The Medina sentinel. [volume] (Medina, Ohio) 1888-1961, 1914-11-26
Marketing is
Great Problem

The economic distribution Of farm
products is today the worlds greatest
problem and the war, while 1t has
brought its hardships, has clearly en-
phasized the Importance of distribu'
tion as a factor In American agricul'
ture and promises to give the farm
ers the cooperation of the govern
ment and the business men the
solution of their marketing problem
This result will, In measure, com
pensate us for our war losses, for the
business interests and government
have been in the main assisting al
most exclusively on the production
side Of agriculture. While the depart
ment of agriculture has been dumping
tons Of literature on the farmer telling
him how to produce, the farmer has
been dumping tons Of products in the
nations garbage can for want OF q
market.
The World VIII Never Starve.
At no time since Adam and Eve
were driven from the Garden of Eden
have the inhabitants of this world
suffered from lack of production, but
some people have gone hungry from
the day Of creation to this good hour
for the lack Of proper distribution
Slight variations In production have
forced a change in diet and one local
ity has felt the pinch of want while
another surfeited, but the world as q
whole has ever been a land Of plenty
We now have less than one-tenth OF
the tillable land of the earth's surface
under cultivation, and we not only
have this surplus area to draw on but
1t Is safe to estimate that in case o.
dire necessity one-half the earth'i
population could at the present time
knock their living out of the treei
Of the forest, gather it from wild
vines and draw 1t from streams. M
one should become alarmed; th'
world will never starve.
The consumer has always fearet
that the producer would not suppl!
him and his fright has found expires
sion on the statute books of our state
and nations and the farmer has beel
urged to produce recklessly and with
out reference to market, and regard
less of the demands of the consumer
Back to the Soil.
The city people have been urgin
each other to move back to the farm
but very few Of them have moved
We welcome our city cousins back +
the soil and this earth's surface cor
tains 16,092, 100000 idle acres Of till
able land where they can make
living by tickling the earth with 4
forked stick, but we do not need then
so far as increasing production Is cor
cerned; we now have all the producer
we can use. The city man has yer.
erroneous ideas of agricultural condi
tions. The commonly accepted theor!
that we are short on production is al
wrong. Our annual increase in pro
duction far exceeds that Of our in
crease in population. (
The World az q Farm.
Taking the world as one big farm
we find two billion acres Of land II
cultivation. OF this amount there II
approximately 75O,OO0,000 acres on th'
western and 1850 100000 acres on tht
eastern hemisphere. in cultivation
This estimate, Of course, does not In
clude grazing lands, forests, etc.
where large quantities of meat arr
produced.
The worlds annual crop approx
mates fifteen billion bushels Of ce
reals, thirteen billion pounds of fibr'
and sixty-five million tons of meat.
The average annual world crop fol
the past five years, compared with The
previous five years, is as follows:
Past Half Previous Hal
Crops Decade. Decade,
Corn (Bu.) 3,934,174.000 3,403, ,655, ,00l
Wheat (Bu.l 522,769,OO0 3,257, $4,000
Oats (Bu.) 4,12O,O17O0O 3.5OS,S15OO(
Cotton (Bales) 19,S63,S00 1854 ,2OC
The world shows an average in
crease in cereal production Of 13 pei
cent during the past decade, compared
with the previous five years, while the
worlds population shows an increase
of only three per cent.
The gain in production far exceeds
that of our increase in population. ant
1t is safe to estimate that the farmel
can easily increase production rs pc,
cent If a remunerative market can b
found for the products. In textile
fibres the world shows an increas'
during the past half decade in produC
tion of Is per cent against a popula
tion increase Of three per cent.
The people Of this nation shoul
address themselves to the subject O
improved facilities for distribution.
Over-production and crop mortgag
force the farmers into rjlinous con