Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1898-11-19
4 the strength Of a country be

TT the strength of country be
measured by the abundance and
- nutritive value of its food. then the
United States stands easily at the head
Of the dominant nations OF the world.
Not only can the farmers. the meadows
and the orchards supply the needs OF
our own citizens. but there Is left an
immense surplus to be shipped to other
countries.
Take wheat. for example. one of the
leading staples. During the past ten
years the nations wheat crop has NV
eraged about i6j. 100000 bushels. rang.
ing from less than 4OO.OOO.OOO bushels
In 1893 to over G0O.OO0.OO0 two years
earlier. The average yearly exports Of
this wheat for the same decade We're
14O,O00,000 bushels. leaving 325.OOO,0OO
for home consumption. Excluding the
wheat used for seed and for purposes
other than human food. the present con.
sumption Is estimated to be little less
than one barrel of -four per capita. or
70,O0O,0O0 barrels for the nearly $4,000.
600 population. That means an annual
consumption of liOOO. 10000 pounds of
hOur-a bulk which. put into q single
receptacle. would require a barrel twice
the height of Washington monument
and correspondingly big In circumfer.
cnce. Were all this flour made into
bread It would yield 10000. DOC, 900
pound loavcs. Reversing the metaphor
of the sermon on the mount ana giving
bread for stone" these loaves would
pave roadway 30 feet wide and OK.
tending around the world. II bakery
wagons We're loaded each with 1000 or
the loaves. 20,0O0.O00 would be needed
to move the bread. They would make
a procession over G0.OOO miles long of
IS abreast from ocean to ocean. or
course, not all the flour Is made into
bread, since millions Of pies, cakes and
other products OF the cooks art come
from these 7OOOO.OOO -four barrels.
Last year the farms OF the country
RAISED wheat sufficient to supply this
enormous demand ut home, besides
sending 143,OOO,OOO bushels to other
countries. or this export twO.thlrds
went to Great Britain and less than a
tenth TO the rest of Europe. Six bush.
els In 100 went to our neighbor on the
north and nine more to the other Amer.
lean countries. Australia and Asia took
100000 bushels and Africa 1900, 900
bushels. But unless the nations farms
yield a larger wheat crop less will be
exported In the future. At the present
rate Of consumption the increa sed pop,,.
latlon will demand the entire product
In another decade.
The American Corn CrOp.
But. While wheat Is the staple. Amer!.
cans do not live by bread alone. The
corn crop Is about four times as large
as that OF wheat, and about Loo, 900,
900 bushels remain for consumption in
our own country. But only a fraction
OF this reaches the stomach Of man d.
rect. For the most part 1t Is taken In
the pork, beef, milk, butter, eggs and
other products Of animals that fatten
on its substance. In recent years, ap
parently, the direct use of corn fol
mans food Is increasing in the form OF
''mlxed" -four, patent food preparations
brown bread, corn dodgers ana like
cookery. Whole regions of the South
use corn almost exclusively in prefer
ence 10 wheat -four.
OF the other grains which are partly
used for food there is the Oat crop, aver
aging 1OO,OOO,OOO bushels, most o.
which remains In this country. Thel
there Is the barley crop of some 10000,
900 bushels. And the usual yield Of rye
yearly is s,0OO,OOO bushels, very little o
which Is exported. But barley ana ry'
are largely reduced to iiuld form be
fore the American consents 10 taxi
them into his stomach. Some $1,000,
900 bushels Of buckwheat enter cacl
year into the composition of American
pancakes. The exact amount OF thcs
various grains used directly FOR human
food cannot be determined, but prOba
bly, another G,OOO.OOO pounds must b.
added 10 the wheat hOur, making a tota
OF 2O,OOO,OOO, 900 pounds used each yea
as food. Large as this seems In the az
gregate, II Is less than three-quarter
of a pound day 10 each person-not
very ample meal in Itself, but quite sui
ficlent when taken with the abundan
varieties OF other foods.
Look at the enormous quantity or OH
er fayorite American food products
The average potato crop In recent year
has been about 225.OOO,OO0 buahel