Full Bins

Evenings had turned cool, and the call of the whippoorwill came sharp and insistent across fields fat with Indiana's richest harvest in years. At Walter Barbour's 232-acre farm outside Indianapolis, baskets of sun-ripened peaches and big red tomatoes crowded the fruit sheds. In the orchards, the trees sagged under the weight of their reddening apples. Barbour had no idea how many bushels hung on the trees: "All I know is that there couldn't be any more apples in there than what's on the trees right now."

Corn, soybeans, alfalfa, wheat, cattle and hogs--everything had "done fine." Buildings gleamed in a new coat of white paint. New cider and fruit packing houses, equipped with stainless steel tanks and refrigerating units, stood near the main house. There was a new $1,500 orchard duster and an elevator that hoisted corn from the wagons into the cribs.

Corn in the Crib. Hard-working Farmer Barbour's only worry was a glut that might force prices down. In Vincennes, they had quit picking peaches because they could not find a market. Other farmers across the U.S. had also become apprehensive of plenty. In California, pears and early Gravenstein apples went to waste. In Iowa, many a farmer's cribs were still crammed with last year's record crop of corn. This year's crop was nearly as big.

Marion Goodhue, who farms 700 acres in the Des Moines River bottom lands near Carlisle, had just paid $2,300 for another three steel bins and a steel crib.

In the sun-warmed haze, the corn was turning golden brown far ahead of normal time. Goodhue had a new tractor and corn picker. The price was high, "but a fellow can pay for it easier than he could ten years ago," said Goodhue. Certainly a fellow could in Iowa, which last year reported the biggest gain in personal income (33%) of any state in the U.S.

Crowded Freezers. Mrs. Goodhue had the deep freeze packed with meat (one hog, half a baby beef, and 15 or 20 chickens) but she was still a little put out about the time she didn't get some pork chops thawed out soon enough for lunch and had to buy eight for $1.70 at the country store. "That just about broke my heart," said Mrs. Goodhue. "They'll tell you that the farmers are getting good prices for their hogs. But there's an awful difference between what we get and what we pay over the counter."

Across the country, farmers were cautious but content. They had good equipment and money in the bank, the fat of six prosperous years. The total volume of crops was only 6% short of 1948-5 incredible production and 30% above the 1923-32 average. Rice and tree nuts set records. Cotton, wheat, oats, tobacco, apples, peaches and pears were above average. Nature had been kind; improved technology had increased yields by a whopping 50% an acre in the past 20 years. And men had worked hard for the bounty they would reap. As Mrs. Barbour pointed out: "People look at our apple trees and say, 'My, my, just look at all those dollars hanging on the trees.' They think we just sat on the porch and watched them grow. They don't know that a lot of good hard work has gone into that orchard."

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