The Washington times., 1921-09-12

dollars.
That ia the kind Of a dream to
have. Henry would have realized II
now. probably, had the world post
poned its experiment In scientific
throat-cutting. He will go right
ahead and come as near to It as
postwar conditions permit. Indeed.
he may do II yet,
Several months are likely to elapss
before the details Of the Muscle
Shoals contract are thrashed out, but
in the end. somewhere around the
first of January, II will be, as far as
inside appearances 90 now, accepted
by the Government.
Farmers for Contract.
This delay IL altogether right. De-
sirable as It Is to have q person OF
Ford's genius demonstrating efficiency
IN needed pioneer work. It IL neoes-
sary also to consider every clause from
tho public standpoint. Good trading
In behalf Of the Government Ia des1r-
able, provided the effort is to reach
fair agreement and not to block an
agreement in favor Of competing In
terests.
The principal propaganda in favor
of the Ford contract Ia being carried
on by the farmers and by the busi-
ness interests located along the Ten
nessee river. But the question ID
much bigger than any locality or than
any single group Of interests.
When you fill your lungs with air.
| four-f ifths OF each breath Is nitrogen.
When you decide what to eat, nitro
gen Is an important element In
nourishing and balanced diet.
INA
peter IL nitrogen. Taking the whole
earth together, q vast deal Of salt
peter is used up in q year. Yet II you
draw q line around any seven-acre
plot on the surface Of the earth you
win have above II as much nitrogen
| as has Eone into that years supply OF
saltpeter for the whole earth.
Nitrogen Fertilizers.
In other words, man. % expert
mental In science ana mechanics. 90
lacking in spiritual wisdom. has dis
covered that In the air above him IL
an unlimited supply Of this all-im-
| portant product. The Germans were
the ones to 90 after It first. Other
countries followed. but we did not
move until the war forced us TO 90
| so.
We boast about our increase in
population and are delighted wnen
| our overgrown cities become stli
more unwieldy. Modern sanitation
| enables our population to double IN
| sixty-five years. From 1900 to 1910
| our population increased 81 per cent.
What was our food supply doing
meantime7 During the same ten
wars our crops Increased only 10
| per cant. The farmers interest In
| getting nitrogen fertilizers out Of the
lctrcumambient air has q basis, IL we
| wish to continue to push up our
| population and also to eat good
meals.
Effect On Food Supply.
Let me 20 back to the last normal
wear before the war barled every
thing I'D. In that year Belgium
raised over seventy bushels Of oats
to tho acre
Germany, with o bad natural soil,
raised overt sixty. Tho United King
dom. over forty. italy. Austria and
France, over thirty.
The United States and Russia
brought up the rear. both with less
than thirty.
| Or take potatoes In the same year:
Belgium raised nearly three hundred
bushels per acre. the United King
dom over 225, the United States con-
siderably less than one hundred.
Now, that 10 q question Of soil cul-
ture. mainly of fertilizers, and the
principal nitrogen possibilities in the
world are at Muscle Shoals, in Ala
bama, on the Tennessee river. and
that is what the rumpus Is about.
The water-power goes with L. No
wster-power. no great nitrogen pro
duction. There are other aspects to
the water-power question, new and
difficult, for before the youngest
reader of these words is dead he will
travel from New York to San Fran.
cisco by water power.
But the aspect Of the Muscle Shoals
controversy that is most close upon
us is the question Of food.
|