000 923 353 
 

 ELMS® H3®® 
 
 OF AGRICULTURE 
 
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 THE ARCHWAY THAT LEADS TO SUCCESSFUL FARM1N 
 
 * ARMOURS' DUREAU'o/"' 
 ♦AGRICULTURAL- RESEARCH • AND • ECONOMICS- 
 
 R.J.H.De Loach, Director Union StocU Yards, Chicago, I II. 
 
 % 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924000923353 
 
Armour's 
 
 HAND 
 BOOK 
 
 of Agriculture 
 
 Published, January, 1921 
 
 Armour's Bureau 
 of Agricultural Research and Economics 
 
 R. J. H. De LOACH, Director 
 
 Union Stock Yards 
 Chicago, 111. 
 

 A 7 - 
 
 "America's greatest need to-day is a more 
 complete understanding of her industries in 
 their relation to agricultural production and 
 prosperity. . " 
 
 Copyright, 1921, Armour and Company 
 
ARMOUR AND THE FARMER 
 
 Within recent years interest in agriculture has been growing 
 very rapidly. Railroads, banks, chambers of commerce, and many 
 large industries have organized departments of agriculture. A new 
 impetus has been given to agricultural education, and agricultural 
 colleges and experiment stations have begun to receive large appro- 
 priations and to nourish as they never did before. The farmers 
 are more alert mentally, and are making better use of the soil, which 
 shows a healthy reaction from this universal interest in the subject. 
 
 Many factors are back of this new interest in agriculture. 
 In the first place, all are beginning to see that agriculture is the 
 only vocation that can maintain an independent existence. For 
 in it, men can find their food, clothing and shelter, and with these 
 life can be sustained. In the second place, all are beginning to 
 understand the importance of the soil as our universal source of 
 supplies. We are beginning to realize that the soil can be wasted 
 or it can be conserved in a state of permanent fertility, and that 
 universal interest may set machinery in motion to preserve it 
 permanently before the "thinning" process has gone too far. 
 
 While agriculture is perhaps the most important vocation of 
 man, civilization is based on successful agriculture, plus a healthy 
 system of transportation, commerce, manufacture and industry. It is 
 based on the proper contact of man witli man and nation with 
 nation, which is not possible without an efficient system of trans- 
 portation. Farmers realize thoroughly that agriculture is a fasci- 
 nating business or Vocation only when to its necessities are added 
 comforts and amusements. They know that to make these possible 
 requires skilled workmen and talent not engaged in agriculture. 
 In other words, civilization requires that populations be so divided 
 that only a sufficient number will be producing to furnish food and 
 clothing, and to make agriculture fascinating; that a sufficient 
 number be engaged in transportation to make for efficiency, yet 
 not so crowded that the vocation ceases to be profitable; that a 
 sufficient number be engaged in, manufacture and commerce, and 
 that there be equal chance for life, liberty and the pursuit of 
 happiness in all lines of activity. 
 
 Armour is interested in agriculture because it is the background 
 of all manufacture and industry, without which they could not exist. 
 Commerce and industry must prosper with agriculture. They can- 
 not prosper at the expense of agriculture.* In the early history of 
 mankind, production was imposed upon slaves, and government 
 was administered to the people and not controlled by them. 
 
 For the purpose of getting an accurate estimate of Armour's 
 relations with production, there has been organized a Bureau of 
 Agricultural Research and Economics. To this department we 
 are looking for a thorough investigation- of our interest in the 
 problem, and just how we should establish closer relations with 
 the producers. This book shows some points at which Armour and 
 the farmer have interests in common and we believe will lay the 
 foundation for an understanding of our problems, and for a better 
 relationship between our interests and the farmer's interests. 
 
THE GOVERNMENT AND THE FARMER 
 
 The Government, it should be kept in mind, is not any partic- 
 ular material things but is the embodiment of the spirit or soul of 
 a great mass of people, and is represented by a class of citizens 
 - called government officials or employes. The fairness with which 
 this spirit is administered depends upon the natural ability, the 
 training and personal peculiarities of these representatives. 
 
 Men are not perfect, whether they be, in office or out of office, 
 whether they be in public positions or private business. Fallible 
 men out of office do not become infallible men in office, and for 
 these reasons, representatives of the spirit of the whole people may 
 not always be free from prejudices. The idea of loyalty to the 
 Government is based on the assumption that men out of office are 
 as anxious as men in office to observe the law and to see that the 
 Government shall function properly and that public officials shall 
 represent the spirit of the whole people rather than that of any 
 particular class. 
 
 The United States Department of Agriculture represents the 
 entire nation agriculturally, not a particular class of citizens called 
 farmers. No government can have a more important work than 
 to foster the production of a sufficient amount of food, clothing 
 and shelter for its citizens, and to encourage and protect against 
 fraud those who are engaged in agricultural pursuits. The nature 
 of its work seems to indicate that it is perhaps the most important 
 department of our Government. 
 
 The Department of Agriculture has evolved the greatest piece 
 of agricultural machinery of its kind in the world, and when 
 properly functioning should inspire our farming population to develop 
 the highest degree of efficiency. To accomplish this, millions of \ 
 our general tax money are spent annually and thousands of experts 
 are employed. To discover means of producing more bread and 
 meat on a given surface, and with this tq promote the welfare of 
 the producers, is the Government's primary interest in agriculture. 
 
 This great Department represents the spirit of America agri- 
 culturally only when it exercises a wholesome leadership with the 
 proper attitude toward all the people. In a democracy no depart- 
 ment of government can, with safety, promote one line of business 
 at the expense of others. There is great danger in prejudicing one 
 class of citizens against another, which we hold is never justifiable in 
 a governmental agency. To do so is a sign of weakness or unfair- 
 ness on the part of those who, for the time being, have in charge 
 the administration of the affairs of government. The function of 
 the government should be rather to exercise leadership, to harmo- 
 nize differences and to warn and punish offenders. 
 
 The packing industry is very closely related to, and its growth, 
 for the past half century, has been coexistent with the development 
 of our agriculture. It is founded on sound economic principles, 
 and in a study of these principles the industry asks from the Govern- 
 ment only the same fair dealings as are accorded other industries 
 and vocations, including agriculture. 
 
 Our Federal Government is divided up into many parts, and each 
 
division is .charged with a certain duty. For a Department to try 
 to function outside its own sphere is likely to lead to misunder- 
 standing and serious consequences. When the Department of 
 Agriculture is making investigations in the field of Commerce and 
 Manufacture, it seems that the natural thing would be to do so in 
 conjunction with the Department of Commerce, just as the Depart- 
 ment of Commerce would be expected to do in the case of making 
 inquiry regarding agriculture. 
 
 This industry is engaged primarily in* the manufacturing and 
 marketing business, not in agricultural production, and marketing 
 is the first, step in the field of commerce, and its importance is 
 second only to that of agriculture. Farmers, we believe, should 
 co-operate in the marketing of their products to the same extent to 
 which others are permitted to co-operate, but when the Govern- 
 ment promotes any-marketing problem it should represent the spirit 
 of all the people, rather than the welfare of any particular class. 
 The Department of Commerce should be the umpire for the Gov- 
 ernment in all matters pertaining to the marketing of all products, 
 both those of the farms and those of the manufacturers, and the 
 subject should always be considered as a whole and the welfare of 
 all the citizens taken into account in every step of the marketing 
 process. 
 
 THE STATE AND THE FARMER 
 
 The State is a step nearer the lives and homes of the people 
 than is the Government, and enters more into sympathetic rela- 
 tions with them because State officials are seen of tener, and become 
 a reality in the minds of the people. The State's interest in agri- 
 culture is similar to the Government's interest, — but it has a more 
 direct way of expressing this interest. 
 
