PATTERN FOR PROGRESS

[Music] [Music] farming is the chosen way of life for more than 26 million Americans the love of the land has been passed on from father to son from mother to daughter and generations of farm families have created a tradition that is at the roots of our national life with nearly 6 million American families living on farms it is only natural that the well-being of our country is founded on the prosperity of the American farmer when farmers are doing well the people in our cities usually are prospering too because anything that contributes to better farming is good for the whole country America's progressive oil industry has long been deeply interested in the farmers problems a good example of this interest is the part the oil companies play in developing the use of power on the land from their refineries come fuels and lubricants to meet the special needs of power farmers in their laboratories they develop an ever increasing number of petroleum chemicals for plant growth plant protection and good soil management they work with colleges and universities on the improvement of products and on getting product information to the farmers they make it convenient for the farmer to bio fuels and lubricants by delivering them to his door and over the years powering agriculture has so revolutionized life on the farm at the span of time between 1900 and today might just as well be reckoned in centuries as in years this then is the story of those centuries as they were lived on one farm the Psalter farm [Music] you [Music] it's now almost 50 years since my father John solder brought his bride Merri fremont solder to the farm that's been our family home for half a century they were an ordinary couple my parents whose lives would be quite forgotten now except that during all those years they kept a record of the everyday events on the farm I've been reading their journal over again tonight and I found there in the earthy phrases of John and Mary solder it's fascinating an American story as I've read in many years the story begins with an entry dated June fifteenth nineteen hundred brought my bride Mary hope to the bar today strived about noon shows marry her new home [Music] welcome to your new home Eric oh it's beautiful I'm so happy John you [Music] don't it be all Mary even on your first day home the cows have to be milked I'm glad we've got cows to milk Johnny plan to plant lovely house to live in and you like it then Mary I love it judge those early years of my parents married life read like happy ones but they had their misfortunes to all major died of colic today right in the middle of getting the hagun Mary and I pain the good weather holds out we'll try to find one of old Ben Jones his horses tomorrow she's a good sound Mayor John how old is she been 60 like 1280 how much would you take for 150 give you a hundred she's worth more than 150 John but I know you're in trouble make it 125 it's a deal John the old Robert red horse ain't worth a cent more than a hundred he knew you were in a bad six men ain't bad enough I have to waste the whole day when I should have been getting that hay in yep [Applause] [Music] the next day's entry in the diary is but a single sentence july nine 1905 the hay was ruined as the years went by some of the isolation of farm life gradually disappeared send the 4th 1910 how times do change we've got a telephone now call the vet in town today and could have replay there's already 12 families on our line and imagine Helen Stinson worrying about getting the baby Bollywood where I remember how fat fella johnny was those years when I was growing up four good years for John and Mary solder but they were not easy years vowing disking cultivating they were backbreakers and the amount of land a man could till was limited by his physical endurance [Music] we grew enough to supply all our own needs potatoes and the other vegetables pork chickens fresh eggs we served me eight well enough Mary solder saw to that he was a genius in that old-fashioned kitchen of hers but there wasn't a great deal left to sell for cash what there was John solder took to town 15 miles west of us now all day trip over bad roads and at the end of the year it wasn't often the journal showed much of a net profit well that's it did we get rich last year not rich exactly but we did better than the year before you still don't have enough saved up to buy that track to do it John no not quite enough what we could do if I had that tractor now that we've got more land can we afford it John we need so many other things you know look Mary it's like this when you buy a tractor you get something that actually manufactures income it'll make the money for us to buy the other things even a new hat a new hat for you and a lot of things well I can't wait for that tractor it was several more years before John solder could fulfill his ambition and when he finally did his prediction came true from the first the tender first 1918 the new tractor is paying its way hanselman only thing I don't buy is having to go to town to bring home fuel you [Music] once he had his first tractor John Salter was impatient to make the most of it plowing was one of the very first jobs that could take advantage of the new power farm implements were rapidly being redesigned for use with tractors John solder was the first man in the county to do his mowing with mechanical power it was the first to speed up his ground work with power some of the neighbors scoffed at him but they came to watch