New-York tribune., 1910-09-06
HILL ON FOOD SCARCITY
Railroad Man Says New Methods
Are Needed on the Farm.

Portland, Ore, Sept. 5.-The third annual
exhibition and speed meeting Of the Port
land Fair and Livestock Association
opened here to-day. The exhibition Of cat
tie, horses, sheep, swine and goats is the
finest ever shown on the Pacific Coast and
shows the growth of the livestock industry
IL the Pacific Northwest
The opening exercises included q paper
prepared by James J. Hill and read by
President Paul AIarts of the association
Il was in part:
a nation that means to preserve its
prosperity and control its own destiny
must make sure that its food supply IS
adequate and Will continue 10 De So 10
reverse our movement toward ind - u laI
dependence. food scarcity and permanent
high prices which has already gone far.
IS the item Of the conservation prO5ra n1l1le
more important TO Us than all the others
com bIued. This means conservation of the
soil. Il requires no expensive machinery.
no subordlnation OF local to federal inter
esrs, nothing bur industry, intelligence and
willingness TO follow the teachings Of eE-
peTlenCe-
Unless we change our industry we must
soon cease TO he Self-SuppOrrIng as far as
food is concerned. This sounds absurd In
view of our immense eNpdnse Of 1erIlle
land. our relatively scanty population ami
the part we have played IN feeding the
world II the past. But the figures prove IL
Our foreign trade IN cereals tells the same
the i've Years ending win 1904 and the I'VE
years ending with 1893 the decrease of our
wheat exports was over ~ per cent IN
round numbers our exports Of foodstuns
in crude condition and food animals were
sos p1e 0Go for the eleven months ending May
81 of this year E32 .fHa 600 for the same period
IN 1853 and SIS. .660 in 1903 our exports
Of foOdsru15 partly or wholly nlanutact-
ured for the same three eleVen-nlont tn
periods were $40 NH000o, S25l. 600 odp and $50.
coo 0Da The wheat exports were Il. .i4@.NO
bushels, 66cO0ono bushels and $3.50" ESQ
bushels the -four exports, S-5".ooo barrels,
10 600 Geo barrels and L3.ooo 900 barrels. The
force of these figures cannot be eTaded or
Food consumption in the United States is
increasing more rapidly than food proGuc-
ton That is the explanation Of the railing
off in exports of all forms Of food prod
have demonstrated that this country
might easily double its wheat yield per acre
and make q similar gain IN the quantity
Of everything produced from t1e Ldilu II
requires better cultivation. smaller farms,
study Of soils and their adaptation 70 dif-
ferert forms Of plant life, rotation OF crops,
selection Of seed as careful as tnaJ Whlch
the breeder gives TO the parentaSe OF am
mails and proper fertilization By these
methods from twenty-five 10 forty bushels
Of wheat an acre and corresponding Weld
of other crops are now being obtained
The farmer and his land cannot prosper
until stock raising IS an Inseparahie ad-
luuCt of agriculture The natural increase
of animals the dairy products. the meat
market pr06gctS create the wealth or SuCn
countries as Holland and may and should
he valuable revenue producers on every
farm IN the United States. Hogs can be
raised at small cost of food or labor and
hiring 4 sure income Stlfi more important
Is the fact that Of all forage fed 10 i've
stock al least one-third IN cash value re-
mains on the land in the form OF manure
that VIII aid In restoring exhausted land
10 fertility and maintaining good land al us
;, 9,f-rEGt U-odurfiTa UG1rt-