 The states promote the business of agriculture in many ways 
 including the services through the Department of Agriculture, the 
 Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations, and the teaching 
 of agriculture in the common schools. In all these, the idea is to 
 help develop thrift on the farm, and to insure good returns from 
 the soil. The State finds that the promotion of agriculture is good 
 insurance against the day of want. In promoting agriculture the 
 State should not overlook the welfare of all other activities. It is 
 promoting agriculture for the benefit of the entire state, and not 
 merely for the farmers. 
 
AGRICULTURE AND INDUSTRY 
 
 The greatest problem in ancient times was to keep enough 
 men producing on farms so that those not on farms would have 
 food and clothing. This is not true today, because Of the develop- 
 ment of the principle of landownership, and the new business of 
 farming which will keep a safe ratio on the farm. 
 
 The progress of agriculture depends as much upon the number 
 and kind of people who are not on farms as it does on those who 
 are on farms. If all were farmers, every man would produce what 
 he needed and would consume what he produced. He would not 
 need to buy and there would be no one to sell to, so there would 
 be ho advantage in producing a surplus. It is extremely important, 
 therefore, for the safety of agriculture that we have a sufficient 
 number of the right kind of citizens off the farms to properly 
 handle our industries, our manufactures, and our commerce, and 
 to consume the surplus products of our farms. Farming can be 
 made profitable only when farmers can sell enough products to buy 
 land and the necessary farm equipment, and to enjoy the comforts 
 of a progressive civilization. 
 
 While agriculture, therefore, may be the most important busi- 
 ness of the nation, industry also is highly important and necessary. 
 Civilization is based on a healthy development of manufactures, a 
 great system of transportation, and the growth of commerce. A 
 large percent of the population is required to do these things other 
 than farming, and farming can be made a business only when 
 there are many other .lines of business and when farmers have a 
 maximum number of customers. At present about 49,000,000 
 people are living on farms in the United States and her possessions, 
 and nearly 59,000,000 off the farms. This makes approximately 
 42% of the people on farms and our farmers have a market for 
 about 58% of their total products. Industry, which has become 
 necessary to manufacture, conserve, and distribute this surplus, 
 furnishes a market for farm produce that converts agriculture 
 into a business second to none in the country. 
 
 The business of agriculture may be- conducted economically 
 on a small scale, or in small units, but for most other kinds of in- 
 dustry this is not possible. Business and industry have found that 
 organization on a large scale develops efficiency and cuts down 
 overhead expenses. Some think that the future success of our 
 agriculture will depend on organizing on a large scale, and in this 
 way fall in line with the standards set up by large industrial organ- 
 izations. Whether this be true will depend on the will of the land- 
 owners themselves. Farms are growing larger and fanners are 
 organizing for the successful marketing of their products. This is 
 in keeping with themarketing of manufactured products by organized 
 business. In developing this idea, farmers should not ignore the 
 fundamental law of supply and demand, which determines whether 
 a given product brings a good price or whether it must be sacrificed. 
 Industry has learned that prices are set by demand for a product, 
 and not by the will of those who would sell. 
 
RATIO OF RURAL TO URBAN POPULATION 
 
 In the foregoing it is shown that about 49,000,000 people live 
 on farms in the United States, while approximately 59,000,000 
 live in cities and towns. To secure the necessities of life from the 
 earth requires a greater number of our citizens than any other single 
 vocation, and there are enough citizens not on farms to make a 
 large ready market for this produce. To this fact alone can be 
 attributed the possibility of making of our agriculture a great indus- 
 try or business. It is what farmers eat that keeps them alive, but it is 
 what they sell that makes them thrifty and prosperous. 
 
 It is frequently asked if we need more farmers and greater 
 competition in the field of agricultural production? From the 
 standpoint of the farmer, the answer would be NO ! Farmers fre- 
 quently need more labor on the farm, but they are not anxious 
 to have a greater number of farmers. From the standpoint of the 
 consumer, the answer would be YES! The consumer is looking for 
 cheaper food, while the farmer is looking for higher prices for his 
 products. This conflict of desires is natural, and is brought about 
 largely by the ever changing ratio of country-city populations. 
 
 In the early days 5% of our population lived in towns and cities, 
 and the other 95% on farms. Only those thrifty farmers located 
 near the towns and cities marketed anything, while those more re- 
 mote produced only a sufficient quantity to supply their own needs. 
 This condition was generally true until the invention of the spin- 
 ning jenny and the settlement of the fertile lands in the middle west. 
 From this time, production became a less serious problem, and our 
 clothing and shoe manufacturing establishments began to grow 
 upon the eastern shore. Our transportation systems began to reach 
 for raw produce, and to take products to consumers. 
 
 The tendency, therefore, has been to drift from the farms to 
 the cities, as our manufactures have grown and our transportation 
 systems have removed the danger of starvation from centers of 
 population. What is the limiting ratio? How many more can we 
 spare from the country? These questions can be answered only 
 by the limit to which farm machinery can, be improved, and by the 
 prices of farm produce. It also depends upon the extent to which 
 other vocations become crowded. When the competition in our 
 industrial centers becomes too great, thei people will move to the 
 country, and when the prices of farm products are too low, farmers 
 and farm labor will move to the towns and cities. We believe 
 the natural laws of landownership and the fascinating vocation of 
 agriculture will keep this ratio within the safety limit. 
 
 Farmers sometimes believe there are too many middle-men. 
 Yet what are middle-men to do unless they function as they are? 
 Shall they be sent back to the farms to compete in production? There 
 has always been a certain amount of dead timber both on farms 
 and in cities, but their burden is carried by society as a whole, not 
 by producers alone. The man who pays the bill at the other end 
 of the line carries the most of it. If the consumer paid less, the 
 producer would get less, as in our present* state of society. The 
 redeeming feature is that every person not a producer is a customer. 
 
THE NATURE OF OUR AGRICULTURE 
 
 Ours is a livestock agriculture, a fact which makes the live- 
 stock market an essential ally of the farmer and an important fac- 
 tor in our agricultural system. 
 
 In the year 1919 we fed approximately 80% of all our grain 
 crops to livestock, making the immense total given below: 
 
 96% of our oats or 1,152,970,000 bushels 
 90% " ' " corn " 2,533,887.000 
 85% " " barley " 184,720,400 " 
 30% •' " wheat " 384,203.000 " 
 20% " " rice " 31,866,000 " 
 
 or a total of 4.287,645.400 bushels 
 
 The greater part of our farm lands was given over to the grow- 
 ing of f eedstuff s f or livestock, which have added proportionately to 
 our necessities, comforts and luxuries. This method has enabled 
 the American farmer to convert into money the entire output of 
 our national agriculture. If we had no livestock industry, there 
 would be such a large surplus of grain that all the world could not 
 consume it. 
 
 The most important factor in the development of this system 
 of agriculture has been a ready cash market for livestock. Before 
 such a market was established, our agriculture was at a low ebb, 
 but since then it has far outstripped any other in the world. 
 
 The country has grown into great farming centers and manu- 
 facturing centers, as a result of its geography. There are large areas 
 of fertile soil in the middle west, and natural advantages for manu- 
 facturing and export trade on the Atlantic seaboard. This has re- 
 sulted in areas of overproduction and sections of overconsumption. 
 
 For instance, in 1918 the State of South Dakota shipped out, on 
 the hoof, 600,000 beef cattle and 1,700,000 hogs, to be manufactured 
 into food products by the large packing plants, to be taken east for 
 distribution, and to return large sums of money as farm income. 
 Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, Nebraska and Georgia have 
 50% of the hogs of the country, or a total of 35,000,000. Texas, 
 Nebraska, Jowa, Kansas and Illinois have 25% of the beef cattle, 
 or a total of 11,000,000. This book is prepared partly for the 
 purpose of showing how these sections have been brought together. 
 
 The equipment of the packing industry has been gradually 
 adjusted to the need of doing this very thing, and was not from 
 the first destined to enter into competition with the smaller 
 slaughtering houses. This is the explanation of an immense sys- 
 tem of mechanical refrigerator cars. To haul live animals such 
 distances would be more than four times as costly. 
 
