Smyrna times., 1940-06-27
FARM FUTURE
is FRIGHTENED
Research Predicted to Make
Far Greater Demand For
All Farming Products
INDUSTRY IS ALERT

TomorroW's farm may supply
the raw materials from which are
fabricated automobile bodies, air.
plane wings and a large part of
residential building supplies, ac-
cording to L. F. Livingston, Man
ager of the Agricultural Extension
Division of f. I. DUPONT de Ne
mours & Company. The brightest
future agriculture has ever known
lies in the development of indus
trial crops" through research. "Re-
search is needed to develop new
uses for our present agricultural
crops and to develop entirely new
crops which can be used directly
by the factories Of the country"
Manufacturing industry today
spends about 1-2 of 1 per cent of
the value of all goods sold on re-
search. The chemical industry
spends from percent to 4 percent
of its annual sales on research.
Agriculture, however, spends only
II of 1 percent of the value of its
products on research. Even this
amount does not come from its
own pocket, but government foots
the bill.
As an example of what can be
accomplished by research in other
fields, and what can be expected in
agriculture, Mr. Livingston cites
coal. "At the beginning of the
century, virtually all coal was used
raw. 1t was regarded only as
fuel. Today, chemical conversion
accounts for Is percent to 20 per-
cent of the consumption of coal,
and the proportion is growing. For
instance. one chemical plant alone
consumes a million tons of coal a
year in the making of more than
100 products. These include anti
freeze, fertilizer, plastics, refriger-
ants and solvents. This significant
change has come about through
chemical research. We have more
than 10000 scientists and a chem
ical industry that, measured either
by tons or dollars, produces more
goods than the chemical industries
of Germany, England, France,
Russia, Italy and Japan all added
together. 1t is an industry that is
still in the youth of its achieve
ments according to the best sci
entific opinion.
More than 100000 compounds
wholly new to man have emerged
from the laboratory and in less
than a quarter century!
The utilization of only a few
hundred of these compounds has
revolutionized the methods and
products of more than score of
industries, effected changes in mil
lions of jobs, altered our food,
clothing and homes, transformed
our daily habits, given a new con-
cept to medical research, and es-
tablished the United States in the
forefront of scientific advance, for
titled it against war, and saved bill
lions in money"
Instead of basic antagonism
between industry and agriculture,
industry is now alert to agricul-
tural needs, eager to use agricul-
tural products and looking ever
more to the farm as a Scouce of
needed raw materials to transform
into manufactured goods.
1T has been definitely establish
ed that cellulose, which makes up
the bulk of all plants, is raw ma
terial that ranks with the basic
metals in Importance. From it is
made all paper, all rayon, family
of plastics that is being put liter
ally to thousands of uses, huge
quantities of building boards, ee-
ments for the leather industry and
an endless list of other goods.
Most of these uses of cellulose are
Of our own life
times. New ones are constantly
being added. There are men who
envision the time when cellulose
for industrial purposes will be as
to the farmer as all his
food crops.
Technically, even now it is pos
sible to build houses of straw, to
fashion clothes from grass and
make paper from cornstalks. 1t is
possible, but not economically feas-
ible. The cost is too high. Wood
cellulose is cheaper. But let agri-
culture bridge that gap of cost and
it will command the whole, already
enormous euer exDandinp indus |