110 S. C. PRESCOTT 



has taken place, and gives promise of an even greater develop- 

 ment as a result of the demands of commerce and industry. 

 Processes which five years ago were thought of merely as inter- 

 esting possibilities, such as the production of glycerin and ace- 

 tone by fermentation, have now been so perfected that they may 

 compete with purely chemical methods. The manufacture of 

 numerous organic bodies is now possible, and agriculture seems 

 likely to receive its next great impetus as a result of advances 

 which will be made in the bacteriological investigations of 

 soils. Food conservation has never occupied so important a 

 position, from the standpoint of world welfare, and here, too, 

 advances of great import have been made. It is of one phase of 

 this subject that I wish especially to speak at this time. 



In days of peace, with new countries opening up and rapidly 

 extending their agriculture, with larger crops, better knowledge of 

 utilization of fertilizers, improved methods of food handling and 

 better transportation facilities, we have been inclined to regard 

 the dangers of general food shortage or starvation except in re- 

 stricted localities as imaginary and impossible, and to believe 

 that our system of crop production and marketing, storage and 

 conservation, while not fully utilizing the scientific knowledge 

 available, would at least sufficiently safeguard the world from 

 hunger or serious economic disturbances. War conditions have 

 modified our points of view very greatly, however, and we have 

 been awakened to the importance of the principles expressed by 

 Malthus in 1798, or at least a modification of his thesis, pertaining 

 to the relation of food supply to population. Now we are more 

 appreciative than ever before of the dangers which may and 

 actually do threaten us because of waste, unscientific methods of 

 production and conservation, and improperly coordinated regu- 

 lation of supply and demand. The war years through which we 

 have just passed have caused us to give serious attention to the 

 problems of food supply and food control. It has fallen to this 

 country to be the storehouse from which enormous supplies of 

 foods have been withdrawn for the use of the fighting forces and 

 civilian populations of Europe. While ' this demand has been 

 largely for meats and cereals, and especially for wheat, it has 



