Evening star., 1938-07-24
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.
ny IHONHhS N. IHENNI.
"HE earth can support in relative lux
ury three or four times its present
population.


ury three or four times its present
population
\ For another couple thousand
ears, at least, the planet has plentiful sup
plies Of the raw materials for supplying the
basic needs Of manhood, clothing, shelter,
power.
That it could quadruple its population
without anybody going cold or hungry, how
ever, must be said with some reservations.
The first Of these is that the resources be not
exploited recklessly and destroyed as the
forests of the United States were destroyed
Surfing settlement days. The second is that
the planet could support that many people
If they were all included in one happy, CO.
operative family instead Of being divided
into hostile political units.
The estimates of the globes potentialities
were prepared recently for the American
Association for the Advancement of Sci
ence, which is taking account of the i'm
pact OF science on society and trying to
forecast the dangers that lie ahead. The
latest, statistics were provided by DR.. Frank
E. Lathe of the Canadian National Re-
0earch Council
Three Self Sufficient.
1t is with respect to the distribution of
these resources as tabulated by Dr. Lathe,
that the prospect gets disquieting. In prac-
tically all the essential elements. it is
shown, three nations are essentially self
sufficient in the following order: The Brit
ish Empire, the United States the Soviet
Union. And in practically all of these es-
Nfntial elements three nations are woefully
deficient in the following order: Germany,
Italy, Japan
1t will not be the planets fault, but the
fault Of the people on 1t If mankind ever
starves to death
First and foremost, is the problem of get
ting enough to eat
Nobody need lose any sleep worrying
! about this, Dr. Lathe shows. Just now the
real worry is over too much to eat There is
little doubt. he says, that with the culti-
Vaole acreage now available enough food
could be raised to feed abundantly a pop-
ulation three times the number of all the
men. women and children now in the world.
II is not even question of the richness
OF the soil. Soil itself is a practically
inert medium in which plants grow. All
the food they need-nitrogen, potash, phos-
phorus and minute amounts of other ele-
ments-can be put into it. The reserves
OF all OF these in the earths crust. the
Atmosphere and the oceans are stupendous
and essentially inexhaustible.
Can Dispense With Soil.
Man is only on the Threshold of in
creasing plant yields. He can even dis
pense with soil altogether and grow his
crops in water solutions. All he needs do
Is feed his plants as he feeds his pigs and
cows instead OF forcing them to forage
Tor themselves. Comparable increases are
be had from plant breeding of which
the present Secretary of Agriculture. Henry
A. Wallace, is one of the worlds foremost
exponents Such basic crop as wheat
Is good example. New varieties resistant
to cold and ripening early have within the
past generation opened up for wheat
farmers northern zone of rich land
extending around the world. Within the
past two or three years rust-resistant
. varieties have become available in large
kpumbers. Estimates for Canada alone
<hoW that in 1895 the loss from rust was
at least 100.0000OO bushels Within five
years not single grain should be lost by
this blight
There still remains the problem of
drought which destroyed the American
wheat crop in the Northwest for several
years in succession and ruined thousands
\ Of farmers. Here also the breeding of
drought-resistant varieties offers great pos
sibilities.
Weeds have been the great foe of the
| Farmer since time began. He has fought
them with the sweat of his brow Within
few years now the hoe and the culti-
vator may be found only in antiquarian
collections. Chemicals are being developed
which have a selective action, killing weeds
and at the same time having no effect
on edible crops. Insects are still prob
lem. If they 60 on unchecked they may
some day deprive man of lot of his
yailable food supply, but at present there
no immediate prospect that they cannot
5e kept in control
Plant Hormones Newly Found.
Beyond all this, the latest chapter in
agricultural prospects has the aspects Of
a fairy story. 1t concerns what may be
accomplished with some of the newly dis
covered plant hormones which in incredibly
minute amounts-such as one part in
100000 of a soil or liquid solution
may double and triple the growth of plants
OF one of the most potent Of these hor-
t4fones it is estimated that a single pound
in proper dilution for crop use would fill
10 trainloads, each of 100 tank cars and
each car containing $4,000 gallons. 1t
actually would be the cheapest sort of fer
tilizer.
Next to food comes clothing-and the
most important element of clothing, the
world over, is cotton. The United States
grows half the worlds crop on about 40,-
100000 acres, or less than per cent OF its
land area. 1t grows so much that half the
Rrne it does not know what to do with it. 1t
WDdld be relatively easy to increase the an
nusl crop three or four fold, should the
need ever arise
Nor is wool any particular problem. Land
least suitable for other agricultural Uses
Is often fine for sheep pasturage. Over a
large part OF the world, Mr.. Lathe con-
cudes. the number of these animals could
be doubled without taking land out of cul-
tivation.