Help Yourself by Helping Each Other 
 
MARKETING OF FARM PRODUCE 
 
 No matter how much food our nation as a whole produces, 
 farmers will always have to face the problem of marketing it. 
 Nowhere in the world has a system been developed in which the 
 ultimate consumer goes after the goods he needs and it is extremely 
 doubtful if price levels and decreased production will ever reach 
 a point where a change in the economic scheme will be necessary. 
 
 Nearly all businesses in which the production of a definite 
 commodity is the aim, have two separate departments, a production 
 department and a sales department. The two are manned by en- 
 tirely different types of men, each skilled in his own field. It is rare 
 indeed that a member.of the production department is a good sales- 
 man, and even rarer that a good salesman is a good producer. 
 Hence it is not surprising that farmers have in general failed to 
 combine these two functions in the handling of their farms, and 
 that a complex marketing system for farm produce, adapted to the 
 distances that must be covered from farm to dinner table, has 
 sprung up. In the case of fruits, vegetables and many of the cereals 
 and hays, there is practically no change made from the forni in 
 which the product leaves the farm, hence a margin in price is 
 required only for labor in grading and sorting, transportation and 
 waste due to spoilage. Animal products, except eggs and raw 
 milk, require a certain amount of manufacture in addition, hence 
 the farmer requires the service of marketing agents to a greater 
 degree, a service that may cost much more in terms of margin than 
 is required on grains or other farm products. 
 
 Farm production is seasonal, but the products must be so 
 handled as to be distributed over the year. With the fruits, grains 
 and vegetables, there is little choice as to what the fanner can do. 
 The middleman has developed storage facilities that are so much 
 cheaper and more efficient than those which the individual farmer 
 can obtain, that it is the usual practice for the farmer to sell at once 
 and thereby make the greatest profit from his crops, even though 
 the prices may be a little higher at some later period. Livestock 
 presents a different situation, however, since its marketing is much 
 more independent of season. The intelligent feeder can so plan his 
 feeding schedules as to market his animals at any time, although 
 he will usually find that the cycle whereby his young animals are 
 born in the spring and fed out on the crops of the following autumn 
 or the second season, give him the lowest cost of production. If he 
 seeks the higher price levels of the light seasons on the livestock 
 market he must match his judgment of probable increased prices 
 against his own knowledge of increased cost of production. 
 
 The sale of livestock is the first step in the marketing process, 
 being a trade between the commission man who represents the 
 producer, and the buyer who represents the manufacturer. Both 
 know markets and set their judgment, one against the other, to 
 make a bargain. Due to the variations in judgment in different 
 farmers, there are always going to be a number of dissatisfied losers, 
 and the marketing problem will probably be as acute in 2021 A.D. 
 as it is in 1921 or was in 221, for it is an old, old problem. 
 
 10 
 
MANUFACTURE OF FARM PRODUCE 
 
 A certain amount of farm produce is-consumed just as it comes 
 from the farm, while a great portion is manufactured completely 
 before it is ready for final consumption. The progress of our civili- 
 zation is measured by our ability to convert raw product into its greatest 
 usefulness to man. Things that do not require manufacturing were 
 as common among savages as they are among civilized peoples, but 
 only the crudest efforts at manufacture were made by man before the 
 dawn of civilization. His growing wants have inspired him to 
 discover how he can better use Nature's storehouse. 
 
 The packing industry is based upon the necessity of processing 
 livestock for man's needs. Man ate animal flesh before the days 
 of the packing industry, but largely around the centers of production. 
 There was very little trade in meats and meat products except where 
 farmers brought fresh meats to the villages and towns, to dispose 
 of them for immediate consumption. 
 
 In our modern civilization, meat is a large portion of the diet 
 because: 1. It contains food elements that are most nutritious and 
 appetizing; 2. The production of livestock fits into any agricultural 
 scheme for conserving soil fertility. The manufacture of livestock 
 into meats by the large packing establishment is differentiated from 
 primitive methods, or even the modern small slaughtering house, by 
 at least two qualifications. 1. It must be sanitary and must pass 
 Federal inspection for cleanliness as well as for the wholesomeness 
 of the meats that are being manufactured.. 2. It must have equip- 
 ment of such nature as to fit into the national development of Our 
 agriculture. It must manufacture on a large scale, especially in the 
 United States, must ship fresh meats rapidly from one part of the 
 country to the other, and must have an immense system of refriger- 
 ation to keep these meats in perfect condition until they finally 
 reach the consumer. 
 
 The manufacture of livestock and other farm produce into the 
 most usable forms has unquestionably been responsible for the 
 progress and prosperity of our agriculture, and agriculture owes 
 to industry much for the part it has taken in helping to increase 
 the value of farm produce. A strictly agricultural country cannot 
 prosper unless a large proportion of the population is engaged in 
 manufacture, commerce and transportation, as well as in agricul- 
 ture. There might have been a degree of satisfaction in farmers 
 making their produce into usable materials, but few of us would 
 exchange our modern civilization for this primitive condition. In 
 fact, everybody has fostered the modern principle of the manufac- 
 ture, away from the farm, of farm products into usable materials. 
 
 In the development of this system in our country, all classes 
 of labor and industrial management have specialized to a degree far 
 beyond the farmer. Those in our manufacturing centers where 
 it is necessary to have specialized effort can do very few things, 
 perhaps only one thing efficiently. However, they prove a mighty 
 factor in adding value to farm produce before it is ready for final 
 consumption, and it is quite necessary to keep in mind all of these 
 points when we study the problems nearest to us. 
 
 11 
 
G rade Your Products 
 
 FIRST 
 
 SECOND 
 
 8 
 
 GRADE 
 
 /£\ [GRADE": 
 
 GRADE 
 
 The Higher the Grade-the Better the Price. 
 
 12 
 
WHOLESALE MARKETING 
 
 The first trade in the marketing process is between two experts, 
 — the commission man and the packer buyer, both knowing the 
 value of the ' livestock sold. The second* step is the sale of the 
 carcass or wholesale cuts by the manufacturer to the retail butcher, 
 again a trade between two experts. Each possesses a full knowl- 
 edge of the public demand for meat and meat products. The third 
 and last step in marketing is the final sale by butcher to consumer. 
 Whether this is between two experts depends on whether the con- 
 sumer is a meat expert. In most cases he is not, but he does know 
 when meats suit his taste, and he refuses to patronize butchers who 
 continually offer products that do not appeal to his palate. 
 
 We propose to discuss only the problem of the wholesale 
 dealer, as it relates to the distribution of packing-house products. 
 This process requires for fresh meats complete equipment, 
 including large curing houses, elaborate mechanical refrigeration, 
 and an efficient system of refrigerator car lines, and all this 
 in addition to large manufacturing plants, where overhead expenses 
 can be kept down. The success of our agriculture and of all in- 
 dustry, may be traced directly to the quick wholesale movement of 
 the finished product. Unless such products could be moved rapidly 
 and regularly as they are made, the channels of trade would soon 
 be clogged and people would go unfed and unclothed, and the raw 
 products would find no place in the factory experience. 
 
