The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1913-02-23

supply and demand, as anyone, no
matter how free he may be from the
assaults OF unwise legislation which
frequently cripple other industries.
This Oldest and most important voca-
ton is likewise right at the point
where these great natural laws are
beginning to affect it vitality. anu
through it the comfort and we'll being
Of all mankind.
No wonder bankers and other bust
ness men have had this problem Of
agriculture under most careful scru,.
my of late, for while it is true that
the price Of land has risen to a poin,
where the farmer, in order to obtain
fair return upon his investment
needs not only the proverbial econ
omy and industry of his calling, but
every educational advantage which
will augment his efforts to secure a
product of better quality and a larger
yield per acre, there is another phase
which is of interest to the whole
world. &,
Decrease in U. s. Farm Acreage.
Our last census returns indicated
that in the United States we are
close to the limit Of farm acreage.
When stated that the fertility OF
our soil was capable of vast expan,
sion did not mean an expansion in
area-not more farms, but better and
more productive farms. In spite OF
the increases in the west and south
our agricultural area has ceased to
expand. The eastern states have lost
from two to ten percent. Iowa has lost
two per cent and Illinois, RICH. across
the river, one per cent. If our agri-
cultural area has ceased to expand
during period when the prices OF
farm products have risen sixty-five
per cent, there is a problem that in
terests the whole world, and especial
" the farmers living in these great
agricultural states who will be cali
ed upon to solve the problem.
This decrease can only be Offset
by better and more scientific cultiva-
ton of the soil. otherwise the price
of farm products will rise to point
where the food problem will become
most serious to all our. people.
There is no more important ques.
ton before the people Of the whole
world today than that of not only con-
serving for the future, but right now
getting every dollar out of this price
less heritage Of ours, the soil of the
corn belt.
Treasures Of the Corn Belt.
For we have priceless asset here
in the corn belt and it would be a
crime against humanity and ciyiliza-
ton not to preserve ia step back
ward in the march of progress, a cost
I y error charged TO posterity.
Boast of gold mines in Colorado,
Alaska or British South Africa They
are vast treasure fields of mineral
wealth, but they produce only one
crop. The great forces of nature
which scattered those treasures are
not constantly at work to bring them
to the surface year after year. Ones
worked out they are gone forever;
but the gold Of the corn belt, produe-
ing the yellow grains that sustain
life, will be Just as plentiful in this
wonderful Iowa soil a hundred years
from now, provided the farmer makes
~ HI fo fNr
and preserves its repository for his
children and his children's children
aye, for all humanity through coming
generations.
The gold of the corn belt! 1t does
not lie dead weight in vaults of CAPT
tai as reserve against reckless specu-
lation which may bring it forth in
the red ruin of panic, but it flows
freely from granary and field to the
breakfast table of the human family,
and to the hangers of mans animal
friends with pledge Of life itself. IL
does no. glitter in the diadem of
kings, but arrayed in splendid robes
of green and bronze, it Tits to the
III uiuillS Hdl lloAS VI ouIlllCl
zephyr, or losses in the keen October
air. a welcome to the whitening har-
vest, 1t neither floats in cold splen
dor upon the bosom of beauty nor
holds the red wine upon he boards
of affluence, but it brings to loved
ones health and strength. paints the
roses upon beautys cheek and gilds
the damask which covers Gods own
footstool.
" Uncle Sam VIII Help.
think the citizens from every
state should approve any reasonable
congressional appropriations to help
increase the crop yield in the corn
belt. 1t is surely just as important
as to redeem arid lands of the west
or encourage stronger cotton plants
in the south, for we have here the
only, original, patent applied for
American corn belt, unrivalled ano
precious beyond compare to human
ity. 1t is now possible to secure from
the government a permanent fund Of