Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1917-05-06

element Of complete uncertainty in the worlds foot
situation than that about Russa's real supplies o.
marketable grain
THE SHORTAGE MEANS LESS BREAD.
Such then s the existing state of facts that regard
to the worlds present prospective supply of the
basic foodstuffs-the word "basic" being used here
because the grains directly afford mankind staff
Of life and also determinant of sufficienoy
or insuffciency Of the supply Of the chief
foods Of civilized peoples-meats, fats, milk butter
cheese poultry, eggs. This point is dwelt upon be.
cause it is important to remember that owing to the
organization Of modern husbandry, shortage of the
grains means not only less broad but also an ever
greater proportional decrease In tho supply Of these
other foods. Accordingly fluctuations in the suppl,
Of other vegetable have the same far-reach
ing effects. direct and indirect upon total pro.
vision Of food that produced by fluctuations in
the supply Of the moro important grains. Even the
potato, of the major crops the world belongs
to an inferior class in this respect.
The first outstanding fact as shown above is that
assuming only normal crops (asde from winter whea,
In the United States) in 1919 food -exportina
countries Of the northern hemisphere and a normal
consumption and distribution Of the same our Euro-
pean ales IN the great war for democratic civiliza-
non nave to face SO great shortage Of their supply
grain that both their armies and their populations oan
scarcely hope to avoid the ssverest privation. for
'"ore 'nan year TO como and may conceivaby have
to yield that to hunger which they would mover have
yielded to the foroe Of arms-a premature and in
conclusive peace, with Of tho great ends of the
attained.
With all their efforts allies of are help
less to do more than accomplish inconsiderabe
Improvement of their own food production. Great
Britain, for example. has been bringing into play
patriotic and economic inducement for all
and conditions Of men-and women and children, too
to increase the amount Of land planted to crops
this year. yet but recently Mr. Rowland Prothero,
president of the British agriculture told the
house of commons that the sum of achievement so
far is additional million cropsscarce-
ly worth considering in comparison with the need.
1t has been the same in France. And what is most
dsheartenining is that all the gain derived
eager but untutored efforts will certainly be more
than offset by the loss of due the with
draWal from agriculture of the trained farm workers
who are in the ranks. Mr.. Lloyd George assuredy
spoke words having almost much application to
the countries allied to us as to Germany when he
said in speech weeks ago: Germany after
the will be greater purchaser (of foodstuffs)
than before because her land has been let run
down: and that is true of the whole of Europe The
raising land Of Europe will not raise as much
it did before the war. The land has been
impoverished and become unclean It will take years
to make it good harvest raising as it was
before it devastated by war; that the demand
for foreign food will be greater than ever immediate
ly after the war;"
WHERE WILL THE FOOD COME FROM?
All the eager effort of volunteer gardeners and
farmers in the countries that allies then will
make no appreciabe difference in the grand
their food requirements in 1917 and probably 1918
The southern hemisphere having already shot its bolt
and failed of the mark for this season. our allies
will require not only their normal importatons of
grain from the exporting countries the northern
hemisphere, but 35O.0o0.O0O or - making
allowance for submarine losses = 4Oo,oOOoOo BUSH
require also rather more meat and other animal pro-
ducts than they in the habit of obtaining from
northern countries before the for Argentina
lost no one knows what proportion of her meat-pro-
ducing herds from the same that nearly de-
stroyed her Australia lost before TO-
900 of her sheep from drought New Zealand ia
seriously alarmed at the rapid depletion of her herds
and focks while Holland and Scandinavian coun-
tries have suffered grevously respect to their pro-
duction Of dairy swine and poultry products by rea-
of the enforced reduction their mportatons of
grain and mill feeds
Whence are our allies to obtain the very large ad-
dtions their normal importations of foodstuffs
from countries In the northern hemisphere? Aside
firm the United States and Canada, India the only
country Of the north which commonly has an i'm
porant surplus of grain for expectation According
to the most authoritative reports this seasons wheat
crop in India is doing well promises to be a reas-
onably good probably somewhat larger than last
years; but there is for thinking that it will
be enough larger to fill gaps in the importations
Of the countries of Europe. In fact survey Of the
entire field brings inevitably to the conclusion that
practically the entire burden Of seeing our allie.
hrouuh must fall upon the United Ststes ard c.n,s.
And here we must reckon with the uncertainty and
he variability of the Canadian grain crops as A
whole. The grain growing provinces of Canada may
rave propitous and produce an enormous