 Contrast the early days of handling meats when that which 
 was not consumed immediately was lost, with today, when a large 
 industry saves practically every pound. In the conduct of this busi- 
 ness the fundamental laws of values are in operation every minute 
 of the time. The value of the articles offered for sale depends upon 
 the price for which they can be sold. No one can very long maintain 
 his business who cannot produce the articles offered for sale, for less 
 money than he receives for them. The cost of operation plus the 
 cost of the raw products must be more than realized in the sale of 
 the goods, and at the same time the keenest competition must be 
 met. The manufacturer or firm that exercises the best judgment 
 in buying raw products, usually can make the best appeal to the 
 
 consuming public, be 
 ucts that find a broad 
 that are likely to bring 
 cause they appeal to 
 trade. 
 
 liiiifti 
 
 cause he getstheprod- 
 and steady outlet, and 
 the better prices be- 
 the better class of 
 
 ~s^ 
 
 13 
 
THE DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD PRODUCTS 
 
 The center of livestock production in the United States is 
 approximately 1,100 miles from the center of meat consumption. 
 That the people of the United States do not have to travel this 
 distance to secure their supplies, is due to the efficiency of our 
 industrial and transportation systems. The fact that prices of 
 meat are so nearly national in nature, proves how thorough the 
 distribution is. There is little that is sectional in the way a big 
 packing organization handles its products. For example, two-thirds 
 of the beef slaughtered at Armour and Company's river markets, 
 Kansas City, St. Joseph, Omaha and Sioux City is consumed east 
 of the Ohio borders, an average distance of 1,125 miles. Nearly 
 as great a proportion of the beef from the Ft. Worth plant goes into 
 the southeast, an approximate distance of above 800 miles. The 
 average distance that a carcass of beef travels from the time 
 Armour and Company receive it until it leaves the Company's 
 possession is approximately 450 miles. A lamb carcass travels 
 about 600 miles, and the products from a hog carcass, 500. 
 
 The distribution problem is more than geographical, however. 
 Nearly all livestock is fed on the annual cycle based on the dates 
 when crops ripen, while its products are consumed according to the 
 frequency with which man gets hungry. This makes necessary a 
 distribution in time that arouses a second and very important prob- 
 lem in livestock marketing. The great period when cattle and sheep 
 come on the market is in the fall, while hogs come in the winter, 
 principally during the period November to February. On the other 
 hand the summer consumption far exceeds the receipts of that season. 
 Hence the problem of the marketing organizations is to assume the 
 overhead expense necessary to bridge over the lean months and so 
 to handle the receipts as to result in a minimum of discomfort 
 for the great body of consumers in America. During the fiscal 
 year 1918-1919 Armour and Company's sales were distributed 
 according to two-month periods as shown in the following table, 
 while the receipts on the market were as indicated. 
 
 PERCENTAGE RECEIPTS AND SALES BY PERIODS OF 
 LIVESTOCK AND MEATS 
 
 
 1918 
 Nov.-Dec. 
 
 1919 
 Jan.-Feb. 
 
 1919 
 Mar. -Apr. 
 
 * 1919 
 May-June 
 
 1919 
 July-Aug. 
 
 1919 
 Sept.-Oct. 
 
 
 17.6 
 22.2 
 
 19.8 
 17.6 
 
 15.1 
 12.4 
 
 13.8 
 13.5 
 
 16.3 
 14.8 
 
 17.4 
 
 " receipts 
 
 19.5 
 
 
 15.2 
 19.2 
 
 16.1 
 13.8 
 
 14.4 
 10.0 
 
 14.4 
 11.8 
 
 17.8 
 18.0 
 
 22.1 
 27.2 
 
 
 15.5 
 21.7 
 
 20.9 
 23.4 
 
 16.5 
 15.1 
 
 14.8 
 17.0 
 
 16.2 
 11.3 
 
 16 1 
 
 " receipts 
 
 11.5 
 
 The beef and lamb surplus from September to December and the 
 pork surplus from November to February, are clearly demonstrated. 
 
 14 
 
CONSUMPTION 
 
 Food consumption is based fundamentally on the need of 
 energy and of replacing the worn tissues in the individual. How- 
 ever, civilization has carried it far beyond such a point, and today 
 food consumption is based not on needs, but on the appeal of 
 quality, flavor, sanitation and general appetizing conditions of mar- 
 keting. The proportions of different foods or the general character 
 of foods is a racial matter, or, within the race, a family matter. It 
 is generally known that the peoples of the northern latitudes con- 
 sume more fats and that the peoples of the tropics more fruits than 
 those of the temperate zones. It is less generally known that the 
 bulk of mutton and lamb produced in the United States is consumed 
 east and north of the Ohio-Pennsylvania Southern state line and the 
 Potomac River. Each section has its food peculiarities and each city 
 or market within that locality its individual characteristics. It is 
 difficult to appreciate in terms of pounds how cities with strong 
 Catholic populations reduce their meat consumption on Fridays, or 
 what a factor the feast days or fast days observed by members of 
 other religions are in the movements of farm produce. Moreover, 
 some communities express preferences for one cut, some for an- 
 other; witness the Jewish abstention from pork and the consump- 
 tion of fore quarter beef. The meat salesman has to anticipate 
 these days and customs, while the general vendors of farm prod- 
 uce must understand them perfectly, else there is great waste. 
 
 But even greater than these fixed days in determining the rate 
 of consumption of the different foods is the effect of weather on the 
 tastes of the public or the effect of competing foods. It is difficult 
 indeed to measure the effect of a few carloads of early strawberries 
 or melons on meat consumption, not because they are competing 
 foods from a nutritional standpoint, but because they compete for 
 the favor of the limited family purse. Few farmers are competent 
 to judge these whims of taste, and the services of highly trained 
 middlemen are therefore necessary to guarantee the farmer highest 
 prices for his products. 
 
 The differences in nations as to annual per capita meat con- 
 sumption is shown in the following table, prepared from data fur- 
 nished by the U. S. Department of Agriculture in 1916 : 
 
 
 262 lbs. 
 213 " 
 
 171 " 
 140 " 
 137 " 
 124 " 
 120 " 
 116 " 
 79 " 
 76 " 
 75 " 
 
 
 70 lbs. 
 
 
 Netherlands 
 
 Greece 
 
 70 " 
 
 United States 
 
 68 " 
 
 
 64 " 
 
 
 
 62 " 
 
 Cuba 
 
 Poland 
 
 62 " 
 
 
 62 J' 
 
 
 
 50 " 
 
 
 
 49 " 
 
 
 
 47 " 
 
 
 
 44 " 
 
 
 
 
 It will be noticed that the English speaking countries are by 
 far the biggest consumers of meat, while there are no Asiatic races 
 given in the table. This is because the Asiatics are very frugal con- 
 sumers of meat indeed, Japan being the only nation that shows 
 any signs of increasing in this particular. 
 
 15 
 
SERVING AND I 
 
 AGRICULTURE, COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, WHEN 
 
 IAT1 
 
BEING SERVED 
 
 [PROPERLY ORGANIZED, WILL STAND TOGETHER FOR 
 IONAL EFFICIENCY 
 
THE CENTERS OF POPULATION. THE GREAT 
 PROBLEM OF DISTRIBUTION 
 
 The great centers of population in the United States are along 
 the Atlantic seaboard and inland for about a depth of 300 miles. 
 Excluding the Gulf States, Florida, the Garolinas and Ohio, this 
 includes about 32 percent of the population, all of which is 
 characteristically industrial, and hence a food consumptive group. 
 Not all other regions are surplus producers as far as all classes of 
 meat are concerned, the southeast, for example, requiring the ship- 
 ment of a large proportion of its beef and lamb, and the northwest 
 and southwest a large part of their pork and pork products. Never- 
 theless, the great problem in distribution is furnished by the eastern 
 centers, and the accomplishment of this function is the economic 
 reason for the existence of national packing organizations. 
 
