The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-05-10
MEN, WOMEN
 AND THINGS

But the big end of the planting game Is distribution.
 once saw~a cartoon in Country Life. wish it could be framed and hung at every city committee meeting where food is being discussed. We keep telling the farmer to raise more. It's we'll for us to do so. None of us wants to go hungry. Our stomachs are involved.
 The city cry is let's educate the farm CT. Good, but don't let's close our ears to his efforts to educate us to see that when he ships foodstuffs that he is fairly treated.
 Back to the cartoon. Tt showed a sur- pr1sed Santa Claus. He had filled the children's stockings. His hand was on his pack and he was getting ready to climb the chimney. 1 The door opens In walked the head of the household, with lighted lamp in his right hand, while his left with open palm was outstretched to Santa Claus, who, with bulging eyes, was taking the intruder in
 Father wore a nightie with the word
 farmer" written on It's skirt. Here is what he was saying: Excuse me, but with your facilities, whatll you take to handle the distributing end of my busi- nessT
 | Here is an advertisement that ought to be run in every paper in the land: ''Wanted-A Santa Claus as a gobe- tween to carry produce from the country man to the city man." This is no local question, although it's solve 1t by making a market here for the ! foodstuffs raised in it's tributary territory. We must do this to protect ourselves against food shortage and also to protect those who are planting to supply our needs.
 l It took war to get us to face the fact that our agricultural unit is not the I city, county or state, but the nation. The country as whole under the urgency of war conditions Is beginning to awake to the vital importance of farm progress. | We can furnish men, money and muni- tions. The machinery behind these fac tors is in good working order, but the machinery behind the farms needs greas- | ing and overhauling. r-t. farm credits labor, conservation of the soil, diversification of crops, cheap fer tiizers, improvement in stock, distribu- tion of food products, and better market ing are national questions.
  It has been well said: "The great war has taught us nothing, if not that a sound and adequate agriculture is the foundation upon which nation must ! military or commercial I'm glad the food preparedness cam paign under Chairman Frye Is seeing the necessity of tieing our agriculture, our industries and commerce closer to- gether The following shows that the committee is trying to do it's work in telligently:
 After careful consideration of the mat ter, the committee recommends that dele gations visiting the various towns lay special stress on the following matters:
 
 "1 The planting of food crops to cons.s. iy, ir,o potatoes, hay. and corn. "2 The liberal extension of credit by | merchants and banks, on the ground that the high price of commodities will 1 justify a greater risk than has usually been taken, and that unless people are enabled to produce crops, many of them | may become charge on the communi- ties in which they live. "3. That each community seek to encour- age the preservation of perishable crops ! in cans or jars, both on a domestic and a commercial scale. However, attention must be called to the scarcity of con- | tainers, and to the importance of ascer- | taining in advance what supply of them 1 can be secured:
 A. That farmers, merchants and banks be urged to provide, in each town, ade- quate means for the purchase for cash of all nonperishable crops, and the provid- ing of facilities for grading, packing and shipping commodities in merchantable form, as western shippers have done for years.
 l ''5. That towns be asked to consider the erection of elevators as being the most modern and efficient method of handling food crops.
 | "6. That committees carry with them I sufficient data to give the fundamental information, at least that may be needed by business people in tho places visited.
 v. And that each community be urged, in an organized way. to work out these problems as they relate to it's own terri tory"
 T. P. Hay, secretary of the food pre- paredness campaign, has prepared a val uable market bulletin, "Merchantable Farm Products" in which information is given on grading, packing, shipping; also methods and equipment for conserving farm products; also probable buyers of | farm products.
 This bulletin is issued by the food pre- paredness campaign committee for the