The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1911-10-13
Bakers Are Better Paid.

married men.
One minister stated he would at
any time accept pastorate in the
country, that his cost of living might
be cut down.
Howard H. Gross of Chicago, presi-
dent of the National Soil Fertility
league, is authority for the. state
ment that for. ten cents per year
per capita the food crops of the
United States may be increased ina
sum equalling 500 per year per
capita and adequate food supply at
reasonable cost be available. Mr..
Gross points out that ''if the popu-
lation increases. in the next ten years
as it has in the last ten, our food
supply will be short. We will have
to eat less and waste less. There
are no new acres to cultivate, or at
any rate, so few more as to be I'M
important. Hence if the population
of the future is to be cared for it
must be by increased yield per acre.
Within fifty years our population
will be doubled; hence the food
supply of the present and the COM
ing generations forms the most i'm
portant economic problem in the
world today. No country ever has
grown great or prosperous without
an abundant food supply at a reason
able cost. 1t is only step from
hunger to revolution.
"The question is, what is the
next step in agriculture? What shall
we do to increase the yield so that
we will have an adequate food
supply at a reasonable cost, and a
large surplus for export to help
feed the world that is depending
upon us for food? There is known no
remedy, the only question is in the
application. Our department of agri-
culture was established less than a
quarter of century ago, but it
has done a wonderful work. It's
scientists have travelled every land
and cline. 1t has made deep re-
search, carried on millions OF expert
ments, and has garnered a vast fund
of knowledge, which if properly ap-
piled would revolutionize our agri-
cultural methods and double, and
even treble. the yield. This is
easily possible. In Europe. OH land
that has been under cultivation for
ten to twenty centuries, the farmers
are getting two and three times as
much per acre as we are getting,
and that upon land which was origi-
nally not as good as ours. How was
this done?
Driven by necessity, the govern
ments of Europe took up the. CUES
ton of food supply for the people in
a very serious manner about twenty.
five years ago. A study of the stu
alton soon made it clear that the
farmers were not realizing the yields
from their farms that was easily
attainable; that more intelligent
cultivation and higher standard of
practice was necessary. This meant
education. Lecturers were sent
throughout the country, giving adj
vice and endeavoring to arouse in
terest. Printed matter in large guam
titles was distributed, travelling
schools were inaugurated, holding
sessions for week or ten days in
different communities. The perma-
nent Colleges of Agriculture were
strengthened and new ones estab-
lished. Denmark led the way, then
came Belgium, and other countries
followed. All the work mentioned
was good, but it was not sufficient.
It did not reach the vital spot, name
ly, the man in the field. Then the
field demonstration, or itinerant in
structor was sent out upon a show
me- campaign. This proved effective.
1t brought the demOnstratOr-the man
who knew-face to face with the
farmer-who needed to knOW-on the
very soil where the problem lay.
without going into detail, let me
give you some OF the results. In
twenty years, Denmark with poor
and suffering population rose to one
of thrift and prosperity, 1t more than
doubled the yield per acre on its
farms. 1t holds the record average
for sustained wheat production
which is over forty bushels to the
acre. Compare this with our own IA
bushels Belgium in all it's nine prov
inces soon adopted the plan of send
ing teachers :. of agriculture to the