The Alaska daily empire., 1917-03-15
Intelligent Planning and Constructive Action Will Bring Results
 Satisfactorily.
FOOD WASTE IS LARGE
Meat Supply will Soon Increase which WHI Afford Reduction
 in the Prices.

WASHINGTON, March 15. - Soc jretary of Agriculture D. r. Hons.
 ton says:
 "Foodstufgs are high partly be.
 cause our annual food waste is S70c.. OOO,OOO.
 The food outpu: fer the current
 year was not so small as to excite alarm The corn crop was near
 the five year average. oats above.
 barley very near rye lO,OOO,OOO bush.
 els moro and rice 4O.OOO,OOO bughels
 as against 24.OOO,OOO bushels. the
 tiye-ycar average Meat products
 were 22,37S,OOO,O0O pounds, or 2,OO0,- 1 GOO pounds greater than ia 1915. r A marked decrease came in wheat
 and Irish potatoes; in the case of
 wheat G4O.OOO,OOO bushels, and 1,O2G,.
 100000 bushels in 1915. The unusu. ! ally large carry over from the 1915
 crop was 16iOOO,OOO bushels. Nor. mally the exports are IO5,0DO,OOO
 bushels, but in 19l4-l5 they were
 332,OOO,OOO bushels, dropping ln 1915.
 l6 to- 243,OO0.OOO bushels. Looking
 only at the crop of G4O,OOO.OOO bush.
 els and having in mind the posslbili
 ties of export as suggested by the figure Of 332,OOO,OOO for I9I4.l5. the
 public experimenting that there
 would be a lack of bread became Iuaduly excited. The available sup. ply, SO4OO0,OOO bushels - part un.
 suitable for milling purposes-should
 have been considered as well aB the
 relatively small exports which up to
 January 1. were only 97.OOO0OO bush. 1 els, and they have tended 10 de. crease partly on account of the dis.
 turbed shipping conditions since the first of January. Our normal do.
 nestle needs of wheat for human food for seeding purposes, and for a reserve to carry over into the next year require G4O.OOO.OOO bush. els There remains an available ex. portable surplus Of 164.OOO.OOO bush els At the rate of export since July l, with the tendency to de- cline recently, We should have enough wheat in the country very nearly to supply our normal needs.
 "I am not prophet, but do know that farmers have had a dcfi- nite purpose to increase their ac- reage Winter wheat acreage was 4OO9O,OO0, or nearly 9OO,OOO more than harvested last summer In 1915 spring wheat acreage was l9,. 445,0OO and the flveyear acreage IS,. 3OOO0o. It would be singular if this did not increase. Adding that aver age to the winter wheat acreage we have approximately 59,OO0,O 900 acres. or practically the same as the rec. ord acreage of 1915. The yield, of course depends on weather condi. tious The average of the six low. est yields per acre since 2S94 was 12.5 bushels This would give us 737OOO,OO0 bushels of wheat. The average yield for five years down !. to the record crop year of 1915 | was I49 bushels. This would give | us S79,OOOOOO bushels of wheat The average for five years includ- ! ing the record crop year was 15.5 bushels. This would give us 9I4,- OO0,OOO bushels. A yield equal to that of 1914 of i6.G bushels would give us 979,OO0,OOO bushels, while a yield equal to that of the record crop year would give us 100000. 900 bushels.
 "A word should be said about the tendency of the meat supply to increase. The domestic production of 1916 was S,COO.OOO,OOO pounds greater than in 1914. and the ten. lency is still upward Figures re. gently submitted show that the number of cattle on January 1, l91T vas 1,O3LOOO greater than on Jan. Iary 1. 1916, and that the milk cows had increased in the same per. cd 66O,O0O. f
 There is no occasion for hys- eria. Intelligent planning and con. tructive action. in conjunction with he operation of normal forces, and what VIC need and these only can ,rinG about satisfactory result"