The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-08-06

NOT expect any cheap wheat IN tne
near future. Unless the winter har-
vest in eli the wheat producing re-
siohs Of earth shows q very good
yield the prospect 10 that the supply
will not equal the demand during the
period eiapsing before another crop 10
harvested. The remedy for anticipate
ed scarcity, as The Economist views
It. lies In the spread OF agricultural
science and improved methods of pro-
duction.
The Economist may be correct in its
prediction of future scarcity of flour
and other wheat products. We ali
have personal knowledge that wheat
and flour have commanded high prices
now for several months. whether
| that was due to manipulation Of the
market or to scarcity Of product. or to
both. the fact has come home to ali
housekeepers. We think II altogether
likely that the world has reached q
cha8C ttc gal III CahHOt INV priv
duce enough wheat to supply the, de-
mand, ana as a consequence 1t may
remain dear.
What is the remedy? In addition
to the suggestions Of The Economist
may be mentioned the fact that there
are yet vast areas Of land which have
not been brought into cultivation. and
on much Of which good wheat crops
may be produced. Many millions of
square miles Of territory are yet in
the woods. SO to speak. Just how much
Of that will be good wheat land can
not be told in advance. but the exig-
encies Of the future will bring 1t into
cultivation some day and perhaps
there may be enough wheat produced
to keep pace with the demand.
But we Of this country have REM
edy at, hand. II we will adopt It. and
that lies in using less flour. 1t is not
necessary that We should eat rye
bread. or the good oaten cake" 50
dear to the old scoth people. or that
we should be Strengthened for bread
material in place OF flour as long as
we have plenty Of the truly American
grain. II people would halve the
amount Of flour they use and double
the quantity OF corn and Its many pro-
UANa
healthy. wealthy and WISE" as the
old saying Is.
1t ought not to be needful to ad-
vance reasons or arguments in favor
of a much more extended use Of corn
in some Of it's forms. The pioneers of
the country from Maine to California
lived largely. on maize products, and
they were a strong and healthy
race The first white people who
landed In America found the Indians
living largely on corn in some shape.
The whites may have adopted It from
necessity. but II so they were faith
full to IT for centuries, as a standard
article of food. 1t is only within a
comparatively recent period that it
seems. to have fallen. On to .dfsfavor "a nd
everybody wants flour In some form.
All this talk now about the new dis
ease. Pellagra, attributed to diseased
or seured corn or its products, will
tend still more to discredit corn. but
It ought not to do so; 1t should only
make people more careful and observ-
ant. Among the farmers who largely
do their own work and attend to their
own households, there 10 not much
danger of the new disease, we imagine.
The farmer who lets his corn fipen IN
the field, then selects shells and takes
to the mill only the sound corn Is in
little danger from pellagra. The dan
ger most to be apprehended is from
the meal shipped to us. Corn harvest
ed before It Is ripe. sent to the mills
by the car load and ground and sack
ed without regard to the soundness or
unsoundness of the grain. and with no
care taken to prevent the meal sour
ing, 10 the source of danger, just as
there is danger from eating spoiled
flour. or flour made from spoiled
wheat. There ought to be no difficult
ty about getting as sound and health
full meal now as could ever be done,
and there Is no danger from eating
It.
People who think there is anything
like monotony in food prepared from
corn or some OF its products are mis-
taken. There are so many ways In
which it can be prepared for food
that some form of 1t should please any
palate, but If 1t could only be procur-
ed in the shape of the plebeian corn
pone. provided 1t was made of sound
material and properly prepared and
cooked. 1t would be better than so
much fine flour. 1t would not only
be better for the health of the people
but much better for their pockets II
they would and could obtain and use
more pure corn products and less of
other breadstuffs
|