Sierra County advocate. [volume] (Kingston, N.M.) 1884-1960, 1914-12-18
MARKETING WORLDS
GREATEST PROBLEM
WE ARE LONG ON PRODUCTION,
SHORT ON DISTRIBUTION.
BY Peter Radford
Lecturer National Farmers Union.

Lecturer National Farmers Union.
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 a 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
Inent 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 s.arvs.
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 change in diet and one local
ity has felt the pinch of want, while
another surfeited, but the world as .
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
II is safe to estimate that In case OF
dire necessity one-half the earth's
population could at the present time
knock their living out of the trees
of the forest, gather 1t from wild
vines and draw 1t from streams. No
one should become alarmed; the
world will never starye.
The consumer has always feared
that the producer would not supply
him and his fright has found express
sion on the statute books of our states
and nations and the farmer mas been
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 urging
each other to move back to the farm,
but very few of them have moved. |
We welcome our city cousins back to
the soil and this earth's surface con-
tains 1902, 100000 idle acres of till
able land where they can make a |
living by tickling the earth with
'orked stick, but we do not need them |
10 far as increasing production is con-
we now have all the producers !
we can use. The city man has very |
erroneous Ideas OF agricultural c0ndi-
ions. The commonly accepted theory
hat we are short on production is all
wrong. Our annual increase in pro-
luction far exceeds that of our in
,rease in population.
The World as a Farm.
Taking the world as one big farm,
We find two billion acres of land In
cultivation. OF this amount there is
approximately 750.O00,000 acres on the
western and 1850 100000 acres on the
,astern hemisphere, in cultivation.
This estimate, of course, does not In
lude grazing lands, forests, etc,
vhere large quantities Of meat are
reduced.
The worlds annual crop approxi-
mates fifteen billion bushels Of ce-
eals, thirteen billion pounds of fibre
nd sixty-fiye million tons of meat.
The average annual world crop for
he past FIVE years, compared with the
revious FIVE years, is as follows:
Past Half Previous Half
Crops Decade. Decade.
orn (Bu.) s.934.174oO0 3,403. $3.50
7heat (Bu.) s,522,7e9OOO s.257, $4,000
'ats (Bu) 4,120O17000 3.50s, s,315,O0O Il
otton (Bales) 19,S63,S00 17.541,2O
The world shows an average in
rease in cereal production OF 13 per
ant during the past decade. compared
18th the previous five years, while the
'orld's population shows an increase
I only three per cent.
The gain in production far exceeds
lat of our increase in population, and ,
is safe to estimate that the farmer
IN easily increase production rs per