New Britain herald., 1917-04-30
EMPLOYES WARNED TO BE ECONOMICAL
Harvester Company Urges Work
 men to Fight Famine Peril

Chicago, April 3O.--The first order
 by a great industrial concern mobiliz- ing all it's men and resources to fight the danger of worldwide famine through the threatened crop shortage in North America has been issued by Cyrus H. Mccormick. president of the International Harvester company, in response to President Wilson's recent appeal to the country. This order goes to all the company's thousands of field employees in the United States and Canada. and will also reach the atten- ton of 3O.0OO dealers handling its farming implements.
 Employees are directed to consider as of first importance all a,tivities to
 meet the hunger peril which MT Me- Cormick regards ;,s even more .r nir-
 ,nt and grave than the presidents
 message indicated. They are especial
 ly instructed to cooperate with all To- cal organizations and movements seek ing to enlarge acreage and production.
 In addition to urging reduction Of waste as of no less importance than increased production, and to calling on the patriotic women oe the coun- try to help, especially in home econ omies, the order says:
 From the latest reports of our representatives in many countries, we are satisfied that the presidents state ment as to the crop situation Is most conservative. The whole world IS now facing a shortage of crops. l fear the situation Is even more serious than we realize. Strenuous effort must be made to lessen-and if possible to avoid-the disaster which would be worldwide if our present fears re- gardine the crop shortage becomes a reality:
 .'The United States should avoid the mistakes made by the European coun- tries now at war. In some countries the necessity for preserving the herds and the breeding of cattle was over
 looked The result was a failure Tn the supply of meat and butter In other countries, as the war progressed,
 owing to the scarcity of labor, much land was left untitled, resulting in shortage of crops.
 "Our people should heed these les
 sons and avoid both these dangers. On
 the one hand we must cultivate every available acre, so that our food pro- duction-upon which. with that or Canada, the world is depending to re- lieve it's hunger-may be as large as possible. We must also keep up the number of our cattle, sheep and pigs,
 so that with economical consumption the supply of meat shall be sufficient. Let us not drift until it Is too late to take the steps needed to enlarge and protect these sources of food supply. "A special responsibility rests upon our organization. We come in daily and close contact with the food pro- ducing forces of the country-in fact. we are a part of these forces. Our first obligation is to give the farmers the best and promptest service in supply ing needed repairs and expert assist 1 ance. and to aid them in raising more crops of better quality and with less l waste. For years the company through it's agricultural extension de- partment, has been preaching the gos- 1 pef of more intensive and intelligent agriculture. Every International Har- vester man should now carry this in- formation to his community and CO., operate with organizations and move- ments which seek to enlarge the crop l area and production of the United l States.
 '"The service we can give in this emergency is to be considered. not as l incidental to other business but of 1 first importance"
 A supplemental order by General 1 Manager Alex Legge gives details as to how farmers may be helped to increase l crops. Always bear in mind." this
 order reads, "that it is more important 1 to see that the machines sold are
 working properly than it is to sell | others"
 l Travellers and repair men are dl-
 rected to pay particular attention to 1 helping dealers keep their stocks or l repair parts so supplied that no farm 1 CTS implements will need to He idle 1 for want of them. Travellers are also instructed to show farmers how to at- 1 tach headlights for night work to the thousands of tractors in use at this ] season and how to keep these ma
 chimes running to full capacity
 l To help farmers avoid the two dis
 astrous mistakes of the nations at war -decrease of acreage outside the fighting zones and slaughter of breed-
 ing stock to save feed-is made an- 1 other prime duty of empioyes. MT.
 Legge's order reads:
 l "F,armers should not let the high nrice of beef. pork and mutton tempt | fhern to sell their breeding stock for
 slaughter. Every dairy COW will pro- l duce. in milk and butter, each season l far more value in food products than she is worth for beef purposes, and i this will be produced largely from for | age crops not otherwise available for ] human food.
 'tUrge the growing of gardens-and 1 grow one yourself. Such land as can /, be planted to garden truck will pro- duce far more food stuffs than it would l in cereal crops.
 Raise more poultry. This is a quick
 way of increasing the food supply. ''Farmers are being urged to plant l a larger acreage. While much can be
 accomplished in this way, the real gain
 must come from an increased yield per acre. An average gain of one bushel