Mr. R. D. Maurice Wertz, after several years in railroad offices, took charge of his fathers farm at Quincy, Pa., in 1891, and converted it into a fruit farm. He now has about 220 acres in peaches and apples. It is understood that he has sent from the above shipping station and one other about $200,000 worth of fruit in the last six years.

Mr. T. E. Martin, Rush, N. Y., is one of the most successful potato growers in the United States. He has a farm of 57 acres of the Dunkirk series of soil. He has three 18-acre fields in rotation consisting of potatoes, wheat and clover and alfalfa. Mr. Martin has increased the yield of potatoes from 60 bushels per acre in 1892 to 417 bushels in 1906. In 1906 he produced 7,510 bushels on 18 acres. In 1907 he sold $2,807.89 worth of potatoes from 18 acres, or $160 per acre. He attributes his large yields mainly to drainage, thorough preparation of the soil, good tillage, spraying, clover and alfalfa, manure and commercial fertilizers.

(3) Will there be a general increase or decrease in the price of crops during the coming years?

The following table gives the average farm price for Missouri by five-year periods.

THE AVERAGE DECEMBER FARM PRICE BY

PREVIOUS DECADES COMPARED WITH

AVERAGE OF FIVE YEARS, 1906-10.

1866 18751886 1896 1906
to to to to to
1875 18851895 1905 1910
cts.cts. cts. cts. cts.
Maize, bu. 40 33 33 35 49
Wheat, bu. 103 87 64 71 87
Oats, bu. 30 27 26 27 39
Potatoes, bu. 57 48 49 53 68
Hay, ton 902 799 704 700 875

An examination of the last column shows that the average price of these staple farm products has been considerably greater during five recent years than during the previous thirty years. Will this increase in price continue, or will there be a series of years of unusually low prices which will bring the average price of the decade down to that of the previous three decades? Few persons will care to venture an answer to this question, which is of the utmost importance to all farmers and especially to the beginner.