The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-04-20
THE RICHMOND vIRGINIAN-FRIDAY, APRIL 90 1917
William w. Alexander, rs 4-10 acres
on north side Williamsburg road; ST.
200.
FARMING AS A
PATRIOTIC DUTY

! tfrom Department of the Interior.
We are at war with a great power.
| we are preparing an army and train
! ing navy to combat that power.
| But the work of preparation and de-
! fence is not to the army and navy
! alone.
Our people can not all be fighters.
We must have in addition to our
armies of fighters, armies of pro-
Aucers. to sustain those who struggle
and to maintain those for whom they
struggle.
| Men in close touch with the food
supply OF this country predict that
! If the present decrease in produc-
ton keeps up for another year, we
will face a serious food famine. And
as our country is the chief food pro-
ducng country of the world. that
statement means that the entire world
will face the same terrible conse =
| quence.
To avoid this shortage of food, our
country must develop It's patriots who
! pillow. just as it develops its patriots
who shoot For the man who shoots
! can not long exist without the active
, support OF the man who plows.
Two hundred and forty million
acres of unalloted public land in the
Western states await the coming OF
he farmer and the herdsman Mil
lions of acres of fine farm lands in
the Eastern states lie idle through lack
of men 10 work them. Forty-two mil
| lions of our population stifile in
crowded cities and complain OF the
, high cost of living.
| In time of peace the interior de-
! partment and other branches of the
government offer tremendous oppor-
| tunities to those who want to farm.
! Homestead rights expert advice and
! free seed. rural credits are all at
the disposal OF any man who wishes
| to start farm or stock ranch.
| In this emergency a solemn duty, a
call as compelling as the call to arms
confronts every man In the United
States who does not tight, and who
knows how TO grow the crops that
are the life OF this nation.
! Any citizen OF the United States who
! has not already located homestead.
| may apply for as many acres OF
/ straight farming land as he wants up
| to 100 acres in the restricted sections
and up TO 320 acres in the unre-
claimed sections Straight grazing
/ land may be had TO extent of $40
acres.
| During the first two months OF this
!
! OF stock grazing land alone were filed.
! From Alabama to Alaska land hs
! waiting to be taken up, The products
| OF Alaska have astonished the whole
| world into Il realization of It's farm
/ ing possibilities. The resources of
the Eastern and Western states have
| long been known.
| And with all these resources we face
an actual food famine. How often
we have paused over our morning
coffee and read with horror OF people
| starving in China. for want of food
plain everyday food. that we can step
| down TO the corner grocery and buy
Do we realize today. that the time
| may come when we will not be able To
step down TO the corner grocery and
/ carry home loaf OF bread, and a
| quart OF potatoes? Who said pota-
! toes, you ask.
If we reach that point we will de-
| fnitelv take oud place among the
people who can not see beyond tho
next lamp post
Several hundred million acres oil
| farm land in this country can be ac-
auired under very reasonable condi-
tons for cultivation.
Thousands of people who know how
to rum farms live in our cities, many
of them under very unfortunate con
dtions.
Besides the Individual persona
good 1t woud do these people to gel
out of the city and into the country
the support of the army and the we'll
being of the nation demand that va
cant farming lands be taken up and
developed as a plain matter Of dc.
Tense.