St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1909-12-18
AN APPARlTION OF FIGURES

AN APPARITION OF FIGURES
In an address before the National Corn
Exposition at Omaha Neb., Jas. J. Hill gives
expression to the idea that unless the farmers
are taught to produce several times as much
per acre as they are producing to-day this
country cannot feed the population which it
must necessarily have within compare
lively few years" AS Mr. Hill is an intelli-
gent man and seems to be making a special
study Of this subject, his warning should set
all the machinery in motion for putting the
farmer in position to reap the reward that
has been his due this long time. But Mr..
Hill does not lay 50 much stress on the fact
that the farmer is abandoning the farm for
city occupation as he does upon inexpensive
land and growing population. He says:
Area is inelastic. Our public lands are
mainly exhausted. A few more years will
see the last of these. The areas to be
obtained by reclamation work would not, all
told, take care Of our increase for two years
So there are final limits already in sight to
the quantity of tillable land"
While all this is very alarming to the pur-
chaser Of food supplies, the contemplatiVe
farmer may see chance to lie abed little
later in the morning and sit down to more
enticing breakfast, if the trusts don't COB
BILE up his land. Yet, on the other hand, the
Picayune says editorially, in commenting
on the future population of North America:
THE United States, with an area of three
million square miles, exclusive Of Alaska, if
it had 100 persons on each square mile
would muster 300, 900, 900 of population, and
would only be as thickly populated as Ohio,
which still has large farming area. Three
hundred million people could live comfort
ably without limiting the wheat fields or the
cotton plantations, but would have album
dance of room and have a sufficient farming
area. We know from experience that the
great body Of the population would be gath
cred into the manufacturing cities and the
agricultural regions would be no more crowd
ed than they are now. With Mexico and
Canada for whom 200, O00 900 would be al
lowed, the three countries of North America
would contain 500, 100000 people, but our
own republic could contain them all and not
be overcroWded. But 300, 0O0 900 would be
a comfortable population for our country,
and that is what it will be at the end of this
century"
Ohio is one Of the leading agricultural
States, with population in 1905 Of 4,157,-
545, or 1902 to the square mile, and in 1900
she raised 1928, 876 bushel of wheat, 2O7
bushels per CAPITA hardly enough to feed
her population. North Dakato with pop
ulation Of f. 81 to the square mile comes to
rescue with 41.28 bushels per head, while
Minnesota, with 80 to the square mile, raised
% bushels for each inhabitant. But if you
give to Dakota a population per square mile
equal to Ohio her production would be
but about 1.84 bushel per capita, not enough
for home consumption.
Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, New
Mexico and Oregon, all heavy wheat grow
ers, are not densely populated With an
average population Of E, 1000, 900 to each State,
could each State provide itself with wheat,
or could the wheat growing States raise
enough surplus wheat, in the face of the
rapidly growing cities and the diminishing
farm labor, to support 300, 0OO, 900 people?
Taking the yield and population of Ohio
in 1900 as basis each State would have to
raise 2O7.89 bushels of wheat for every
square mile, water and land or 2.O7 bushels
per capita, less than tWo-thirds of a barrel
for each person, which is insufficient.
1t is evident that statisticians have be-
come alarmed at the showing their figures
make; but if the result of their investiga-
ton lends encouragement to intensive farm
ing and scientific methods, opens up agri-
cultural schools, gives to the farmer a stand
ing that will increase his self-respect and
place him in the social position he is entitled
to, there will be little danger that the people
Of this country will not be we'll feed. In the
meantime, it is interesting to note the havoc
that figures make in the different views that
are taken of the situation.