New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-05-27
Amateurs a Danger to Food
Supply, Says rof.MacElwee
C.l,h, Exn.r, Declares Use of Parks and Golf Links
for Gardens Is Foolish Short
sighted Mistake

Warnings against ill-considered, am
ateurish attempts to meet the 1000
shortage which faces this country are
set forth by Professor Roy S. MacEl-
wee, of the department Of economics
Columbia University, in a pamphlet
bread Bullets" issued by the
division of intelligence and publicity.
II is the eleventh of the series
of Columbia war papers. Professor
MacElwees conclusions are based on
Grst-hand stidies of the food question
made in the Germanic empires last
summer.
"The danger" he asserts, "of scat
tering or dissipating national forces IS
the greatest danger. This point is
illustrated by The bevy CT misguided
feminine patriots in boomers charging
bayonets across Governors Island. That
these women are wasting their own
time is sufficient, but they are wasting
the time of our much too few officers,
who should be drilling college men TO
be officers. The motives of the ladies
are laudable, but their energies are
military waste. The economic agri-
cultural source Of waste is not less I'M
portant, even though less conspicuous.
Amateur gardening is great dan
ger, because it may withdraw seed, I'M
Elements and perhaps an experts time
from growing farms or more fertile
fields where the same seed and imple-
ments would yield sixty. eighty or a
hundred fold. Amateur gardening is
seldom a success.
Golf Links Not Needed
"The wholesale ploughing up Of parks
and golf links will be a foolish and
short-sighted mistake. The need Of the
country is not numbers of acres, as II
il in Germany and England. What Is
needed is adequate tillage of existing
acres. Going farms must first be sup
nlied with sufficient fertilizer and ma
ehinery. The improvised golf acres
would not be expected to yield heavily
NJ hest The immediate gain would be
low The cost of cultivation would be
high. because of the distances from the
farmyard and kindred inconvenience
The cost of breaking ground is excess
ysive.
"The next great cost would be the re-
turn to golf and park purposes. we
know that parks and golf links cost
great sums of money to sod and keep
in condition. Capital and labor VIII De
needed for other purposes after the
war. and demands on them for pur,
roses of reconstructing parks and goi.
links will only help to raise the rate OF
interest and wages.
"Misdirected labor will dissipate our
resources. A thousand Boy Scouts may
toll hard trying to make some potatoes
grow in i'll adapted soil, while tnou,
sands of bushels of peas, beans anu
berries, which should go 20 the can
reries for the winters supply, rot on
the places of the professional growers
from New York to Old Point because
there are no pickers. Boy Scout, gar,
dens, unless carefully supervised ano
worked under specially favorable CIR,
cumStaNCeS, Will hioiS S>~~
fertilizer than they produce.
"All these misdirected and dissi-
pated efforts may become great ma
tional resources when directed by an
agricultural general staff in a position
70 order reserves to the weak point OF
the line. The necessity for centralized
Federal control to utilize all these ma
tional resources is obvious.
Germans Made a Mistake"
"The individual farmer, if left to
himself. will usually be wrong, espe'
cially in times of such Kaleidoscope
situations as at present. The Germans
made such a mistake in their sugar acre
age. Germany was the largest grower
and exporter of beet sugar and sugar
beet seed. Therefore, with no exporta.
ton possible, the beet acreage was pun
into bread cereals. Now everybody
carries a glass tube of saccharine, as
sugar is almost unobtainable. That IL
one more mistake we need not make.
"a present and permanent good may
be accomplished by Fastening diversi'
fed agriculture, especially in the South
One crop production has long since
been pronounced agriculturally unset
entific and also dangerous from the
point of view OF local economic Wei
fare. The boil weevil has done more
TO force Investigation in the South
than all educational campaigns. Even
so. nearly Sl,000,0 100000 worth OF feeo
is annually imported from the North
which should be grown as rotation
crop with cotton in the South. AS
war measure the transportation OF
such quantities represents a strain on
the railroads from which they should
be relieved at this time. when the
movement of troops and supplies VIZ
demand their full capacity. Local self,
sufficiency within certain limits OF
comparative costs would be perma'
ncnt advantage.
"The papers are full Of plans to ex,
tend financial aid. The guaranteed
minimum price is financial aid. 1t j,
an underwriting by the government OF
the nations entire agricultural output