Evening star., 1942-11-14
Of Stors, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Proqres.
In Laboratory, Field
And Study
By Thomas r. Henri.

And Study
By Thomas r. Henry.
A serious shortage Of canned fruits,
vegetables and -mainstays of the
American tablets likely In l943.
The regular packers are stymied by the
shortage of tin. No satisfactory. substi-
tute, except silver, has been found.
A housewife cannot can family sup
| ply in glass jars because these require
rubber bands, and the amount of rubber
allocated for this purpose is very small.
Dried products, In the preparation Of
which great progress has been made
during the past year, offer no relief be-
cause the increased production will 70
almost entirely to the Army, to Great
Britain and to Russia.
These are the conclusions of the Bu-
reau Of Agricultural Economics of the
Department Of Agriculture, after sur
vey OF the impending situation. The
only relief is seen through frozen fruits
and vegetables, which will require refrig-
orator cars for transportation, and re-
frigeration while in the market The
amounts preserved In this way In the
past have been very small. Refrigerat-
ing plants are few.
One proposal Of the bureau economists
is that all the facilities of the ice cream
industry, greater part Of which are idle
during the winter, be taken over by the
canning industry. During the past two
or three decades, the report of the
economists points out, the American
housewife has learned to feed her family
out OF tin cans. Any major change
forced by the war will be revolutionary
In American life.
The best hope now held out, Depart
ment of Agriculture chemists say, is for
preserving fruits and vegetables in glass
jars with bands made out Of q new
rubber-like material produced from the
laboratory at Peoria, ILL.,
This substance. noropol, has many Of
the properties of natural rubber but has
not been considered as a substitute for
use in tires, inner tubes, hose, ETC. At
present 1t is quite inferior either to
heavea rubber or to most Of the syn
thetic rubbers. It is being improved
however ood cLo
purposes of the housewife.
In normal years 16 per cent of all the
fruit and 33 per cent of all the vegetables
raised in the United States are canned
Unless the problem can be worked out
more satisfactorily than has been pos
sible up to now, the Department of Agri-
culture economists say in a report Just
issued, 1t will be up to the American
people to make the best use possible of
their gardens and orchards in season
during the coming year. They cannot
expect to store much for rainy day.
Some producers" says the report,
may find that their entire market has
disappeared Many middlemen, will face
drastic readjustments in their opera
tions. Consumers will have to be sup
piled in other ways with the vitamins
and other food elements ordinarily OBJ
tanned from canned fruits and vege-
tables"
THE situation now looming" they say,
may revolutionizc the marketing of
some commodities"
Food IS cheaper, relative to income,
than at any other time in 80 years.
The farmer is getting bigger part of
the food expenditures of the American
people than he has since 1920.
Such are the conclusions of statis-
ticians of the United States Department
of Agriculture. Here is how they fig
ure it:
The income Of the average American
family of five is now about $3.50. This
due to higher wages, increased employ
ment Of women, ETC.. is 81 per cent more
than the average of the same family for
five years preceding the war.
At the same time the cost Of food Is
up rs per cent and Of food raised on
American farms 81 per cent. But food
took 27 per cent Of the family income in
the five years before 1910 while now 1t
takes only ~ per cent.
Thus, apparently, the average family
IS eating on per cent less Of its income
provided it doesn't eat substantially
more. The last time such q favorable
relation existed was in 1918. The table
has drained more and more OF the pay
envelope most of the time ever since.
Now, the Department OF Agriculture
statisticians point out. there are two
elements in the price Of food-raising
it and marketing it. The latter includes
transportation and processing. Before
the war the farmer got AZ cents out OF
each dollar, the rest being required to
get the food into the hands of the con-
sumer Now the farmer is getting SO
cents. This is the best share he has had
since 1920, but at one time during the
last war he was getting so cents out of a
dollar. The reason. the Department of
Agriculture statisticians say, is that while
actual food prices have gone up the
cost of marketing, if anything, has de-
clined. 1t has been on the decline for
the past four years due they explain
largely ito the development of the super
market. This establishment, with it's
hiph rate 0f turn ovar .n~,J..