The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1910-02-23
PROF. WHITNEY. 7EILs
WHY FOOD IS HIGH
Continued Advance Due to. IL
creased Consumption and Va
riety Of Diet Demanded. =

Professor Milton Whitney, chief OF
the Bureau of Soils of the Depart
ment of Agriculture, has added his
voice to the general chorus of expla-
nation as to why the price of food
continually advances and never re-
cedes. His is the explanation of the
scientist who Is watching the develop
ment of the producing capacity of oar
farm lands, the increase in the vol.
ume as well as the value of u
products. He inclines to ascribe the
unremitting advance to the fact that
as Americans grow richer in material
wealth, such as incomes from capital
and from the results Of labor in it's
various forms, they are constantly in
creasing the amount they eat, the va
riety of their diet and the quality of
food which they demand. Professor
Whitney said:
THE Secretary Of Agriculture has
for years been calling attention to
the increase in the amount and value
of our crops. Why the increased cost,
if productivity has more than kept
pace with the per capita growth? OBJ
viously because of the increased de-
mand per capita. The amount we
consume is in some sense proportional
to the variety of our foods and u
ability to purchase. We are as a ma
ton very rich; wages are high, and
we can afford variety, and we all en-
Joy far greater variety than we did
fifty years ago. The markets in u
cities, large and small. already have
in December spring and summer veg
etables, fruits and meats at prices
within the reach of the masses of our
people.
Variety Increases Consumption.
1--WE have tempting varieties Of
breakfast foods and other prepare
tons made of wheat and corn. This
variety tends to increase consumption.
We eat more per capita than we used
to. If the people can afford it, why
not?
"The present conditions of soil
productivity, the falling off of our ex-
ports, and the high price Of food
stuffs, If taken altogether with the
general prosperity, do not, to my
mind, indicate danger of starvation
even if we were compelled at some
future time to tone down the high
living we are at present enjoying.
1T does show that our farmers are
engaged in a winning and a growing
occupation with a large and growing
demand for the things they produce.
Agriculture III It's Infancy.
agriculture in this country is in
it's infancy, and we have hardly more
than cleared the ground and got the
fences up. When we settle down to
the real business of farming, and get
a thorough knowledge of the soil of
each field, as the people of the longer
settled countries Of Europe have
done, we shall have fewer failures to
pull down our average of productiv-
ity.
There v have been greater OPP
portunities offered for American
farming. In the East and South es-
pecially are cheap and productive
soils awaiting resettlement and re-
occupation, with ever increasing va
riety of products. We should apply
ourselves in earnest and with determ-
nation to get the best out of them by
exercising intelligent control of these
invaluable assets. We should, furth-
ermore, do this by force of intellect
or foresight, rather than by force Of
necessity, as has been the case in Eu-
ropean countries"