Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-04-15

| Will bc won in the wheat fields.
IL VIII take man power and money
| power IN fun measure. Blood and
| treasure arc the price OF victory: the
greatest or wars does not fail to call
| Tor It's sacrifice. But behind the men
| VINO risk their lives, behind the guns
| that burn up treasure, there must be
the mammoth. ccaselcss How of food
Tor workers and lighters
! To sec that the river of food flows
| IN hood. to assure that there is enough
! Tor America and lavish surplus for
| Americas allics--that Is one Of the
/ sreateSt problems that faces tho ma.
, ton The endless miles of rich farm
iahu IN this country aud tho efficiency
| Oh American farmers give good guar
! hhtee 'hat the problem will be solved.
! But the quicker And the better the So
! luton, the sooner the victory. Every
! extra bushcl OF grain that the nation
| can raise. every pound of meat the
nation can save from waste. means "a
shortening or tho struggle and Il saw
| ing Of life. There Is no task more
| important to-day than the production
and saving of food. Every man. woman
and child in America has n share and
a duty in IL.
| I'm the warning nations of Europe
| thcrc is government Supervision of food
! raising. food buying and food cook
| ing. Each nation has AN elaborate
| ORGANIZED government department. to
look after the lardcr. We are long
|
America. but we are I'm honor bound
70 hungry world to raise and cat orr
food on war basis. Moreover, We
already nave our government depart
! ment deliberately organized TO aid i'm
| the efficient production of food to point
out now II can be most economically
[ distributed and eaten. That depart
| mcnt Is the Federal Department of Ar
: riculturc.
In the Department of Agricul,urc
| a rnl
VINO cooperate with it, the United
states has an establishment for the
/ working out OF agricultural problems
which means food problcms-greatcr
| than that of any other three nations in
| the world combined.
Thc Department to-day stands con-
! nontcd by an immense task In the
next few months 1t Will play 81 greater
| part in the life of the nation than ever
before. II Is far better .fltted to play
| such a part part than the vast ma
| Jority of Americans realize. 1t has
| been growing and extending it's ac-
| tiNities at such rate in the last few
| years that the public has hardly kept
| UP with II. AS tho common center Of
| organized American aEriculturc. tho
| department is an asset not only to
! America. but to France. England. Bel
! GUM and tho other nations who look
| TO us food. whose value can hardly be
ovcrcstimatcd. This is a time for
| every American to understand just
! what the Department is, what IL Is
| doing and what il can do: so that nc
| WI give due weigh, to its advice. and
by Intelligent cooperation help to
! solve the nations problem in the mos.
! effective way.
Ia Great Establishments
| Tho department is the largest sci
! cntihc establishment in the world In
! the last ten years It's working force
! has shot up from 5000 men and wo.
q >. rhn
| plant and animal Investigations is not
! surpassed anywhere The elective
ness OF that work is reflected in the
| efficiency OF tho average American
FARMER. VIC hear great deal about
the remarkable efficiency of farmers
| in Belgium and Japan, where intensive
| cultivation is carried to a high degree
and the yield per acre runs large. But
INC yield ner acre is not the test OF
| efficiency in this country, where NC
have many acres and few farmers.
The American farmer cannot afford to-;
20 in for intensive cultivation. His
problem is to get the greatest possible
yield, not per acre. but per man.
Measured by this test. lie is actually
from two or six times as efficient rs
any other farmer in the world
TINS efficiency. which is going TO be
taxed to the limit in the next year.
Is the result OF several thinEs-thc
amount Of land at our disposal, the
Intelligence Of American farmers as a
class. the lavish use OF labor saving
machinery. and not least to the scicn-
iihc methods of cultivation worked out
by tie department.: The department
has not only increased the yield OF al
most every staple crop, but 1t has sent
out exploring parties and introduced
from foreign lands crops fitted for
American cultivation. II has worked
out methods for tiliiuE and marketing
such crops. on tho list are such we'll |
known names as Durum wheat. navel |
oranges, Sudan grass, kaiir corn and
a dozen others. The total annual value
of these plants introduced from for
cSn lands is estimated at so65Ooo, 900 |
Faccs Colossal Task.
In getting the results OF its work ,
before tho people, the department con
tinually faces colossal task II is !
an adviser with an audience of 100
100000. In "a single year it has dis !
irihutcd as many as 100000 publ I!
cations. Under the recently enacted !
smith Lever act. which provides for !
actual demonstration work on the !
farm by State and government agents, |
the dcpartIucu, became at q stroke |
tho largest Singl" educational cstab- |
lishmcnt in tho world. This cN,cn-
sion in education. this nation wide /
, school whose students are men. wo-
men and children going about their |,
work. Is unique. There is nothing !
else like II anywhere. Already 1900 !
counties OH, OF the 2,S5O counties in /
the United states are getting the ben I
Gift Of it,
One Of the biggest problems which |
face American agriculture is tho an
nuIl loss through disease, both plant
and animal This annual loss is big /
enough TO challenge the best efforts |
OF tho biggest agricultural depart /
ment ia tic world. According to the |
latest estimates, The losses in crops !
and animals duo to different diseases
amounts to $550.o0ooo0 "a year. That
* enough Ia feed even "a modern army
quite while.
The department. is already winning
its fight with disease. For single
instance there may he cited tho case
of Texas fever among Southern cat
tlc--a disease which closes 20 cattle |
raising great area. i'll the Southern
states which are very well fit for the
business. and thus strikes the nations