Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-06-23


Pork production will be increased
Pork constitutes more than one-haH>
of all the meat produced in the United
States and is the mainstay of the
ration of the laboring man and the
soldier. The need for increasing the
supply of fats is particularly acute.
The reported decrease in the number
of hogs in the allied countries also
has been very great. Before the war
we exported on the average 100000
900 pounds of pork products yearly.
to 1.44s. goo, 900 pounds. the excess
largely bacon. In 1917 the acreage of
corn grown was the largest in the
history of the country.
Record crops have been produced
In the last twelve months. but these
achievements do not call for COM
placency. The necessity of again Sc
curing large yields from the farms
and ranges this year already has
President in his message to the farm
ers of the country.
The creed of the southern extension
work in particular takes in four
Introducing good methods in farm
ing, increasing the production of ex-
portable foods, to have every COM
munity feed itself and not to produce
oil eACeSS OIL pSTlSndOte IOOQS.
In the county agricultural work in
the north and west it is stated that
the most significant outgrowth has
been the increased popular concep-
ton OF the farmer as business man
Greater net profit per farm" has
been from the beginning the domi-
nant idea there. Thousands of farm
ers have been persuaded to keep
books.
Farm communities have been taught
to DOOI their orders and n rat
gether in the matter of marketing.
Many thousand farm hands have been
detailed for northern and western
farms through the county agents
ministrations. Work in relation to
soil improvement has been invaluable
In some parts of the west the diking
of districts had multiplied the Gull
tivatable area more than three times.
XIX
1t used to be the opinion of some
that anybody could work on a farm.
that results were all about the same,
anyway; that pigs turned out to Shift
for themselves made hogs of them
selves in time; that goats from little
shavings grew; that cattle were
merely calves grown tall and less
wabbly, and that hired man" at $40
a month and his keep" was the sole
requirement of a small farm. 1t is
growing more and more true that the
great farm lands of the United States
require scientific handling if the enor-
nous increase in food production is
to be more than evanescent
To show how Germany regards the
technically trained farmer, a para
graph in one of the numerous ac-
counts of prisoners of war, that now
come flooding into weeklies and dali
lies. related the questioning of an
American as to his qualifications for
work. A nice Tommy Atkins, know
ing what was coming Sammy's way
and discovering that said Sammy
knew something of farm life, sagely
whispered to him to list himself as a
scientific farmer-that it would ban
ish forever the phantom of the dread
mines and give the American prisoner
something Of an official rank with the
admiring Germans. Wisdom, this,
and the boy from Indiana, Iowa Of,
maybe, Texas. was commanded to take
charge of potato production in a GER
tain part of the enemy's land.
The bureau of animal industry has
been the heaviest loser in point of
numbers of men leaving the Depart
ment of Agriculture for various rea-
sons. The forestry service has lost
several hundred, and the bureau of
chemistry, plant industry and the
weather bureau follow, with a consid-
cradle percentage. But in the face of
the constant call for the yield of
backyard gardens and bigger gar
dens than city people ever saw of
growing grain and grits and all sorts
of what the soldier calls grub" the
extension work of the department
may be said to be facing disappoint-
ment.