 We believe that Armour and Company's figures on distribution 
 from the various sections in which their plants are located are 
 sufficiently representative of the economic facts of distribution to 
 be applicable to all national packing companies, and that they will 
 give a typical measure of the contributions of each of the producing 
 districts toward feeding this third of our population located in 
 industrial regions. The following table is self-explanatory: 
 
 Plant 
 
 Beef Shipped 
 
 Pork and Pork Product Shipped 
 
 
 East 
 
 Elsewhere 
 
 East 
 
 Elsewhere 
 
 Chicago 
 
 St. Paul 
 
 61% 
 25 
 
 2 
 14 
 27 
 63 
 78 
 66 
 62 
 11 
 61 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 39% 
 
 75 
 
 98 
 
 86 
 
 73 
 
 37 
 
 22 
 
 34 
 
 38 
 
 89 
 
 39 
 100 
 100 
 
 95 
 
 98% 
 20 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 40 
 60 
 50 
 70 
 
 
 20 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2% 
 80 
 99 
 
 
 100 
 
 Ft. Worth 
 
 Kansas City 
 
 100 
 60 
 40 
 
 
 50 
 
 Sioux City 
 
 Indianapolis 
 
 30 
 100 
 80 
 
 Tifton 
 
 100 
 100 
 
 
 100 
 
 Mutton and lamb in general in their distribution tend to follow 
 cattle, although the ratio is not exactly the same. It will thus be seen 
 that the great burden of feeding America's centers of population 
 is laid on the Mississippi-Missouri River section, to the north of 
 their confluence. The shortage in beef in the southeast is largely 
 supplied from the Ft. Worth and St. Louis territory. Pork product 
 throughout the southwest is supplied from the Fort Worth and 
 Denver territory, and throughout the northwest from the St. Paul, 
 Denver and Spokane regions. Because of the arrangement of rail- 
 road trunk lines, it is almost as easy to take the meats east as it is 
 to distribute to these more sparsely settled areas, hence it frequently 
 happens that the cost of distribution eastward is relatively much 
 less than it is in the mountain states, the range country and over 
 parts of the Pacific coast. This fact helps to bring up the price of 
 livestock for the western producers and to furnish and lower costs 
 of fresh meats to eastern consumers. 
 
 18 
 
SOME DIFFICULTIES IN DISTRIBUTION 
 
 The distribution of meats in the United States having been 
 developed according to the scheme indicated, it has become impera- 
 tive that nothing happen to interfere with the steady flow from day to 
 day, lest starvation conditions develop in the industrial regions. 
 Such an incident as the switchmen's strike of the spring of 1920 
 is one of the most demoralizing things tha.t can occur in the live- 
 stock and meat trade, since the cutting off of further immediate 
 sources of supply boosts the price of available meats due to the 
 strong competitive demand, and the cutting off of further mar- 
 keting knocks the bottom out of livestock prices, both during the 
 strike and the following period of the rush to market. Unless the 
 steady flow is maintained from day to day in the channels of trade, 
 the situation becomes alarming for the consumer and ruinous for 
 the producer. It is the fluctuation in prospect of flow, as it affects 
 the ratio of supply to demand, that causes the fluctuations in price, 
 so irritating to producer and manufacturer. 
 
 A second class of difficulties in distribution arises from the 
 fact that certain portions of the animal find a greater demand and 
 quicker sale than other portions. During the spring and summer 
 of 1920, there was little demand for hides or pelts, and there accu- 
 mulated hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of such articles on 
 the basis of normal demand that were valued on the 1920 market 
 at only a fourth to one-half their previous price. These had been 
 credited to the beeves or sheep from whose backs they came as far 
 back as February of that year, at the market value on the day the 
 animals were killed, but the falling markets piled up heavy losses 
 while storage charges continued to accumulate. Fanners all over 
 the country were suffering from the same condition with regard to 
 their wool, and the difficulty in handling hides and pelts was 
 reflected in the prices in both classes of stock. 
 
 These conditions are abnormal. There exist several phases of 
 normal meat marketing that bring up similar problems. For 
 example, the most difficultly satisfied demand for Armour and 
 Company's cured pork products is for Star bacon and hams. Star 
 bacon can be made from only one class of hogs possessing a certain 
 type and degree of quality. Their sides are only 8-9 percent of their 
 weight, and the number of hogs of this quality is sufficiently small 
 to reduce the figure much lower in comparison to the total kill of 
 fresh pork for the year. If both, bacon and hams of the best grade, 
 are lumped together, they are only about 8.4 percent by weight of the 
 total hog kill. The condition is similar in other classes of animals, 
 the cuts in greatest demand from cattle averaging only 14.3 percent 
 of the live weight and from sheep and lambs only 31.2 percent. This 
 makes the problem of distribution a matter of getting rid of the 
 less popular portions of the kill, 88 percent of the hog, 85.7 percent 
 of the cattle, and 68.8 percent of the sheep. The ordinary method 
 is to make the popular cuts carry what is lost on the less popular, 
 but this is many times impossible when no market exists at all, 
 when numerous cured cuts such as fat backs have to be rendered 
 for lard after the expense of curing has been gone through. 
 
 19 
 
WHO ARE PRODUCERS? 
 
 The man who can take one kernel of corn and produce 300 
 kernels has rendered less service than the- man who can produce 
 600 kernels under the same conditions. The feeder who changes 
 one bushel of corn into 10 pounds of pork produces and deserves) 
 more than the man whose bushel of corn returns but 7 pounds. 
 
 In like manner, a firm which can change a steer into 500 pounds 
 of meat and 50 pounds of hide has rendered a service; the firm 
 which can take the same steer, produce the same products, save an 
 additional $10 worth of by-products and distribute each article to 
 that market which wants it most, has served and produced still 
 more. If the service rendered is sounder and more economic than 
 its rival's, the business grows and prospers. 
 
 Our national business system consists of a continuous chain of 
 producers from the soil to the ultimate consumer, and the packing 
 industry is unquestionably a very important link in this chain. 
 Essential producers may be divided into two classes, primary and 
 secondary. Those who work with or in the soil belong to the 
 former class, while those who manufacture and distribute are the 
 secondary producers. The first class is composed principally of 
 farmers, miners and lumbermen, whose work is largely done in the 
 rural districts. The second class of necessity live mostly in cities. 
 Factories produce usable and eatable commodities; railroads produce 
 transportation; merchants produce service and accommodations; 
 banks produce a stable and convenient system for financing ; thea- 
 ters produce amusement, and so on. Community, national, and 
 world prosperity today depend upon the successful coordination 
 of both classes of producers and their products. 
 
 Unfortunately, there are people in the country who destroy 
 rather than develop, who rob rather than serve, who take from the 
 land resources that belong to the future. Similarly, there are city 
 dwellers who produce nothing, who render no service, who snatch 
 their living from others. Such people class with their fellow wasters 
 in the country, and all communities would be better without them. 
 
 Success, be it in growing hogs, curing pork, or baking hams, 
 depends upon the energized ambition to do the job more efficiently 
 each day, to profit by both past mistakes and successes, to add to 
 one's resourcefulness while earning a living. 
 
 A better known and better liked product and a lower produc- 
 tion cost are the aims of the manufacturer. The farmer works 
 toward the same goal. Crop rotations and livestock increase 
 current profits, improve the soil and lower production costs. 
 
 It is the function of Armour and Company to change the prod- 
 ucts of pasture and feed lot into usable and eatable commodities, 
 find the outlet for these goods and to distribute each article to its 
 market. Our success depends upon maintaining an accepted and 
 desired quality of goods, and upon practicing the greatest possible 
 economy of time, labor, and product in its manufacture. Our right 
 to live depends upon our ability to do this work in a way to meet 
 competition by a constantly growing efficiency. 
 
 20 
 
Club'Work 
 
 and the 
 
 Modern Farmer 
 
 Admntajk. to the 
 founder (jpneration, AN armour prize awarded to the grand champion 
 
 / PIG GROWER IN THE STATE. 
 
 21 
 
SOIL FERTILITY AND LIVESTOCK FARMING 
 
 The soil r in order to serve man's needs, must first grow plants, 
 and these must be used directly by man, or made into many useful 
 things, or fed to livestock, and in this way indirectly used by man. 
 The minerals in the soil must be converted into organic matter by 
 plants before they can be used by man or beast. The first step in 
 agriculture is naturally the successful growing of plants, or field 
 crops. We should never lose sight of this fundamental fact in our 
 study of agriculture. The soil is the most important part of the 
 whole matter, because everything must come from it. 
 
 The degree of fertility in the soil determines the degree of suc- 
 cess that comes to the farmer, other things being equal. .The 
 mineral elements in the soil, commonly known as plant food, are 
 so delicately balanced that a man, through careless methods, may 
 cut down very rapidly the producing power of the soil. By a 
 process known as "mining" the soil, one can in a very short time re- 
 duce the most fertile spot to a condition of poverty, and Dr. Bailey, 
 of Cornell, rightly says: "Man will never gain dominion over the 
 earth until he learns from nature how to maintain the augmenting 
 powers of its disintegrating crust." 
 
