Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-12-29

Congress is in serious doubt.
arms is problem.
finance. but also for better produc-
ton. distribution and higher living
conditions. These activities are OF
prime Importance. At the same time
it is recognized that such cooperation
cannot be forced upon a community
but must be 4 growth resulting from
the volunteer. Intelligent effort Of the
farmers themselves"
Chairman Lever in Accord.
Chairman Lever the House COM
mittee on agriculture is in thorough
accord with the Secretary's views.
and he speaks the mind of the mem
bers of Congress generally from the
agricultural sections. In the extra
session Representative Gilbert n
Haugen of Iowa will he chairman of
the committee, and while he has nor
been at all times in harmony with
the policies of the present admins
tration of the Department of Agricui !
ture he proposes to labor for safe
and sane permanent development or
the agricultural resources OF tn
country. He wants to see only SUCH
farmward movement as will persist
in making the waste places bloom
with crops. The city men in Congress
are ready to support such program
for agriculture. for they are actuateo
by a desire to see the food for the
factory hands and the store employees
and the urban population generaii!
made as cheap as possible.
1t can safely lie predicted, there
fore, that Congress will respond fairly
well to the recommendations OF thu
Secretary of Agriculture.
Livestock a Big Factor.
Livestock is the one big farm prod
| uct for which the world is increasing
| ly in need. Europe will demand more
| livestock products during the next
| two years than during the Two just
, passed. France and Italy especial!
have lost their cattle. Herbert Hoover
| has just reported that Belgium mas
| lost more than half her hogs ana
| cattle. Germany, Holland and the neu-
| trails have had their herds greatly
| reduced because they could not get
| the concentrated feeds. Great Britain
| has maintained her livestock al
! heavy cost to the government
| The plan generally is not TO mai"
| an effort now to make wholesale ship
ments of cattle to these countries Tn
demand for shipping forbids this The
| obviously economic thing FOR thoS'
| countries is to purchase meats. lats.
| cheese and other livestock products
, from this country and gradually re-
/ store their herds.
| The United States is IN an encour-
| aging condition regarding livestocA.
! according TO Secretary Houston but
! he emphasizes that part of the pro
gram must be securing an adequat"
| supply OF feed stuffS and the eradica-
| ton and control of all forms of ami
| NAL disease.
Ample Supply of Wheat.
! There is plenty of wheat in the .lr-
vators and ground to meet all de
| mandS. This country last year pro
duced 9l7.Oe0.0o0 bushels, and COM
pared with 500. 100000 bushels as 81
! five-year average. the prospect is thai
| there will be 16o,000,0o0 bushels o:
winter wheat alone, and that with
| the average spring wheat crop ~
| 250.00o,000 bushels will give more
! than a billion bushels of wheat n"N'
; year. Meanwhile Australia has tvs"
. crops of wheat not sold and ArSen-
| tina has a large surplus production
! ready for shipment as soon as there
| is cargo space available. So there is
enough wheat III sight Tor Two years
! consumption.
Europe's chief needs outside of live
, stock will be for concentrated feeds
| for building up their herds-as, for
; example, cottonseed meal and pea
| nut meal. These are by-productS OF
| the cotton and oil-crushing industries,
so that with an assured development
/ of the oil-crushing industry to meei
! world demands there will be an in
! creasing surplus OF these concen
tratel feeds fo- export. and thi;
means rapidly growing prosperity TO-
| the south.
! Cotton Product Considered
! As regards cotton-there is enough
/ now on hand to fill all the demands
! for which there are. facilities for dis
| tribution This means shipping and
| spindle capacity. But into this consid-
Grafton must come 4 reminder thai
| the best cotton mills of Belgium and
| Northern France have been disman-
T, tled-Germany having STOLEN all the
I machinery.
F, Germany, Austria and their rela-
! tons need every ounce of cotton they
; can get, but there is a very grave
F! question AS 10 when they VIII h.
I able to buy.
! Those who have been keeping in
! closest touch with the situation feel
! that the international relations viii
| be brought to order before another
| cotton crop, so that the Department
! of Agriculture is encouraged to fig
| ure on = good demand for cotton neAi
| year.
/: The fortified situation is improN
| ing rapidly and the outlook is THAI
! by the time the farmers of this coun
| try have absorbed the vast quantii.
' Of nitrate OF soda released by the
, War Department, which is to be sold
! TO the farmers at cost by the Depart
nlent of Agriculture. the commercfa!
! fertilizer plants VIII he able to get
| all the raw material supplies of pot
! ash, phosphate and nitrates that they
| need for meeting world demand. The
| air nitrate plant at Muscles Shoals. OH
| which the government has spent more
| than s125. 000, 900 is expected to prove
/ a very valuable source of supply Tor
' the farmers. The deposit of potash
near Mulhausen. in the Rhine valley.
which has now been restored to
| France is said to be as large as that
(, Prussian deposit on which Germany
! built up q world monopoly.
Devastated Areas Need Fertilizers.
. The devastated areas of Europe need
concentrated fertilizers to build them
| up. especially as the killing or OF
| cattle depleted their manure supplles
! Therefore. as soon as the fertlliZer IN
| dustry. which has been seriously ham
pered by the war, gets back to norma
working conditions, it Will md Al
unprecedented demand for commercial
| fertilizers, and L larger and easier
source of supply of raw materials
| both in this country and from friendly
! countries.
| The agricultural colleges and other
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