The Dickinson press., 1898-11-05
The WoRLD's WAt ! j!
crookes' Sensational Prophecy
Of Universal Dearth.
SOIL UNEQUAL TO THE strain.

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SOIL UNEQUAL TO THE STRAIN.
wheat Producing Soil Of the World
Uaeaual to the Strain That VIII Be
Pat Upon It-Chesnistry Must Avert
Starvation.
Sir William Crookes' presidential
address to the British association at
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; hs proph-
esied that universal dearth'' was to be
expected. He has been charged with
undue peszimim, 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 mindsof his hearers by prom.
ksing that the chemist must come to the
rescae'of the threatened communities,
and that tAroushth laboratory starva.
tion may ultimately be turned into
plenty.
But before the fairy godmother. chem.
istry, was introduced Sir William piled
figures upon figures to showsthat with
out her services we are doomed to q 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 q che population is.over six BUSH
els per annum $40, 0o0. 900 bushels Of
wheat are therefore required every year,
with an annual increase Of 1900, 900
,bushels to supply the increase of popu-
lation. OF the wheat consumed in the
United Kingdom IS per cent is grown
ut home and rs per cent is imported.
At the best the stock of wheat and -four
amounts to "a. 900. 900 bushels, IA
weeks supply. Last April the stock only
amounted to 10, 900, 600 bushels, the
smallest ever recorded. Similarly the
stocks held in Europe, the United States
and Canada, called ''the worlds visible
supply" amounted to only "a, 600, 900
bushela, or 10, ooo, 900 less than last
years sum total, and nearly so, 600, 900
less THAN that of 1893 or 1894 at the
corresponding period.
He then referred to the suggestions
which have been made Of storing g..
600. 900 bushels Of wheat in national
granaries, which would add IA weeks
life to the population incase 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 80. o. bushels per acre, the
average for the last ten years being
29.4e; therefore nearly IS. 1000 square
miles, an area, about on6 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
Of climate and quality isnfioient for this
he did not think an impossible demand,
but he doubted If this amount Of land
could be kept under wheat and the neoes-
sary, expense Of high farming faced ex-
cepthnder the imn1periitous pressure q inn
pending starvation @ the stimulus of
snAtionaf subsidy q permanent high
pioeA In any case, he concluded that
the annual deficit Of 100, 600. 900 bushels
must for the present be imported, and
he added: sss.
"a pssnaassneantlyjr higher price for
wheat IT, / fear, q calamity that ere
long must be faced. At enhanced prices
land now under, wheat will be. better
fGmed, and therefore will yieldsbetter;
thu, giving increased production with
out Increased area. t'
He eesq4pspdea hisezslnsye o . std, q
tion Of Che United Kingdom by saying:
1.-THE burning question Of today is,
What the United Kingdom do to
b. reasonably safe from starvation in
presence Of two successive failures II
the world''s wheat harvest or against a
hostile oombdnasim Of EnftDlpisGa ma
tions7 We eagerly spend millions to
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