BETTER FRUIT 



AN ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE PUBLISHED MONTHLY IN THE INTEREST OF MODERN, PROGRESSIVE FRUIT GROWING AND MARKETING 



Food Administration and Fruit and Vegetable Industry 



Address by G. Harold Powell at Twenty-third Annual Convention of the International Apple Shippers' Association, New York, August 16, 1917 



IT is a pleasure to meet the mem- to the Allies since the beginning of spirit of co-operation, and with a con- 

 bers of the International Apple the war. With an increase in the de- fidence that when the problem is 

 ShiDDers' Association as a repre- mand for meat and a decrease in the clearly defined the industries will act 



"T is a pleasure to meet the mem- 

 bers of the International Apple 



.Shippers' Association as a repre- 

 sentative of the United States Food 

 Administration, to discuss some of the 

 questions that confront the apple in- 

 dustry as a result of the war and to 

 establish a relationship of mutual con- 

 fidence between the Food Administra- 

 tion and this organization. 



The Food Problem of America. 



The food problem of America is to 

 send our Allies more foods of the most 

 concentrated nutritive value in the 

 smallest shipping space. These foods 

 are wheat, beef, pork, dairy products 

 and sugar. The solution is to eat less 

 of these exportable foods, to substitute 

 other foods, particularly the perish- 

 ables, and to waste less food of all 

 kinds. 



The food supplies of our Allies have 

 been greatly reduced because the 

 farmers are fighting at the front. Be- 

 fore the war, the food production of 

 the Allies was not equal to their con- 

 sumption. They secured their surplus 

 requirements from America, Russia, 

 Roumania, South America, India, Aus- 

 tralia and other countries. Now they 

 can no longer obtain their food from 

 most of the outside countries. There 

 is a shortage in man power, in trans- 

 portation, and there are other difficul- 

 ties which they cannot surmount. Our 

 Allies, therefore, ask America to sup- 

 ply them with the necessaries of life 

 that they may live and fight the battle 

 — our battle, as well as their own, — 

 for liberty and for democracy. 



America will of course supply the 

 Allies with food, but it can be done 

 only by the co-operative, patriotic ef- 

 fort of every individual and every 

 industry by producing abundantly, by 

 handling food products wisely, by re- 

 ducing the economic wastes in distri- 

 bution, by simplifying the distributing 

 machinery, by selling at reasonable 

 prices without excessive distribution 

 profits and by practicing economy 

 and efficient management in the use 

 and handling of food supplies. 



America must increase her normal 

 exports of wheat from 88,000,000 to 

 220,000,000 bushels if the Allies are to 

 be properly fed. It can be done by 

 reducing the use of wheat one pound 

 per person per week and by the sub- 

 stitution of other foods. 



The food animals of the Allies have 

 decreased 33,000,000 head since the 

 war began. The needs of the Allied 

 soldiers have increased the meat con- 

 sumption abroad. The United States 

 has already tripled the meat exports 



source of supply abroad, our exports 

 must be greatly increased. If we will 

 save one ounce of meat per person per 

 day, the Allies can have what they 

 need. 



There is a steady falling off in the 

 dairy products of our Allies because 

 of the loss in cattle and the increased 

 cost of feed. Our exports last year 

 reached three times as much butter 

 and ten times as much condensed milk 

 as we sent before the war. These ex- 

 ports must be still further increased if 

 the Allies are to be adequately sup- 

 plied. 



The Allies will need 2,000,000 

 pounds more of sugar than they im- 

 ported before the war. The supply 

 must be drawn from the same source 

 as our own supply. This can be done 

 only by individual economy. Our pres- 

 ent consumption of sugar per person 

 is twice that of France. 



In meeting the war food problem, 

 the Food Administration approaches 

 the business interests of America in a 



quickly and directly in reaching the 

 solution. But there are no miracles in 

 prospect in the handling of perishable 

 products. Taken in the large, we are 

 dealing with millions of farmers most 

 of whom are unorganized; with at 

 least three hundred and fifty thousand 

 wholesale and retail distributors who 

 as a whole are equally unorganized; 

 with the habits of twenty million fam- 

 ilies whose individualism is not less 

 pronounced than that of the producer 

 himself; with systems of transporta- 

 tion and of terminal distribution; with 

 business methods and with buying and 

 consuming habits that have grown up 

 through generations of gradual evolu- 

 tion. Yet we are confident that from 

 national necessity the evolution in the 

 methods of handling the nation's food 

 will quickly effect a saving in food 

 supplies and develop a more direct 

 method of distribution at a lower cost 

 to the prod u.c e r and consumer 

 Through the co-operation of the pro- 

 Continued on page 21 



W00DR0W WILSON 



President of the United States 



SAYS 



TO THE MEN WHO RUN THE RAILWAYS OF THE COUNTRY— THE 

 railways are the arteries of the nation's life and that upon them rests 

 the immense responsibility of seeing to it that these arteries suffer no 

 obstruction of any kind. 



THE GREATEST SINGLE OBSTRUCTION TO THE PROMPT 

 handling of freight today is the shortage of cars. 



IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO BUILD NEW CARS IN TIME TO 

 relieve the situation. 



THERE IS NO OTHER MEANS BY WHICH THE CAPACITY 

 of the railways can be so economically and efficiently increased as by 

 increasing the load per car. 



YOU 



CAN HELP WIPE THIS DIFFICULTY OFF THE MAP. 



It's easy! Listen! 



NO CAR IS LOADED UNLESS AND UNTIL FILLED TO FULL 

 visible capacity, or to 10 per cent above marked weight-carrying 

 capacity. 



A CAR LOADED TO FULL (10 PER CENT ABOVE MARKED) 

 capacity can be moved just as fast as an under-loaded car and does not 

 take up any more yard or sidetrack room. 



That's 110 per cent efficiency! 



AN INCREASE OF ONLY TWO TONS PER LOADED CAR WOULD 

 be the same as adding 200,000 new cars to the supply available for 

 public use. 



HEAVIER CAR LOADING WILL ELIMINATE. THE CAR SHORT- 

 AGE OF THE NATION. 



JUST A LITTLE THOUGHT AND QUICK ACTION IS ALL THAT 

 IS NECESSARY. 



HOW CAN YOU AFFORD NOT TO "DO YOUR BIT"? 



