458 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



lliat Ik'I- ])arliciilar hciiij;- will jiiow and (l('v«^lop best in Iho froor atnios- 

 ]»ln'ro of the busy world, Iut work as certainly lies lliere. 



Tlioie is still no reason why the two, the professional woman and the 

 mother of the household, may not react favorably upon each other; why 

 Ihey cannot both work in Iheir own way for the same end — a freer, 

 nobler, more all-enibraciu}^ manhood and womanhood. 



THE CONSERVATION OF FOOD. 



PAUL THAYER, REPRESENTING THE AGRICULTURAL COURSE. 



The tendency of all nature is to move in cycles. The better we under- 

 stand the processes of nature, the more clearly do we see that they are 

 Jill in accord with this inexorable law. The revolution of the planets 

 and the succession of day and night are but common illustrations of 

 this law. We see it in the caterpillar emerging from its crysalis a 

 butterfly, or the buried seed springing into the growing plant, yet we 

 often forget that the same law as certainly governs the invisible atoms 

 in their combinations and changes. We learn in physics of the con- 

 servation of energy, how energy can neither be produced nor be de- 

 stroyed by human might. We can divert it or dissipate it, but never 

 destroy it. There is a striking parallel in the case of our food. When 

 once used it is not destroyed, but returns, in time, to the earth and 

 air to again be changed into forms such as can be utilized by man. 

 That this similarity between conservation of energy and conservation 

 of food is not appreciated by the mass of the people, is seen in the ex- 

 pressions we use. We speak of land as being "worn out" or "ex- 

 hausted," as though it contained a definite and constantly decreasing 

 amount of material capable of supporting life, and that every crop re- 

 moved brought the soil just so much nearer exhaustion. Such a con- 

 ception leads us to sometimes wonder what is to be the future of the 

 A'orld. As the tillable soil of the world gradually becomes exhausted, 

 will not starvation be the fate of the race? Is, after all, the theory of 

 Malthus that the ])opulation would ultimately exceed the food supply, 

 to be finally realized? 



We will leave the question of increase of population, with its many 

 intricate phases, and turn our attention to the various factors that enter 

 into the food production. No one w^ill doubt for a moment but what the 

 world today provides amply for its inhabitants. Never w\as the world 

 better fed; never did it require so little labor for the workman to pro- 

 vide food for himself and his family, and never did we have so much 

 time in which to provide other comforts and luxuries. 



The famine in India today is not the result of lack of food, but in- 

 sufficient and faulty transportation and distribution. In considering 

 the production of food we commonly think of the tillers of the soil as 

 alone affecting production, while in reality it is also affected by every 

 improvement and agency which facilitates distribution. 



In considering the future of this problem we cannot but admit that 



