HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1963-10-31, Page 2S'n se 1860, Serving the Community First
Published at SE.A OR %, .ONTARIO, every Thursday morning by *LEAN BROS., Publishers
ANDREW Y. MCLEAN, Editor
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SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, OCTOBER 31, 1963
It's the Farmer That Makes the Difference
It's not the land or the machinery
that makes the difference. It's the
farmer and how he goes about his busi-
ness that determines how much money
he makes.
That farm income depends neither
on good land or on expensive machinery
is the conclusion reached by the Econ-
omics Research group of the Manitoba
Department of Agriculture. The group
has issued a report based on studies of
actual Manitoba farms during the per-
iod 1958-1962.
The report says farmers on poor land
with little machinery make three times
the money of those on good land with
the same machinery.
The report also says a farmer can
easily get too big for his own good, and
make less money on his big farm than
his neighbor does on an operation small
enough to be controlled effectively.
The analysis compares farms on ex-
cellent, good, and fair land, and farms
with a low investment in equipment,
those with a moderate investment and
those with a high equipment invest-
ment.
In the moderate equipment group,
farmers on poor land make about one-
fifth more money than those on excel-
lent land, *bile in the high investment
group the excellent Iand farmers have
an edge of some $6 a year over farm-
ers on poor land.
The conclusions, of course, are con-
trary to accepted thinking which tend
to encourage a more careful check of
land potential before putting it under
cultivation. Too often marginal land
has been drained and cultivated when
it might better have been left in its
natural state. How much of the water
shortage which has plagued this area
in recent years is due to the drainage
of swamps and bogs which nature pro-
vided as water storage basins?
The Manitoba report is interesting in
that it points up the degree to which
management can overcome handicaps
in land and machinery. It would be
unfortunate, however, if it had the ef-
fect of encouraging further the con-
version of lands designed by nature as
a bulwark against drought, flood and
erosion. Those convinced of the long
term benefits of conservation practises
have enough problems now overcoming
public apathy.
Firemen Deserve Co-operation
Fire Prevention Week has passed in-
to history and unfortunately top many
of us already have forgotten the les-
sons which the occasion tried to teach
us.
But not the Firemen. They have had
few moments in which to forget. Sev-
eral times each week this month they
have been summoned to battle fires of
various kinds. And all tOo frequently
the fire they fought could have been.
prevented.
Faced with drought conditions as
they exist throughout the district, the
danger of fire is even more pressing. In
fact, many of the hours Seaforth Fire-
men have spent on duty this month
have been related to grass and bush
fires in the Seaforth fire area — fires
most of which need not have happen-
ed.
Firemen hold themselves in readi-
ness to act in an emergency. With lit-
tle compensation, they are available at
a moment's notice—regardless of wea-
ther—to rush- to any spot where fire
threatens.
But is it fair—apart altogether from
the matter of loss of crops and bush—
; to ask firemen to travel miles, spend
hours from their work, to fight a grass
fire which, with a little care on our
part, could have been prevented?
The firemen don't complain of
course. It's part of the job they have
agreed to do. Just the same, it is not
asking too much of each of us to do
everything we can to prevent fires
from spreading—to cut down the de-
mands we are making on the firemen.
Care in burning leaves and stubble
has always been essential. Today, with
vegetation tinder dry and water at a
premium, care is vital.
Live Forever
(Ottawa Journal)
An American scientist concerned
with research into the prolongation of
human life says progress is being made
in that direction and he thinks a time
may come when "man will, theoretical-
ly, be able to remain young and active
indefinitely" and indeed "live forever"
barring accidents and perhaps the on-
sl