REGION OF DISCONTENT 2 7 



when the country town fronted toward the farm and was principally 

 identified with rural life; now the town fronted rather toward the city, 

 imitated the city, and, as fast as it could manage, moved to the city. 4 

 What most concerned the public at large about the farm problem was 

 the fear, duly re-enforced by the rising price of foodstuffs, that agricul- 

 tural production would be unable to keep pace with the growth of the 

 nation. The population of the United States had increased from 62,947,714 

 in 1890 to 75,994,575 in 1900 and 91,972,266 in 1910. And, whereas the 

 rural population had constituted 63.9 per cent of the whole in 1890 and 

 59.5 per cent in 1900, it had dropped to barely 53.7 per cent in i9io. 50 

 Exports of foodstuffs from the United States had begun to show a steady 

 decline. In 1900 the value of foodstuffs exported was set at $545,473,695; 

 ten years later it was only $369,087,974, and formed but 21.59 P er cent 

 of the total domestic exports as compared with 39.8 per cent in 1900, 42.21 

 per cent in 1890, and 55.77 per cent in 1880. Meanwhile exports of meat 

 and dairy products had declined to $143,000,000 in 1910 as compared with 

 $254,000,000 in 1906 and an average of $222,000,000 during the preceding 

 ten years. 51 Soon all this, and possibly much more besides, would be needed 

 at home. "With our increasing population," said Theodore Roosevelt, "the 

 time is not far distant when the problem of supplying our people with 

 food will become pressing. The possible additions to our arable area are 

 not great, and it will become necessary to obtain much larger crops from 

 the land, as is now done in more densely settled countries." The same idea 

 was expressed by W. C. Brown, president of the New York Central Rail- 

 road. "We must increase production per acre by more intelligent methods," 

 he said, "or we must face the relentless certain day when we shall not 

 produce enough to supply our own necessities." Viewing the situation still 

 more pessimistically, James J. Hill of the Great Northern Railroad insisted 

 that "in twenty-five years we shall face a nation-wide famine." 5 



49. Ibid., XXXIV (January 8, 1909), p. 43; XXXVI (September 8, 1911), p. 1219. 



50. Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910, Abstract, p. 55. 



51. U. S. Dept. of Commerce and Labor, Reports, 1910, p. 68. See also Wallaces' 

 Farmer, XXXV (February n, 1910), p. 236. 



52. Report of the National Conservation Committee (60 Congress, 2 session, 

 Senate Document 676, serial 5397, Washington, 1909), p. 7; Wallaces' Farmer, XXXV 

 (February n, 1910), p. 218; Ruth V. Corbin, "Federal Farm Credits, 1916-1936" 

 (unpublished master's thesis, University of Wisconsin, 1936), p. 2. 



