IS 



THE AGKICDLTURAL NEWS. 



Jam AP.Y 'i'e', 1918. 



islands. Whether peace is won, or the war prolonged, 

 there will be a .-shortage of food supplies, we repeat, 

 throughout the world in IIHS and for some consider- 

 able period afterwards. This is a certainty ot which 

 we are warned, a statement resting \\\wx\ ilemonstrated 

 facts, and admitting of no doubt or contravention. In 

 these islands, as in (!reat Britain, people have been 

 accustomed to import from abroad the food that we 

 could not, or would not, or at all events did not, produce 

 for ourselves. We too have enjoyed the facilities for 

 importation so long that we Hnc' it harrl to under- 

 stand that an entirely new situation could arise, which 

 in fact has now ari.sen. Owing to the conditions refer- 

 red to above, the European nations at war cannot 

 produce the s;inie <|uantity of food that they formerly 

 produced, and are forced to look for other markets. 

 It is therefore idle for us in the West Indies to 

 • ieiude ourselves with the idea that the United States 

 and Canada, who are themselves beginning to feel the 

 drain of man-power, can so increase their output of 

 food as not only to supply the pressing needs of their 

 European allies, but also to send to us the amount of 

 fooil which we have been accustomed to receive from 

 them. We are bound to suffer, and to suffer in pro- 

 portion that we have been dependent, not only for 

 luxuries, but for food necessities, on imports i'rmn 

 -abroad. 



Turning to the second condition given by 

 Mr. Prothero: in spite of money coming into these 

 West Indies more freely on account of the increased 

 price paid for their productions e.xpoited, we shall still 

 have to pay double for everything we import. Assum- 

 ing therefore that the food was obtainable, shall we 

 have money enough to buy it.' 



With regard to the third condition: are we going 

 to find ships to bring sufficient food siipplies to us^ 

 It must be remembered that every ship userl as a fnod 

 canier will diminish the tonnage that might be 

 employed in the transport of raw and semi-manufac- 

 tured materials, on which great mantifacturing 

 industries of Europe liepend, and that the supply of 

 ship.s owing to war destnictiDn will be limited. 



It would be foolish to propiie^y liuw long the 

 period of scarcity will hist after the war. That will 

 flepend upon the efforts maile to reduce the scarcity. 

 For instance, the moment war ceases, some materials 

 now used lor the manufacture of munitions will be 

 available for fertilizers, and the exhausted soil of 

 Europe may recover with astonishing rapidity. ^lany 

 men liberated from military duty will turn to agri- 



cultural pursuits; the machine shops also, . at pre!se'h4i 

 producing munitions of war, will be enabled to 

 pay attention to the manufacturing of agricultural 

 implements such as tractors, ploughs, and all the 

 various machinery that will doubtless play so large 

 a part in the agriculture of the future. Meanwhile 

 there ought to be no slackening of the efforts to be 

 made in all directions, towards economy in food 

 supply, and towards increasing local production of 

 foodstuffs. 



At the conclusion of his speech, Mr. Prothero 

 praised the efforts made in VM7 by the farmers 

 of Great Britain: they had grown more wheat, 

 barley, oats, peas, and potatoes than in ll'lO, in face 

 of the most tremendous discouragement owing to the 

 weather, want of labour, want of fertilizers, and want 

 of almost all the implements of production. The 

 example of the British farmer may be \vell held up as 

 a guide to the West Indian planter. It is to be 

 hoped that when they realize the situation our planters, 

 like the farmers in Great Britain, will do all that is 

 humanly possible to lessen the certain scarcity. 



-Mr. Prothero concluded his speech as follows: 

 'Peace has its dangers as well as war. The future is 

 dark and difficult but for one thing. We have a unity 

 such as neYer before, a unity which is the most precious 

 of our national treasures, although we do not seem 

 sometimes to realize it. Will that unity stand the 

 test of hunger' Make what answer yon like: I will 

 not answer it: but remember that hunger is inexorable, 

 essentially selfish, implacable, blind, deaf, and pitiless. 

 If we want in lime of peace to pass through the diffi- 

 cult period of reconstruction, let us pray "God speed 

 the plough in 'lur native land." ' 



WAR BREAD. 



ll'iLeyi !!• lieiv, Decrmber 1917, iiubiisheil in Xew 

 ^ ork, contaiii.s several articles witii i-efereiice to the above 

 subject, extract.-, from wliieli will duubiless be iiiterestiug and 

 upefiil under existing circuiii^taiices. In these troublesome 

 times innovation.s in many matters are no longer received 

 wiih surprise, but rather as a matter of oour.'se. It 13 

 thert-fore scarcely astoni.shiiig to learn that the Food .\dniin- 

 istration Department of the Tnitcd States has been for some 

 time considering the advisability of requesting bakers, and 

 ])ossibly hon.<ekeepers, to try the experiment of using *vith 

 tlieir wheat flour a small or moderate percentage of .substi- 

 tutes, «o as to leduce the consunipiion of wheat witliout 

 causing any noteworthy dis.satisfacLion among consumers. 



Krom a nutritious point of view, and with regard to calories 

 or food values, iiio.st of the kinds of bread experimented with 

 are satisfactory, :ind even palatable, especially that nude with 

 a mixture of corn meal, and tlieir u.se is to be encouratf.l in I lie 



