The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1917-04-06
HQEICk ACTION ONLY
WILL AVERT FAMINE
economic Authority, Editor Edmonds
of The Manufacturers Record, Ana
1yzes Food Situation-HOpe Lies
IN Organized Cultivation of Back
Yards and Garden Patches.

Worldwide menace of food famine
and threatened disaster incident to
e&orbitant prices is the gloomy but
mo Jesse authentic observation OF
Richard H. Edmonds, editor and gen
eral manager Of The Manufacturers
Record. Baltimore. Mr. EdmondS
vas for many years grain statlsn-
~cian and he bases his conclusions not
only on paralyzed agricultural pro-
2uctivity in war ridden Europe but
Oh the greatly decreased crop yields
I'D neutral territory last year.
An abrupt termination of the war
would not materially affect the status
,oE the food question he thinks. The
warning countries are practically Oh
q hunger strike" and upon cessation
of hostilities shipments Of first food
will be greatly increased. Their act
Will be to fiji up he says. He enter
1ains little prospects of the wars
ending within the next IL months.
But that time, his opinion is. present
prices for foodstuffs will seem ex-
.ceedingly low, in comparison. He
confidently expects wheat to advance
10 $3.50 bushel and -four to SIS b
barrel. The stock Of wheat on the
:Sar1n is now 700,000,000 of bushels
below that of one year ago, the wheat
crop in the United States last year
being reduced by approximately IS
-per cent. A similar condition pre-.
walls, he pointed out, in every country
which produces normally surplus
Good supply. The calculated reduc-
sjon last year in grain and other food
crops approximates 13 bushels per
capita for every man, woman and
child in the United States.
Cultivate Back Yards.
Meat shortage he says will be
equally distressing. The available
supply of live stock now is not IN
excess of that of 10 years ago. In
she meantime the population of the
country has been increased by 20,-
5000 and the consumption inten-
sifed by the higher wages paid work
IDgmen and the enlarged volume OF
skilled workers. Cultivating back
yards to increase the food supply is
P patriotic duty. Mr.. Edmonds says.
and "The country expects every man
to do his duty in providing foodstuffs. "
Too much cotton for the worlds de-
nand may be produced this year, but
IT will be impossible to produce
enough food 1t will be criminal for
any farmer not to raise this year
at least enough food for his own
consumption.
Mr. and Mrs Edmonds and their
sister, Miss Edmonds, have been
guests at the Jefferson two days.
They are returning to their home IN
Baltimore, having spent the winter
in Florida. They are ACCOMPANIED
by Mr.. Edmond's secretary, Howard
l. Clark, MS. Clark and their son,
Edwin L. Clark.
Food Famine Imminent.
re- discussing the food shortage, Mr..
tEd1aonds said yesterday:
''The world is more nearly facing
GOOD famine than any other time, Ger
ftainly within the last 100 years. Ev-
cen had the neutral countries. includ-
Eng the United States, produce. large
crops last year. the world would still
De short of food supplies, because 40
100000 men are under arms in Eu-
rope or engaged in some phase of war
activity. But regardless of the war
and this shortage of agriculture pro-
duction in Europe by reason of it,
there was last year a world wide
shortage in crops 1t was indeed the
most disastrous crop year in this
country for the last so years. The
wheat crop of 1915. of considerably
over 1,000,000.000 bushels dropped
last year to about 550,000.000 bushels,
or decrease of about 45 per cent.