nonetheless and then to follow his example was the first to use traktor power for planting seed he was the first to pull a side delivery rake with his tractor he was the first to use his tractor a stationary power to run his feed grinder John solder had a very good reason for being enthusiastic about power farming the old days of horses and muscle it had been a struggle to produce enough for his family with a little bit left over to sell power had let him increases production to such an extent that he could easily supply his own needs and have a sizable surplus to sell on the market using power in many ways and put real cash profits into farming so it was only natural that John solder welcomed anything new in power farmer John a lot to show you what you're getting in that new tractor of yours I've got a new tractor Henry i'm going to use gasoline I'll get more power that's all I want to know but how are you getting it is interesting the care and the other tractor you had a pressure on the fuel mixture as the piston squeezes it of maybe 95 pounds per square inch and the spark ignites the mixture the pressure rises to say 380 pounds on the power stroke in your new high compression tractor the mixtures squeeze tighter into a smaller space and the pressure may be as high as a hundred and forty-five pounds and the mixtures ignited the pressure on the power stroke may rise to five hundred and eighty pounds this big difference in pressure on the power stroke is the reason for all the extra power all right Henry all right I still say I'm getting more power and that's all I care about with all that extra power from high compression and still more power from those new rubber tires boy I'll have power to burn you think you're kidding John no Henry I'm not kidding nobody appreciates more than I do what power means to a farmer that's what dad used to say about you child well your dad knew because he sold me my first tractor I dealt with him for years anytime you or anyone else can show me how to get more power I'll listen Henry so long john seeing you [Music] when he said anyone else John solder probably was thinking of another good friend and adviser who called on him often [Music] hello Larry hi done I'll need oil and gasoline on mrs. Salter wants some things okay anything else yes I want you to look at the fitment bearing in my mower it's throwing grease maybe you can tell me what's wrong sounds like to using the wrong kind maybe a different grease will fix it up let's take a look come on down to the shed in contrast to the old days when he drove to town for tractor fuel John solder now had such supplies delivered to his door and the tank wagon driver had become a friend and adviser and whom he had confidence as he himself said John solar was quick to seize anything it would give more power better performance and greater economy and more than one farmer in our county was grateful to him for his enterprise this modest entry made july second 1940 only hints at the real story Oh Tom Maloney get his week [Music] we interrupt this program to bring you a special announcement from the weather bureau a severe wind and rain storm is expected to reach this vicinity about noon tomorrow lucky we got that wheat cut might have lost the whole crop if that storm is bad enough I was thinking a tow Maloney out of the hospital only a couple of days never get his in with the outfit he's got let's go dead [Music] just get it over the radio Tom big storm coming up Johnny and I'll give you a lift thanks John and you Johnny will start cutting from that corner over there okay fine sure thanks fellas [Music] [Music] well John and Mary saw her story and soon after that I have only given you a few of the highlights John Solek spirit carries on not only on our farm but throughout the whole county and even further it was he who encouraged Henry Carter to buy that forage harvester he's never regretted owning he was largely responsible for George Baker's getting a terror sir that helped him retain the soil on that hilly place of his wherever he went he preached the story of power power because it would do more work in less time he knew power had given him more cash crops to sell and he wanted his friends and neighbors to profit also he was a leader in conservation farming and he knew that power is the essence of efficient soil management time and again I've heard him say if a man can do it in a day a machine can do it in an hour and then he probably add and do it a darn sight better to I think maybe the reason he was such a booster for machines was that he loved farming and he knew the time was coming when if our country was going to continue to prosper and our people were to enjoy a higher standard of living farming which is the basis of our economy had to become more profitable I think that because the last entry in his diary seems to suggest i guess it was appropriate that that entry was addressed to me who had to carry on after he was gone October 10 farming is a good occupation Johnny a good way of living but you can't stand still remember that the biggest thing that's happened to farming in my lifetime is the introduction of mechanical power it helped us grow more crops take better care of our land make more money but we've only started to use power I can't even guess at all the ways it's going to help you but I'm sure of one thing you're going to have a richer life because of it than I've had now it's up to you younger fellows to carry on Power has given you a pattern for progress [Music]