Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1914-12-09

BY peter Radford
Lecturer National farmers' Union

Lecturer National farmers' Union
The economic distribution OF farm
products is today the woIld's greatest
problem and the war. While it has
brought its hardships, mas 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 nain assisting al
most exclusively or tho production
side of agriculturey 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 CT products in the
nations garbage can for want of
market.
The Word vii, Never siarve.
At DO time since Adam and Eve
were driven from tnc Garden Of Eden
have the inhabtants of this world
suffered from lack CT 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, bat the world as d
whole has ever been a land of plenty
We now have less thar 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
it is safe to estimate tiat in case OF
dire necessity oneN2lfn the eartll's
population eoalti at the' present ti1la
knock their living out Of the trees
of the forest, gather it from wild
vines and draw it from streams. No
one should become alarmed the
world will never starve.
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 has been
urged to produce reclIlessly 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, 10000 idle acres Of till
able land where they can make a
living by tickling the earth with a
forked stick. but we do NOT need them
so far as increasing production is con
cerned; we now have all the producers
we can use The city man has very
erroneous ideas OF agricultural oondi-
| tions. The commonly accepted theory
that we are short on production is all
wrong Our annual increase in pro
duction far exceeds that OF our in
crease 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 75o,ooO,000 acres on the
western and ,260 100000 acres on the
eastern hemisphere, in cultivation.
This estimate, OF course. does not in.
clude grazing lands, forests, etc,
where large quantities OF meat are
produced.
The worlds annual crop appro&i-
mates fifteen billion bushels of &C
reals, thirteen billion pounds Of fibre
and si2ty-fve million tons Of meat
The average annual world crop fot
the past five years compared with the
previous. five years is as follows
Past Half Previous Hall
), Crops Decade. Decade
Corn (Bu.) 3,9si.i74ooO 3,4OS 655oof
Wheat(Bu.) 1892 10000 3,257 52G 0of
Oats (Bu.) 4,120o17,o0o 3,50S3l50of
Cotton (Bales) 19.SG3,sOO 17,54l 20(
Il The world shows an average in
crease in cereal production of 10 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 exceed:
that of our increase in population ant
1t is safe to estimate that the farmel
can easily increase production Is PEI
cent if remunerative market can bt
found for the products. In textile