 One great advantage in livestock farming is the ease with 
 which soil fertility can be maintained by this method. There is 
 always a place for every pound of surplus feed and grass and hay 
 grown on the farm. ,. When the livestock is shipped from the farm, 
 much of the feed is left in the form of manure. To produce a 
 hundred pounds of beef requires, about 1,000 pounds of grain and 
 500 pounds of roughage. But of this, 1,400 pounds are left on the 
 farm when the other hundred are sold. To grow a pound of mut- 
 ton requires about nine pounds of feed, but eight pounds of this 
 are left on the farm when the sheep is sold. With hogs it takes 
 from four to six pounds of feed to produce one pound of flesh, but 
 from three to five pounds are left on the farm when the hog is sold 
 off. It will thus be seen that livestock encourages us to apply to 
 our soils, in the form of manure, a large part of what grew on them, 
 and these manures help to keep and increase the vitality of the soil. 
 They help to increase the yields, and to cut down overhead expense. 
 
 Industry, and especially the packing industry, has an interest 
 in the permanence of soil fertility because on no other basis can 
 farmer and factory man thrive. A fertile soil means larger crops, 
 and larger crops mean more and better livestock. This, in turn, 
 means a busy manufacturing center, and more and better food for 
 humanity. 
 
 Fertility may be maintained or increased through a good sys- 
 tem of tillage, by emphasizing the livestock features of the farm, 
 by the proper use of fertilizers or manufactured plant foods, and 
 by a good system of crop rotation, that will leave the soil in a 
 healthy condition. The farmer has the most sane and natural of 
 all occupations and unquestionably finds life sweeter than any 
 other class of citizens. At certain seasons he finds his life full to 
 overflowing, but his patience is always tempered with the wonderful 
 repose of nature, and his work is, or should be, always interesting. 
 
 22 
 
FARMING MUST BE MORE ATTRACTIVE 
 AND PROFITABLE 
 
 The chief factor in making agriculture permanent is that 
 the social, educational, recreational, and business opportunities 
 shall equal those of the city or town. Farming must become suffi- 
 ciently profitable that the farmer can reasonably expect to amass 
 as much wealth as his fellows of the city. If this opportunity 
 does not exist the number of farmers will continue to decrease and 
 the type of men left in this industry will not equal those that have 
 brought the American farmer to his present high status of leading 
 the globe from the standpoint of per capita output. Progressive 
 evolution in agriculture probably means that the unit of produc- 
 tion must develop sufficiently to make a specialization in labor 
 possible that will compare favorably with that of other industries. 
 
 The farmer's life offers the greatest opportunity for expression 
 of individuality that exists in any vocation. Matters of personality, 
 of efficiency, and of organizing and business ability are more 
 directly expressed in the returns he receives and in the direct sense 
 of accomplishment he experiences than in any other line of en- 
 deavor. The man who is alert, quick, wide-awake and observant, 
 is more completely appreciated than in any other industry, for he 
 must discover his needs and gain his rewards through close associ- 
 ation with each of the manifold phases of Nature. There is no 
 one to tell him the things to do except himself, and his direct 
 measure of his own results are the chiefest of his rewards. 
 
 Nevertheless many improvements in the housing and social 
 conditions of the farm must take place. The standards of the 
 city with its home conveniences and labor-saving devices must be 
 made available to the housewife and her family. Their need for 
 companionship must be met by improved social conditions. 
 
 The war developed a very fallacious argument in manybranches 
 of industry through the assurance of cost of production plus a 
 certain profit on government war contracts. It has given many 
 industries, not excluding farming, the idea that they are entitled to 
 a profit oh everything they do regardless of their efficiency or the 
 demand for their product. The old economic fact that profits do not 
 come unless a demand for products exist, is ignored. 
 
 It is only by treating agriculture as a national industry run 
 along strictly business lines, that the necessary profits will be 
 assured. The growing of crops must be co-ordinated with the 
 demands for farm produce, just as a manufacturing concern adjusts 
 its output to the growth of its sales organization. The great dis- 
 advantage is that agriculture is organized on the small unit basis, 
 but with the proper study of the problem, and with a constantly 
 growing intelligence among the fanners, organization will be as 
 feasible as anywhere in our citizenship. Farmers will then con- 
 fer oftener with the industries so closely related to their business, 
 and understand the problems as a whole rather than merely as the 
 problems of the farmer. 
 
 23 
 
Corarn|rce-Transpdf1a1jofl - Industry 
 
 mrmin£ as a "fear-round 
 
 "? Seasons' and ftcadi/ 
 &* 
 
 
 24 
 
FARMING AS A YEAR-ROUND BUSINESS 
 
 The successful operation of a packing house requires a staff 
 of trained workers thoroughly familiar with every detail of what 
 they should do, and a variety of well managed departments each with, 
 its own special responsibility. It necessitates full operation every 
 working day in order to distribute the overhead expense and to 
 have available the kind of workers needed for each operation. 
 
 Farming as a business differs from the packing business only 
 in the kinds of work. The same theories for efficiency in operation 
 apply to the one as well as to the other. It is necessary for each 
 farmer to have a variety of crops, or farm departments, from which 
 he may secure employment for his laborers the year round, a reason- 
 able profit with which to overcome the losses that are always likely 
 to arise, and a progressive utilization of his own time to demon- 
 strate his worth as a manager. The farm that is producing best 
 is the one on which the farmer gives his operations continued and 
 careful study, and has so organized them that the service rendered 
 by himself, his laborers, and his acres is the greatest possible. Corn, 
 wheat, oats, pastures, wood lots, fruit, poultry, cattle, hogs, sheep, 
 garden produce, and so on, cost much in foresight, time, and money; 
 but each, properly handled, adds to the year's income and bears its 
 share of the labor and operating costs. 
 
 If for no other reason than the maintenance of a competent 
 Staff of workers, the farm owner should develop his operations on 
 the yearly basis. The packing industry would be impossible un- 
 less it held its skilled workers throughout the year; but it could not 
 do this unless it were able to give full-time empl'oyment. This ex- 
 perience is common to all lines of business, and the farm is no 
 exception. How frequently one discovers in rural communities 
 that a good man will find an appreciative, employer until the corn 
 is picked, the cotton marketed, and so forth, and then that he is 
 turned adrift until the next cropping season opens. 
 
 Factories, stores, and offices in general follow a set schedule of 
 hours, in order to maintain discipline and routine, and also in 
 order to provide a common period for the transaction of business 
 with all other business houses. The farm, on the other hand, 
 works largely within itself. The farmer's! work is more commonly 
 by the job than by the hour. It is not a question of working 
 until the whistle blows, but it is necessary to get the hay stacked 
 or the grain threshed. The farmer and; his men work more as 
 the executives and their assistants in a big business, doing things 
 when they need doing, regardless of time or personal inconvenience, 
 and resting or taking recreation when things are not so pressing. 
 
 The good farm manager realizes these differences as compared 
 to the kind of work required of the city laborer, and makes his men 
 appreciate it as well. He rarely asks long hours unless they are 
 necessary, and when he does he experiences little difficulty in get- 
 ting the needed response. Farm work contains less of routine 
 and dullness than office work, and considerably more which chal- 
 lenges the interest and enthusiasm of the ambitious person. Every 
 farmer who has recognized this fact has successfully used it. 
 
 25 
 
POWER ON THE FARM 
 
 American farmers have set a standard of production per capita 
 far above that of any other nation, because of their intelligent use 
 of power. In no other country are more, horses utilized per farm 
 laborer than in America, and nowhere else are there such large 
 farm investments in gas engines, windmills, automobiles, gas and 
 steam tractors, and electric motors. The great concentration of 
 power that has become possible in a single piece of motor machinery 
 has enabled vast increases in production, although the extent of its 
 utilization is even now little realized. 
 
