New Britain herald., 1917-04-09
WHEAT FIELDS OF
 EAST IN BALANCE
Russian and Briton Have Rich
 Prize in Mesopotamia

Chicago, April 9.-Possession of a
 source of wheat supply. capable of
 feeding the entire world, is one of the stakes at issue in the fighting in
 Mesopotamia and on the adjoining
 fronts, asserts Professor John Adams
 Scott, of the Northwestern university.
 Chicago, who is an international au-
 thority on the oriental countries.
 In describing the commercial and
 military possibilities ill the country
 beyond Bagdad, Prof. Scott said:
 There is no doubt that the Eng
 fish are now trying to close the door
 by which any new troops can reach
 Mesopotamia. It is computed that
 ancient Babylonia and the territory
 under it's control covered only about
 one-fifth of Mesopotamia, yet the
 soil was so fertile and free from
 defects which produce famine that it
 supported in wealth population
 greater than the State of New York
 now possesses. When Darius was de-
 feated by Alexander, there was found
 i'll the vaults of Darius gold and sil- yer to the value of $650,0OO,0OO. "If all of Mesopotamia can come
 under the 'control of one great nation so that there can be Q comprehen- sive and unified development of reser- voirs and irrigation, it is safe to- say that it will be the richest land on earth, since no other land has soil made in alluvial deposits and which contains fifteen per cent. of lime. II is this lime beyond all else which makes this country so valuable, and 1 which makes rust. mildew and kin 1VnI nHyi1c iyVoY1 nccfh THxyn c can be garnered each year, one from rain and one from irrigation. The one from rain is the only harvest now.
 '"The movement from Egypt is in tended to shut off all access from Europe by land. since the Russians are now in control of Armenia and
 the overland pass, so that the Turks
 are forced to send troops through the Issus pass, or by the Alexandretta Gulf. This is the route of the Bag dad railroad. Asia Minor has a double series of most difficult moun- tain ranges, Taurus and Anti-Taurus. so that armies must skirt them to the north or to the south. Russia now closes the route to the north so that England can close the one to . the south, she will be as secure in Mesopotamia as she is in South Afri- ca, since there is no avenue by which an army could come. The great diff ficulty in coming in or out of Egypt has been the intense heat of the des ert south and west of Gaza, but the rapers speak of a railroad having been built across this desert. This desert is cool at night. so that trains need run through it only by night, since the distance is not great. The English already have a naval base al Cyprus, so that they control the sea , and aaa thus assist the army moving l by land. The English are about 400 miles from their goal and must cross the high mountains of Lebanon or swing to the east where a railroad has already been built through Dam l ascus. If they swing to the east they will withdraw from the protection of the fleet. They may have so com 1 pletely demoralized the Turks that l this protectionNis is not necessary.
 .This seems to me the board on which the game of the war is being l played. Already Germany is helpless l in Armenia and Mesopotamia and if English forces can get Aleppo then