Published once a week in primer, ..laskn, for tho
Mr.tanuska Valley Farmers' Co-operating .association,
for the purpose of giving nows of the .association's
work, problems and accomplishments.
WHAT EXPERTS SAY
In a recent article published in the ..nehorage Times, a staff writer for the Chi
cago Tribune quotes the commissioner of agriculture for ..laska, lix* Clydo G. Sherman
as saying that ..laskan farms supply only 1£> of the beef, pork and poultry consumed in
the Territory; 2£ of the eggs, 10% of the milk and 1$% of the potatoes, and practic
ally none of the cereals. This is of course an estimate.
This is something that should be of interest to the present farmer or prospective
farmer in ..laska, because it indicates that there is an immense potential market in
..laska. Naturally most people wonder why farmers can't produce more, if thi3 i3
true. Judging from the publicity of the different Government and Territorial ..genc
ies that are supposod to be helping the farmers in the Territory by supplying financ
es, expert advice and free supervision, it appears that the average ..laska farmer has
a lot of free help and that all he would have to do to bo successful, would be to
listen to the advice given him, and follow directions. Just as simple as that, and
very easy. But, just try itJ
.io arc not trying to belittle the efforts of the experts, but after several years
of observation, we have come to the conclusion that the most helpless farmer of all,
would be the expert, if he tried to farm. '«Ic know some that have tried and failed
miserably. So, it seems to us that it behooves a farmer to study his own problems
and learn to rely on his own judgement. Thero arc so many contradictions in the in
formation that ho receives, that he couldn't move without using his own judgement.
Of course it would be foolish to refuse to accept any new or well established prac
tices that he could learn about, to his advantage.
In comparison to tho information from kr. Sherman, wo v/cre also informed that the
farmers in the katenuska Valley could not expect to increase their market very much
more, as the saturation point had been reached and it was doubtful if it would be
advisable to expand anymore. This conclusion was reached after a long period of in
vestigation by tho expert who made the study.
.*.fter studying these reports, a number of farmers have just about come to the con
clusion, that it would be using bettor judgement to forget his farm and go out and
get a gob this summer while work is plentiful and wages are high. His contention is
that, he can make more money, work less hours and live a better life.
Granted, that the average farmer isn’t getting an even break. In our present e
concmy, wo still feel that it would be a bad mistake if people were to desert their
farms ct this time. There are many competent reasons why this is true, but we lack
tho space and the time to enumerate them now. .jayway, we are not too worried about
the real farmers who are proud to be farmers, and take pride in their profession.
They will stick anyway. It is true that the farmers have many legitimate complaints
but so does everyone else. The thing to do is keep working and try to change the
things that should be remedied.
C.R.R
P~LivIER OOMMDNITY CHEST MEETING con't.
on for reports in the following: I
(l) Girl Scouts--If’r 3 . C 7/i Is on roprosent-j
ing the Palmer Committee of the Suaitna
Council, Mrs. Manning, President of the
Council and Mrs. Kafer, Executive Director j
reported that in the past year or so tho
Girl Scout organization has grown from one I
troop and two leaders to five troops with
a total membership of nincty-3ix girls and
fourteen trained leaders, with other child
ren waiting to join when other leaders can
be found and trained.
-(2) Palmer Public Library—Mrs. E Graves j
reported on their building costs. New I
building is operating successfully. The
Library is continuing their policy of buy
ing additional books to the amount of $300
annually of which $130. comes from Terri
torial matching funds. Emphasis this year
is on children's books.
(3) -laska Crippled Childrens' ..ss'n—
Mrs. Norbcrt Sv/oboda reported a total of
$12,000, spent on care and treatment of
Valley children, including care in hospit
als in Seattle, Sitka and Chicago.
(4) Katanuskn Valley Health Council—
Mrs. him Demming reported approximately
2300 immunizations wero given Residents
during past year, 727 were blood-typed,
^38 home visits made in addition to 1 hour