Mexico Missouri message. (Mexico, Audrain County, Mo.) 1899-1918, 1917-05-17
The Food Supply
Of the World
A Look at The Situation as II Stands
With The Farmer--Some Timely
Advice to The Town Folks.

huSn HILL MO, may u hS Eu
itor has asked me to write for publ
cation and has not assigned me to
any particular subject, so will
choose the subject which | be-
lieve is uppermost in the minds of
The Message readers, viz: The
alarming shortage of the worlds food
supply.
If the shortage is anything like as
great as we are told that it is it Is
high time we were getting down to
business and bringing ourselves to
realize the seriousness of the situa-
ton.
What are we going to do about it?
What are the American investors go
ing to do about the U-Boat menace?
They are going to Sexert every power
at their command and work their
brains to the limit until they find a
solution of some kind. And it is up
to everybody in general and the farm
er in particular to solve the food
question.
There are two lines of endeavor
which it is plainly our duty to fol-
low. One is, exert every effort to
produce more food, the other is, save
It after it is produced.
Almost every person in the nation
can help some along one or both
of these lines.
1t has always been said, and |
presume with considerable truth,
that the 1OO,OOO,OOO people in the
United States waste enough food to
feed that many people of some ma
tions.
whether this is true or not there
is. no doubt, room for considerable
saving at least.
And no one doubts that the land
could be made to produce a great
deal more than it does if the labor
was to be had. l believe most OF the
farmers are using their full working
power or nearly all of it at least. But
how about the town people?
In normal times it would be I'M
business like, to say the least, for
farmer to urge the town people to
grow food stuffs, but these are not
normal times by any means.
Town people are continually CIV
ing the farmers advice and holding
up our shortcomings to US, SO l am
going to give them some advice and
show them wherein they are lacking,
that is. some of them. You may
drive for miles and miles through
the country any time during the
spring or Summer months and you
will see scarcely a farmer or any
member of his family in idleness, but
drive into town and you will always
find scores of men and boys idling
away their time with no apparent
aim only to wait for the next meal
time, and about two-thirds of the
women and girls seem to have moth
} ing to do but parade up and down
: the walks or burn gasoline.
These men and boys could find prof
. table employment on the farms II
they would, and the farms would be-
come Just that much mo reproductive
; And almost every town residence
has a plot of idle ground around it,
larger than the average farm gar
den on which the farm women pro-
duce a large part of the family food
l supply and often considerable for
market.
Could not these town women dc
likewise on those idle spots? Or the
men who quit their regular work a.
six o'clock could do a great deal o.
: gardening and feel none the worse
for it, Most of them must take some
L form of exercise anyhow after bust
ness hours.
i Here\ are few of the man!
o vegetables that should be grown b!
-' every family in the country and II
the town: Rhubarb, asparagus, hose
radish and winter onions. enough TO
IT the average family could al
be grown on lot not more than p
/ feet square and with very little work
i The same ground could be made t.
produce a goodly supply of lettuc
and radishes each spring without in
terfering with the other plants.
Now, friends, do not wish to b
looked upon as a complainer or fault
finder. do not mean to say that tn
town people are any worse or an
less valuable to the warld than tn
u farmers. 1 have only stated facts a
y see them; am only holding tn
y mirror up to you as you often hol
IL