Morris tribune., 1898-11-12
THE WORLDS WHEAT
crookes' Sensational Prophecy
of Universal Dearth.
SOIL UNEQUAL TO THE STRAIN


Put Upon It-Chemistry Must Aver
Starvation.
! Sir William Crookes' presidential
address to the British association al
Bristol, England, recently dealt chiefly
with the question of the food supply not
merely of the United Kingdom, but Of
the whole world. In a word, he proph
esied that universal dearth'' was to be
expected He has been charged with
undue pessimism, but he asserts that his
statements are founded on stubborn
facts, which constrain him to show that
the wheat producing soil of the world
is totally unequal to the Strain put upon
it. At the very outset, though, he re-
lieved the minds of his hearers by prom
ising that the chemist must come to the
rescue of the threatened communities,
and that through the laboratory starva-
ton may ultimately be turned into
plenty.
But before the fairy godmother, chem
istry, was introduced Sir William piled
figures upon figures to show that with
out her services we are doomed to fate
something very like starvation.
First of all, he dealt with the food
supply of his own kingdom. He pointed
out that the consumption of wheat per
head of the population is over six bush
els per annum; $40, 0O0,0 900 bushels of
wheat are therefore required every year,
with an annual increase of 1900, 600,
bushels to supply the increase of popu-
lation OF the wheat consumed in the
United Kingdom % per cent is grown
at home and 70 per cent is imported.
At the best the stock of wheat and -four
amounts to $4,000, 900 bushels, IA
weeks supply Last April the stock only
amounted to 10000, 600 bushels, the
smallest ever recorded Similarly the
stocks held in Europe, the United States
and Canada, called 1.-THE world s visible
supply, = amounted to only "a, 600, 900
bushels. or l0,000,0O0 less than last
years sum total. and nearly so, 600, 600
less than that of 1898 or 1894 at the
corresponding period.
He then referred to the suggestions
which have been made of storing "a,
600, 600 bushels of wheat in national
granaries, which would add IA weeks
life to the population in case of national
disaster But on this point he would
not venture to speak authoritatively
He described as more hopeful, though
difficult and costly. the alternative of
growing most, if not all, the necessary
supply in the British isles. The average
yield over the United Kingdom last
year was 90 OF bushels per acre, the
average for the last ten years being
30 46; therefore nearly $4,000 square
miles, an area about one-fourth the size
of England, increasing at the rate of
100 square miles per annum, would be
necessary to make the United Kingdom
self supporting as to bread food. Land I
of climate and quality sufficient for this
he did not think an impossible demand,
but he doubted if this amount of land
could be kept under wheat and the necas-
sary expense of high farming faced ex-
oept under the imperious pressure of i'm
pending starvation or the stimulus of
4 national subsidy or permanent high I
prices In any case, he concluded that
the annual deficit Of SO, 600, 900 bushels
must for the present be imported, and
be added:
"A permanently higher price for
wheat is, I fear, calamit. 49,
long must be faced At enhanced prlSes
land now under wheat will be better
EARNED, and therefore will yield better,
thus giving increased production with
put increased area.
He concluded his exclusive considera
ion of the United Kingdom by saying
THE burning question of today is,
What can the United Kingdom do to
be reasonably safe from starvation i'll
presence of two successive failures Of
he worlds wheat harvest or against
hostile combination of European ma
ions? We eagerly spend millions to
protect our coasts and commerce and
Millions more on ships, explosives, guns
md men, but we omit to take necessary
to supply ourselves with
The very first and supremely important
nunition of war-food =
Having thus impressed upon his hear.
9rs the vital Importance his subject had
or them, he took them by the hand, as
t were, all over the wheat growing and
wheat consuming portions of the globe
First of all, he considered the world 8
supply and demand.
Wheat is the most sustaining food
grain of the great Caucasian race, which
includes the peoples of Europe, United
States, British America, she white in
labitants of South Africa, Australasia
parts Of South America and the white
population Of the European colonies. OF
ate years the individual consumption
# wheat has almost universally in.