 At present the horse furnishes about 75% of the power for 
 breaking, cultivating and hauling, and the market for 24.5% of the 
 corn, 67.8% of the oats, 17.7% of the barley, 26.5% of the rye, 
 5.4% of the wheat, 44.6% of the hay, 1.7 'fo of the silage and 5.6% 
 of the mill feeds. The future place of the Jiorse in our agriculture 
 will no doubt be related in some way to the share of concentrates 
 which can be spared to feed him. 
 
 Farmers are beginning to discover the proper balance between 
 horse power and mechanical motive power. The principal facts 
 are presented in Farmer's Bulletin 1093, 1919, by the U. S. Depart- 
 ment of Agriculture. Studies were made on 191 farms averaging 
 346% acres, well distributed over the corn, belt, on which tractors 
 had been in use at least a year or over. The number of horses 
 necessary to maintain on tbe farm was governed by the number 
 necessary to cultivate the crops, and not by the number necessary 
 to do the plowing, as was the case previous to the tractor. This 
 made it possible to reduce horses from an average of 9%. per farm 
 Xal% animals. It also increased the number of acres possible to 
 till per horse from 26 Vi to 38^. The actual increase in cultivated 
 land over that tilled previous to the purcjjase of the tractor, was 
 8.03% and the average increase in the size of farms was 22 acres, 
 or 6J4%. Nevertheless, the power requirements were such that 
 only 4.7% of the farm operators were able to totally displace horses 
 from plowing, a;nd only 8.4% were able to allow their horses to stand 
 idle while the tractors were in operation. This, then, gives an initial 
 idea of the balance of the motor and the horse on the farm. 
 
 Along with more power on the farm comes the ability to 
 modernize the country home, and, as the standards of the farm are 
 continually being raised, to have more home conveniences, a higher 
 degree of sanitation, and to find more time for recreation. 
 
 
 26 
 
STANDARDIZATION ALL ALONG THE LINE 
 
 When anyone says, "It Floats," "Spearmint," or "TheHamWhat 
 Am," products are suggested that are not only advertised nationally, 
 but which the above slogans describe as tried and true. Before a 
 product can be marketed in a large way over vast territory, the raw 
 material from which it comes, the manufacturing processes, the 
 shipping packages, and the name must be controlled and standard- 
 ized so that uniformity of product will result. 
 
 Standardization helps to promote honesty in business. It is a 
 vital link in the chain of marketing that binds the seller to give 
 an honest product and gives the buyer the assurance that he will 
 receive an article of the usually accepted standard quality. 
 
 The application of this principle to farm products will mean 
 as much to the farmer as it does to any other business project. For 
 instance, it is well, known that a mixed load of liyestock containing 
 a number of different grades does not sell as well as a uniform load. 
 If some of the stock is well finished while others are thin, much more 
 skill is required to estimate what the whole is worth, and often the 
 farmer does not get the best bid that would be forthcoming. 
 
 Take the case of milk or cream. In all sections a higher price 
 is paid for sweet cream than for sour, and frequently there are two 
 or more grades of sour cream with corresponding prices. Hay is val- 
 ued according to kind and quality; alfalfa is worth more than tim- 
 othy; musty hay is worth less than sweet, well cured hay. 
 
 Eggs are subject to wide variation in value, depending upon 
 quality. A mixture of whites and browns, large and small, dirty 
 and clean, sound and checked, or fertile and infertile eggs certainly 
 bring a much lower price than good, clean fresh eggs of uniform 
 size and color, or than the same lot properly graded and packed. 
 
 In a factory, standard articles can be prepared only by means 
 of standard methods and standard machinery. For instance, meat 
 curing processes require a certain length of time, a definite temper- 
 ature, and exact proportions of ingredients that are used in mak- 
 ing the curing solutions. 
 
 Likewise, standardized methods in farming operations are 
 required to give the best results. Well selected seed corn of good 
 quality will not produce standard results on an infertile soil, neither 
 in yield nor true type. All grains, livestock, and other crops must 
 be subjected to careful standardization from beginning to end, in 
 order that the best product and highest prices may be obtained. 
 
 27 
 
BETTER BREEDS OF LIVESTOCK 
 
 The permanent maintenance of our nation's fertility depends 
 upon a comprehensive, country-wide scheme of livestock farming. 
 Similarly, the maintenance of fertility on the average farm requires 
 the keeping of livestock, although one occasionally finds individual 
 farmers who make satisfactory substitutes for a short period of 
 time.' Maintenance of fertility does not, however, require a class 
 of livestock that is efficient with respect to any particular function; 
 hence the fertility value of husbandry is only secondary. Live- 
 stock is selected on the basis of its ability to transform the feeds 
 and roughages of the farm into meat, milk, wool, or power. The 
 amount of profit which the farmer secures from his animals de- 
 pends very largely upon the efficiency with which they perform 
 their major functions; hence it usually happens that the best farms 
 of the community are those on which the best units of livestock 
 are owned. 
 
 Improvement in livestock has taken place along several well 
 defined lines. From the standpoint of the meat animal, the first 
 and greatest improvements were in fattening power and economy 
 of gain. Improved ability to intermingle the lean with fat was dis- 
 covered to be the foundation of tenderer; juicier, better flavored 
 meat, the ultimate reason why Armour is interested in better live- 
 stock. Once these qualities had been secured, however, attention 
 was directed toward early maturity, and all classes of* livestock 
 have been materially improved in this particular. In the days of 
 the old Lake Front Show in Chicago, the champion steers were 
 three or four years old, but, so marked has been the increase in 
 ability to finish young, all of the recent champions of the Inter- 
 national Livestock Exposition have been yearlings or calves. In fact, 
 classification for two-year-old steers at this show has been entirely 
 abandoned. Similar changes have been taking place in sheep, and, 
 to a certain extent, in hogs, although the recent popularity of the 
 big-framed types has reacted in the opposite direction. The acquir- 
 ing of early maturity has enabled the farmer to turn his invested 
 money oftener, has lowered his risks, and has made it possible for 
 him to adopt better business methods for ajl of his farm operations. 
 
 There are two standard ways of increasing the profit any indi- 
 vidual farmer receives. One method is by increasing production, 
 and the other method is by increasing the margin secured on opera- 
 tion through greater economy. Well-bred livestock offers the 
 farmer a profit in both directions, since it makes possible greater pro- 
 duction per acre, and it also increases the economy of gain. 
 
CLUB WORK AND THE MODERN FARMER 
 
 A portion of this handbook is devoted to the improvement of 
 farm crops. In this chapter we are thinking of the best and most 
 precious crop of all — the boys and girls oh the farms of America. 
 
 There are twenty million boys and girls growing up in our 
 rural communities. They are the greatest asset of the nation. A 
 large percentage of these boys and girls would not have the inspira- 
 tion for progress brought to them were it not for the Junior Club 
 movement which is being carried on by agricultural extension agents 
 under the supervision of the UnitedStates Department of Agriculture. 
 
 The fundamental principle underlying the success of club work 
 is that the club member demonstrates to himself, his parents and 
 his neighbors the value of better farm practices. Besides keeping 
 the young people busy thinking of constructive things, it makes 
 them assume responsibility; it instills business principles; it makes 
 for progress by creating the spirit of competition; it keeps the 
 young folks on the farm; it broadens their education, and because 
 it does all this, it advances our agricultural industry. 
 
 One of the boys who won an educational prize trip provided 
 last year by this Bureau had made $4,000 on Angus cattle in three 
 years, besides carrying his regular school work; another has accu- 
 mulated $3,000 worth of Berkshires; still another showed the Grand 
 Champion Poland China sow in his State, winning out in the open 
 classes over all the breeders. Selected from one million contest- 
 ants, 350 champions visited Chicago and its principal points of 
 interest during the week of the International Livestock Exposition 
 in December, 1920, seventy-seven State Champions of this number 
 from 23 States having been provided for by this Bureau. 
 
