The Democratic advocate., 1909-11-19
FRIDAY AFTERNOON, NOV. 10, 1909
WAR AND WHEAT.

largest, but also the fastest in the
world, having made a speed record of
22A knots. There are faster ships
but they are not battleships. In ad-
dition to speed, she has enormous gun
power and experts pronounce her the
most formidable fighting machine ever
built. At present the United States
has two of these "dreadnoughts. -
England has four. According to the
present program of building, when
we have four, England will have ten
or eleven, and Germany no doubt as
many. If we wish to keep up we will
have to build more, especially as we
have our Pacific possessions to guard
against possible attack from the grow
ing power Of Japan, which, according
to Maj. Gen. ]. P. Story, U. S. A, now
has control of the Pacific. We bought
the Philippine Islands for the pur-
pose, as it was said at the time, of
providing base for war operations
OAOAoANO ohu uC1Oh01fOI Ill CcDC vi
trouble in the East; and now the joint
Army and Navy Board, after years of
deliberations, have decided that they
are unsuitable for this object and
Pearl Harbor, the harbor of Honolulu.
is to be made the Gibralter of the Pa
cific. Hawaii was acquired during
President Cleyeland's administration,
and so the purchase of the Philippine
Islands finally turns out to be a
waste of money, so far as a base for
warlike operations is concerned, and
the present holding Of them loss.
In connection with these prepara-
tions for war, we have the serious
statement of Mr.. James J. Hill, that,
"the armed fleets of an enemy ap-
preaching our harbors, would be no
more alarming, than the relentless ad
vance of day when we shall have
neither sufficient food nor the means
to purchase it for our population" i
Coming from such an emminent
source these words should be given
thought and consideration. His
statement is based not only upon study
but also upon his personal and prac-
tical knowledge of the great agricul
tural lands of this country and the
rapid settlement of the North West,
and he claims, that at the present rate
of increase, our population in fifty
years will be 200000,O0O; that at that
tune, according to our standard of liv-
ing. we will not produce enough food.
as the increase in the production of
cereals does not now keep step with
the increase in population; and TAX
ing wheat as standard for edible
grains. that even now we have "to
provide from some source for an an
nual deficit of more than 35,OOO,OOO
bushels"
His remedy is improved cultivation
by means of which the fertility of the
soil can be preserved, and he suggests
that we build less battleships and use
the money for starting model farms
over the country. This is a good sug-
gestion, for seeing the model farms and
the advantages of improved meth
DDS. the farmers of each community
would readily adopt them.
And little reflection makes us ap-
preciate the need of more intensified
farming. Formerly rich agricultu-
raj community, New England is now
6 region of game preserves and re-
creative spots for the rich. The fer
tility of the soil becoming exhausted,
her people moved West, and the tide
is still flowing westward leaving
abandoned farms in it's wake. A few
years hence there'll be no new lands
to cultivate. The average yield of
wheat per acre has been about four
teen bushels for 80 years, showing
that it has required new soils with
large crops to make up for the
small yield of those that are depleted.
In Europe and Great Britain, with a
soil naturally inferior to ours in fer
tility, the average yield is rs to 27
bushels per acre. Americans are the
most wasteful people in the world;
we are now using three times as
much timber per year as is grown.
This is a serious condition, but the
waste of soil fertility by improper
methods of cultivation and lack of
fertilization will prove more fatal. We
must call a halt, and begin to save, and
fatten up what we have left. The
land does not wear out" it is starved
out
In parts of Carroll county we do
better than the IA bushels per acre
for the whole United States, but how
much better than that is our general
average? Not much, we doubt if it is
five bushels more Did you ever stop
and think though that the cost of
your crop. outside of the threshing,
is practically the same whether you
raise fifteen or thirty bushels per
acre? All the land planted must be
plowed and narrowed, and then the
wheat must be sowed and cut. The
Year Book takes the price and cost |
of production of wheat for ten years
in the u. S. and finds the average price