11 Nov., 1918] American AginciiUure. 659 



He saw no wheat bread during his visit. The loaf was composed 

 mainly of substitutes, such as maize, barley, and rice. Through this 

 voluntary rationing, Mr. Hoover, the food controller, was able to send 

 90,000,000 bushels of wheat in a very critical time to the Allies. Their 

 sacrifices enabled them to provide a large surplus for exportation. A 

 Bill was passed for the appropriation of £15,000,000 a day for war 

 service expenditure. In the matter of money, munitions, food, men, and 

 ships they are doing all that the Allies expected them to do, and a great 

 deal more. Ho one could fail to be impressed with the capacity of the 

 American people, their enthusiasm for the war, and their faith in their 

 country. After spending six months over in America he was satisfied 

 that we have a wonderful country in Australia. He had spoken at a 

 great many public meetings in the United States, and found that most 

 of the people had never given Australia much thought. The prevailing 

 notion was that it was an island in the Southern Pacific, with an 

 uncertain rainfall and very frequently suffering from drought. He had, 

 however, travelled through the United States when there was a drought. 

 Texas had suffered from a prolonged drought, the Rocky Mountain 

 States had experienced practically a crop failure, and the Govern- 

 ment had agreed to provide monetary assistance to farmers in these 

 States. But they did not advertise their droughts in the United States. 

 Similarly in Southern Alberta and Saskatchewan, the southern prairie 

 provinces in Canada, they were suffering from a drought similar to the 

 Victorian drought of 1914. When he asked the Canadians why he had 

 seen no reference to it in the papers they said they got 2,600 settlers 

 crossing the border every month from the United States with their 

 household goods, farming equipment, and capital, and they did not want 

 to cut off that precious system of immigration by crying stinking fish. 

 It would be well for us if faith in the resources of our country were 

 as strong. 



CoMPAKISOISr WITH AuSTEALIA. 



With respect to this small island in the Southern Pacific, he 

 had been able to explain to them that it was big enough to accommodate 

 forty-eight States of the Union, and leave a strip all round the entire 

 continent sufficiently wide to drive a Ford car. An interesting feature 

 for comparison is the population. The whole of our population could 

 be accommodated in one of their cities. While their's numbers 

 110,000,000, our population is no more than two-thirds of that of the 

 city of New York. The result of this was that the American farmer 

 enjoyed a good home market. Consequently the level of prices was 

 higher there than in Australia, and there was a ready sale for every- 

 thing raised by the fai^mers. The centre of their country was remark- 

 ably rich, and some of it not unlike the soil of the Horsham plains, but 

 the rainfall came in the summer time, and consequently they grew maize 

 instead of wheat. One-third of the country possessed a rainfall of from 

 30 to 60 inches; another third 15 up to 30; and the arid regions from 

 to 15 inches per annum. There was a great contrast between central 

 Australia and central America; the latter was watered by the great 

 lakes and the Mississippi and Missouri river systems, and possessed a 

 good rainfall, populous cities, and thriving agriculture. One great 

 advantage we had in Australia was climatic. Practically the whole 

 region corresponding to our agricultural country was frozen over in 