 Club work prevents the development of local prejudice and 
 narrow viewpoints in the farm boy. In October, 1920, the winning 
 stock judging teams from the club workers of 14 states assembled 
 at the Southeastern States Exposition, at Atlanta, to contest for a 
 trip to Great Britain during the 1921 show season. Every boy there 
 had opportunity to learn of the manly qualities of his rivals and the 
 seriousness of the problems which the farmers of each state face. 
 Nothing can more quickly develop a spirit of co-operation and 
 understanding than such association, while the opportunities of 
 the winners to understand world problems is invaluable. 
 
 This contact of the business of farming with other business 
 agencies, the learning and applying of agricultural fundamentals 
 at an early age, the companionship developed in rural life because 
 of this work and the advances made in agriculture under the stress 
 of competition in Junior Club work, make it one of the most 
 important branches of agricultural extension service. 
 
 This work has our support and indorsement in the belief that 
 it will speedily bring about a more comprehensive understanding of 
 the agricultural and livestock possibilities of the country and of the 
 agencies which must function co-ordinately in order to make the 
 growth of the agricultural industry a certainty. 
 
 29 
 
FARMERS' ORGANIZATIONS 
 
 The Armour organizations are frequently asked what their 
 attitude is toward farmers' co-operative organizations. There are 
 many reasons why we favor farmers' organizations which are estab- 
 lished for the fundamental progress of agriculture. The under- 
 lying reason for our belief in them is that anything which helps the 
 farmer makes for the prosperity of the entire nation. 
 
 The past history of farmers' organizations shows that they 
 have been formed for widely varying purposes. Some have been 
 organized for buying and marketing in quantity; others for the 
 fraternal and social features alone; still others for the purpose of 
 improving and enlarging the production of all farm products; and 
 a few have affiliated for the sole purpose of influencing Congress 
 to put through legislation favorable to the industry. 
 
 Some of the more recently launched organizations are plan- 
 ning their activities along most, if not ail, of these lines. That 
 organization which has for its purpose the working out of eco- 
 nomic laws and their application to the problems of production 
 and marketing, which combines the improvement of rural social 
 life with business, which promotes an improved and efficient agri- 
 culture, which studies cost of production, which examines world 
 markets that influence supply and demand; which avoids partisan 
 politics and which in all its dealings is essentially fair toward all 
 other classes of society; that organization, in our opinion, will pros- 
 per, endure, and render a great service to all peoples. If, however, 
 a farmers' organization exists for the purpose of securing a good 
 profit for all its members, be they aggressive or shiftless, producers 
 of large yields or of small, real agriculturists or land miners, that 
 organization, in our judgment, is doomed to failure. 
 
 The Armour organizations stand ready to confer and discuss 
 with farmers' organizations the problems confronting both, and to 
 co-operate with them in working out plans which will be beneficial 
 to the upbuilding of the livestock industry as a whole. It is our 
 belief that if producers organize for economic advantage, they must 
 expect to pass the test to which every organization now in exist- 
 ence is subjected, the test of genuineness of service, ability to 
 withstand competition, and efficiency of- operation. We do not 
 believe producers entering the field of marketing are entitled to 
 more consideration than any other marketing agency, nor do we 
 believe that their organizations need more than an equal chance. 
 To organizations with such aims we extend our recognition. 
 
 In discussing these problems with farmers, our desire is to be 
 recognized as reasonably well informed on the marketing problems, 
 the manufacturing of livestock into meat and other products, and 
 the wholesale distribution of these products. The best thought of 
 all of the agencies which play a part in the production, manufac- 
 ture, distribution, and consumption of livestock and all agricultural 
 products, it seems to us, will be needed to make effective progress 
 and to reach conclusions which will be equally fair to all, conclu- 
 sions which will permanently strengthen the chances of farmers' 
 organizations for achievement and success. 
 
 30 
 
ACTIVITIES OF THE BUREAU 
 
 The work of Armour's Bureau of Agricultural Research and 
 Economics falls into four classes: a study of the economic rela- 
 tionship existing between this industry and production agencies; 
 research and investigation of the packing industry, and of certain 
 vital problems which retard the growth of the livestock industry, 
 relations with producers and agricultural extension work. 
 
 The demand of most peoples for meat foods, the desirability 
 of using livestock for converting hays, roughage, and grains into 
 human food; the necessity of maintaining soil fertility, have all been 
 mighty economic factors in shaping the agricultural destinies of 
 the world and are but a few of the great economic principles with 
 which this Bureau has been concerned in art effort correctly to guide 
 company policy in all matters agricultural: 
 
 Special difficulties arise from time to time to hinder the normal 
 progress of the livestock industry. Such questions as diseases 
 and epidemics, the effect of by-products on meat prices, the influence 
 of one class of meat upon the value of another, and many similar 
 problems bearing directly upon the growth of the industry have 
 received careful consideration and all the available information at 
 hand, especially marketing information, has been published and 
 passed on to the livestock producer. 
 
 It is our sincere purpose to develop the closest possible rela- 
 tionship with all primary producers, their organizations and other 
 agencies established for the betterment of agriculture. Every 
 branch of the livestock industry has its peculiar trials and diffi- 
 culties. By comparing notes, it may be that each branch can help 
 the other to eliminate these drawbacks. Public meat cutting demon- 
 strations showing the most valuable type of animal from the stand- 
 point of market demand; participation in farmers' and stockmen's 
 meetings; the receiving of various organizations that desire to study 
 packing house operations and practice; and exhibitions at many 
 State fairs, are some of the means which this Bureau has used 
 to develop this relationship. 
 
 In our agricultural extension work our. aim is to aid the already 
 organized extension forces by furnishing schools as well as producers 
 condensed, practical literature on agricultural subjects, particularly 
 from the market standpoint, by fostering Junior Club work, and by 
 the exposition of better farm practices in State Fair exhibits. In 
 this kind of work we are not competing with agricultural educa- 
 tional forces, but are supplementing their work by showing how 
 science is being put to test in an extremely practical way. We are 
 trying to interpret and measure values in the manufacturing places 
 and in the homes of consumers, and are helping to compare these 
 with estimated values in the feed lots and on the farms. 
 
 In all these activities it has been our desire: first, to understand 
 the difficulties and problems of production; second, to understand 
 the problems of packing; third, and greatest of all, to bring about a 
 mutual understanding, the one of the other. As the contact point, 
 this Bureau aspires to bring about and maintain the proper rela- 
 tionship that should exist between the producers and Armour. 
 
 31 
 
*%&**** 
 
 **&&* 
 
 OUR MESSAGE 
 — HOW WE TELL IT 
 
 Armour's Bureau of Agri- 
 cultural Research and Eco- 
 nomics reaches the public in 
 a concrete and concise way 
 through the following publi- 
 cations : 
 
 Bulletins or Booklets and 
 Circulars 
 
 (1) On soils. 
 
 (2) On crops. 
 
 (3) On livestock. 
 
 Monthly Letters 
 
 (1) To county agents reflecting the barometer of the meat and 
 livestock situation, also our relations to agriculture. 
 
 (2) To Animal Husbandmen and livestock experts, giving 
 a scientific interpretation of many phases of this indus- 
 try in its relation to agriculture. 
 
 Lantern Slides and Moving Pictures, reflecting the economics 
 of the packing industry, and the relation of the industry to 
 improved agriculture. We have done only a limited amount 
 of this work up to the present time. 
 
 The actual placing of improved livestock in certain parts of the 
 country, and creating interest in club work in this way. 
 
 Press Articles, showing the value of improved agriculture and 
 improved types of livestock as reflected in the market places. 
 
 State Fairs, International Live Stock Exposition. 
 
 Boys and Girls Club Work. 
 
 32 
 
CONSERVATION 
 REVIEW:.Q. c .i.iU£2 
 
 CoOP 
 
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