The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-05-07
MOBILIZE YOUR MACHINE
BY Frederic j. Hasiin, Director
THE TOPEKA STATE JoURN.-
INFORMATION BUREAU
Washington, d c..

Washington, d. c., May How
can L use my automobile in the ser.
vice of my country?
That is a question which interests
almost every owner. of a machine In
America. Already a census is being
taken of automobiles and their own
ers so that when these are needed
the government can obtain them with
the least possible delay. There. are
over three million autos in the coun-
try, according to Howard f. Cotton.
This is certainly a tremendous trans
portation force. And its value is in
creased by the fact that a very large
part of these cars are owned only for
pleasure, and so are not essential to
our present industrial organization.
Furthermore, the ownership of an au-
tomobile is usually an indication of
intelligence and of the possession of
certain amount of property. We have
then certainly over a million cars,
serving no essential purpose except
the amusement of their owners; these
owners are men and women of better
than average ability who can afford to
devote time and money to the ser
vice OF their country; and 1t may be
safely assumed that a large percent
service.
Pleasure to Practical.
Under these circumstances, some
Immediate use for the nations pleas
ure automobiles should be found. To
list them for the emergency of sud-
den troop movements is not enough.
There is much work to be done now.
The most pressing work is the solu-
ton of our food problem, and it is
largely a problem of transportation,
as the officials of the department of
agriculture are well aware. Short tho
many of our crops will be this year,
many thousands of tons of food are
Alx 10 fIA To- IL
of freight cars to carry them to mar
ket. Another immense wastage is due
to the fact that the farmer who pro-
duces more of any vegetable or fruit
than he can use at home, but not
enough to make a wagonload or car
load, generally cannot probably
bring it to market. We therefore have
great waste of food for lack of
transportation, and a great transpor-
tation power going to waste, so far as
any industrially useful purpose is con-
cerned. These two wastes should be
combined to form a great saving.
Not long ago a practical farmer and
an editor in a certain town were dis
cussing the food problem, and arrived
at the above conclusion. They also
evolved a plan which will probably
be put into operation; but has not yet
been tried. 1t is offered here merely
as a suggestion and for whatever il
use of it, the writer of this acticle
would like very much to hear of the
experiment and will publish the de-
tails. In this way a workable plan
for using our motor resources to save
food wastage may gradually be
evolved.
The plan discussed was to save as
much as possible of the food which
would otherwie be wasted by forming
a volunteer organization of automo-
bilists to go about and gather 1t up.
Inasmuch' as both the food and the
automobiles are undoubtedly available
in most sections of the country, the
plan should be workable, but there are
various practical difficulties which
will be outlined here, and ways of
obviating them suggested.
Gathering Surplus Food.
The food supply gathered in this
way would consist chiefly of the sur
plus production of fruits and vegeta-
bles upon farms and suburban places
This surplus production, which is gen.
orally either wasted or fed to stock,
is much greater than most persons
realize. 1t is due to the simple and
inevitable circumstance that no far
mer can accurately predict how much
of a given truck or fruit crop his
garden or orchard will yield in given
year. For example. one farmer who
was consulted with regard to this
plan said that several tons of good
food were wasted upon his place every
year; because he produced more than
he could use in fruits and vegetables,
but seldom has enough at one time
to make it profita BILE to haul the stuff
to market. Thus in a good year for
toma toes, six vines will supply his
family with all the tomatoes he can
use; but in a bad year for tomatoes
sixty vines would hardly yield
enough. He plants about forty vines,
and if the crop is heavy a large pro-
portion of it is allowed to rot on the
ground. In the same way last year
all of the watermelon vines he planted
did not give him two really good
melons, but this year he may feed
watermelons to his hogs. Every small
mixed orchard in the country repre-
sents tons of waste If it is a good
year for peaches, then peaches are
wasted, while apples may be scarce;
and the next year the order may be
reversed.
Now the total of food wasted in this
way within radius of fifty miles of
a town in any good farming section
is enormous. If this great quantity
Of food could be brought to town,
reduced. And if all the automobiles
day a week to the gathering of this
food large part of it could be saved.
Give Away Rather Than Waste.
to give away what would be otherwise
wasted, provided someone else har-
vested the crops, or to harvest them
himself and sell them for a nominal