Evening star., 1917-09-09

AN OVXxvV
least some warrant for belief thai
| prices may eventually adjust them.
selves without need for further great
| imitation
| AS a war emergency the national
forest ranges are carrying this sum
| mer approximately
| Cattle on the 100000 more cattle
| and 100000 more
| rorest hanges. sheep than in ordi-
nary years, according to the grazing
experts of the forest service. Ordinar-
lily the national forests furnish pastur-
| age for about 1,800,0 cattle and horses
and 100000 head of sheep.
The number of live stock permitted
on the forests is limited, in order to
prevent damage to timber growth, wa
| ter supplies and the range itself. This
year exceptional weather conditions.
| combined with the general food sit
uation, created an unusual emergency.
calling for special provisions to take
and late spring exhausted the hay sup
| ply and forced use of the spring
! ranges before they had reached their
normal state. To lessen the losses
| which the western live stock industry
faced. the national forest ranges were
opened early. At the same time the
| number OF stock permitted for the
present season was raised to the maxi
| mum consistent with safeguarding fu-
ture productiveness.
1t Is fully recognized that the in
creases which have been made in the
allowances of stock on the national
forests involve danger that the range
will be depicted through overgrazing.
but 1t is believed by the grazing ex-
perts of the government that the
emergency increases made can be taken
care Of at least this year. without ma
terial sacrifice of productive capacity.
The condition of the ranges Is. how
ever. being carefully watched. Re-
lance is placed also on the special
efforts being made to secure the most
intensive utilization consistent with
sustained productiveness. by improved
methods of handling the stock Better
sailing methods and the development
of new watering places are among tho
means employed for this purpose.
At the close Of the grazing season a
careful examination will be made of
the range on each forest to determine
its condition and to find out how many
cattle or sheep 1t will support next
season. On areas which are found to
be overgrazed. an attempt will be
made to shift the surplus stock to q
range which can stand the strain
better.
While the grazing officials do not
ried indefinitely without serious dam
age to the forage, regulated grazing
has brought about a steady improve
ment of the range and some areas will
probably be able to support the larger
numbers permanently.
io1p of
culture are trying to help teach the
people of the country to
Corn Meal economize on foodstuffs and
r, are carrying on a wide
spread campaign with that
intention. One way to reduce the cost
of food for the family. say the spe-
cialists of the department. is to use
more corn meal. where this is low in
price as compared with other cereals.
Corn meal. at present prices, when bought
at retail stores, costs about half az much
per pound as wheat flour. one-third as
much as rolled oats one-fourth as much
as rolled wheat, and about one-half as
much as broken rice. That is, it costs
much less per pound than any of the
other popular cereal foods. yet even the
bolted corn meal usually sold. from which
the germ OF the grain has been removed to
value which compares favorably with that
of wheat -four
The old fashioned unbolted corn meal
made from the whole grain. which can
often be obtained by the farmer who will
take his grain to mill, and can often be
purchased in shops and market contains
more of the issue-building material and
has what many consider even a better
flavor than the bolted meal and is much
liked for making some forms of corn
bread.
Experts of the department insist that
any family in town or country can have
the best OF corn meal by grinding it at
home in hand gristmill. The city man
can buy corn by the bushel at a grain
store He can grind it coarse or fine, to
suit the taste Of the family. and in guam
Prices Of hand mills of substantial make
run from $3.50 to IS. A small mill can be
had for as little as l.5O. though this prob
ably would prove too tedious to use, ex-
cept for small quantities.
Whether obtained at retail store,
store, bought from a mill. or ground at
home, corn meal can be used in several
ways to give inexpensive variety of diet
Officials of the Post Office Depart
ment claim that it has been proved that
the service rendered to
Postal Service the people of the coun-
try at post offices has
been greatly improved,
and they substantiate this claim by the
number of complaints that
are received and by expressions of ap-
proval in the press and elsewhere In
the department. 1T is also pointed out
with postmasters is
conducted with more facility and ex-
pedition than formerly, and the reports
of post Office inspectors, as well as
statements furnished by the auditor of
the department, indicate that the abil-
ity of postmasters to conduct their post
offices satisfactorily to the public and
to the department is greater than 1t has
been at any time in the past
The increased efficiency of postmas-
ters has been due not only to the care
exercised in their selection. but also to
the kind and amount of service re-
quired of them. No postmaster has
been permitted to regard his position
as a sinecure. but all postmasters have
been required to devote not less than
eight hours of the day to their official
ton of the postal operations committed
to their charge. Wide discretion has
been granted postma sters in the ar
and adjustment of their IA
cilities to meet local needs and demands
for service. but complete subordination
and cooperation has been required with
respect to the important general pol
Icies of the department and the specific
issued for standardizing the
methods of work and organization in
post offices. The department has not