The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-03-03
FOOD SITUATION
OF The COUNTRY

OF The COUNTRY
WASHINGTON, d. c., March s.-The
Secretary of Agriculture, d. b. Hous-
ton, to-day issued the following
statement:
; .aThere is nothing in the food sltua-
ton Of the country which 1usunes
historical thinking or action. rms Is
not q time for hysteria. Nor IS this
q time for the thought Of the Ameri-
can people to be directed or dom1n-
ated by those who have the interests
of another country primarily at heart
or any selfish interest to further.
Importance OF Food Conservation
.For partial Immediate relief, every
Individual and community should con-
slider earnestly the matter OF food con-
sefvation and the limitation OF waste.
As q Nation we seem to have a DIS
dam Of economizing. In many
homes there is a strong feeling that
sc In only decent to provide more
food than will be eaten and that 1T is
sdemeaning to reckon closely. Inc
experts of the Department of Agri-
culture report to me that the dietary
studies made by them point to an an
n1a1 food waste Of about l$7OO,OOO
900. OF course, the waste in families
of very limited means is slight, but IN
the families of moderate and ample
means the waste is considerable. Even
If the estimate were reduced by half
the waste would still be enormous.
ssThe food waste in the household,
the experts assert, results in large
measure from bad preparation and
bad cooking. from improper care and
handling. and, in well-to-do families.
from serving an undue number of
courses and an over-abundant supply
and failing to save and utilize the food
not consumed. AS an instance of
improper handling, it is discovered
that in the preparation of potatoes 20
per cent. <of the edible portion in
many cases is discarded.
Estimated Food Supply
For Current Year
"The weather conditions during the
growing season Of 1916 were unfa-
vorable in many parts of the world.
They were distinctly unfavorable In
this country. Although there was
wheat acreage, the. weather condi-
tions were such as to favor the ap-
pearance Of the black-rust disease af-
fecting wheat. The consequence
was that although the acreage was
large the yield was relatively small.
The conditions were not especially ia
vorable for corn and for some other
important crops. Still the food out
pur on the whole for the current year
was not so small as to excite alarm.
The corn crop was $500, 100000 BUSH
els, nearly the f1ve-year average. The
oat crop was above the five-year av-
erage, the barley very nearly the five
year average, rye ten million bushels
more than the five-year average, and
rice 40,OO0,OOO bushels, as against
29, 00o, 900 bushels the year before, and
24,5OO, 900 bushels, the five-year aver
age. The production, Of kafir corn,
relatively new crop, was 5O,00O,000
bushels. The production Of peaches,
81, 200, 900 bushels, Of pears 1O,400,-
900 bushels, and of apples 67,5OO,0OO
barrels, represents approximately the
five-year average while the estimat-
ed production Of oranges was 23,S00,-
900 boxes, or 100000 more<than that
Of the preceding year. The crop of
sugar beets was one Of the largest ev-
or produced. Meat products. like
wise, were produced in larger guam
titles, the estimated amount for the
year being 22,378,000,000 pounds as
against q five-year average Of 19,712,-
900 pounds, or 2,o00,00O.00O pounds
greater than the output for the year
1915. Dairy products on the whole
showed gain. #
Wheat.
1.-THE two food products which re-
veal g. marked decrease were wheat
and Irish potatoes. It is evident that
the public has failed to look at all the
facts involved especially in the case
Of wheat The wheat crop for the
current year was reported to be $780,
O0O, O00 bushels as against a five-year,
average Of 728,000,000 bushels, and
the record crop of 1915 Of 1,026,0O0,-
900 bushels. Apparently, the public
has compared the crop of 1915 solely
with the recrod crop of 1915, and fail.
ed to take into account the unusually
large carry over from that year into
the present year of 164 100000 BUSH
els or more. Furthermore, it's at
tention has been fixed on the large
exports OF two years Immediately fol-
lowing the outbreak of the war. The
exports Of wheat in normal times are
approximately 100000 bushels.
The year preceding the war it was
145,000,000 bushels. In 1914-15 it
was 332,00O,000 bushels, dropping in
1856 to 243,000,000 bushels. Look
ing only at the crop Of 64,0OO,0O0'
bushels and having in mind the pos
sibilities of export as suggested by
the figure of $4,000 for 1914-15, the
public naturally apprehended that
there would be a lack of bread. Deal
ers and others became unduly excit-
ed The total available supply, in
Guiding both the crop and the carry
over, aggregating 804,000,000 BUSH
els-part of which, it should be said,
was not suitable for milling purposes.
should have been considered as well
as the relatively small exports forithe
first six months Of the current year.
Up to the first Of January, the exports
were only 100000 bushels, and they
have tended to decrease partly on ac-
count Of the disturbed shipping con-
ditions since the first Of January. Our
normal domestic needs of wheat for
human food, for seeding purposes,
and for reserve to carry over into
the next year require 640,000,000
bushels. AS I have stated, the to-
tai years supply is 04,000,000 bush
els. This would give us an available
exportable surplus of 164,000,00G