On That Date, No. 11

“The first and most important step toward bringing agriculture into line with industry is to factory-ize the farm. This means great efficiency of production and distribution plus the control of output.

This is not to say that the American farmer is not efficient. In terms of horse-power, he has increased his efficiency from four to five times in fifty years. . . . At that, he is only half as efficient as industry, measured by the same yardstick. From this, it would seem that the American farmer must work twice as long as the American factory in order to produce the same results, and that is about what he does. . . .

Mass production . . . has wrought wonders [and] . . . it requires no stretch of the imagination to realize that as these [same] policies of factory management are invoked, the shorter day on the farm will follow.

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Sam R. McKelvie, “Can the Farm Be Factory-ized?” Nation’s Business 15, no. 4 (April 1927): 106, ff.

You! Yes, You. The Long-time Reader

This is for you. As you've likely noticed, I've been futzing with the site design, trying to figure out how to create a Janus-headed creature: promote the book and do my rant stuff, too. So I've created a new category --- The FUN Stuff --- which is code (it's a secret club! woo hoo!) for "All that random stuff I prefer blogging about. Which is a crap sentence but you get my drift.

I'll cross-post the content to other categories but the category will appear as a "page" in that header running horizontally about a third of the way down the initial screen. (Ha! How the hell could I know if it's a third or a quarter of a whatever given that I have no idea how your browser will present the front page.)

I thought about just using the existing "Random musings" category (and why did I not capitalize both words?)  -- or finally caving to my desire for a "Random Rants" category. But the random stuff I like is --- well, random. Not necessarily a rant. Rants being special.

Anyway. So you know.

And notice: NO GODDAMN IMAGE. I hate hunting for images. Ugh.

On That Date, No. 10

“Milwaukee will soon be as famous for the quality of her dry bologna, or “cervelat wurst,” as she is for the excellence of her beer. Tons of this sausage are annually shipped for Western, Southern and Eastern points.

“The meat is cut by steam cutters of improved construction, and every possible facility employed in drying and getting them ready for market. This article is pronounced to be in every way equal to foreign make and is warranted to keep for two years.”

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Milwaukee Sentinel, July 18, 1870, p. 1.

On That Date, No. 8

“Iowa Beef Packers, Inc. [IBP], disclosed plans to built an air-conditioned, indoor cattle-feeding facility capable of turning out 50,000 to 100,000 animals a year.

“The Denison, Iowa, packer will invest about $5 million in the unusual operation, [an IPB vice president said]. To be located near Irvington, Iowa, the 1.5 million-square-foot facility will be the nation’s largest indoor cattle-feeding operation . . . Smaller indoor operations are run by many Midwest farmers.

“Cattle will be housed in a series of pre-stressed concrete buildings that will be air conditioned to maintain ideal temperatures for weight gain, the company said. The building will contain slatted floors over 8-foot pits that will collect manure, which will probably be sold to farmers for fertilizer.

“Feeding will be controlled by computer, Iowa Beef said. Ration recipes will be punched on computer cards, and the feed will be weighed and mixed automatically. An on-site feed mill will formulate the feed ration.”

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“Large Indoor Facility to Feed Cattle Slated By Beef-Packing Firm,” Wall Street Journal, November 9, 1965, p. 32.