CHAPTER 



THE AGRICULTURAL SITUATION AND 

 OPPORTUNITY 



Too many of our people regard farming as an occupation 

 with which they have no particular concern and merely as 

 a matter of general interest. This all too common attitude 

 on the part of persons not engaged in agriculture or re- 

 lated pursuits is a cause for grave concern to students of 

 the problem of feeding the Nation. The great consumer 

 public is or should be as vitally concerned with the welfare 

 of agriculture and with the rendering of the necessary 

 public service to farming as are the farmers themselves in 

 having this service. 



WHY THE PUBLIC IS INTERESTED 



Because the problem of an adequate food supply at 

 reasonable prices is probably the biggest before the Nation, 

 a sound and efficient agriculture is a public necessity. The 

 farms are the source of the Nation's food supply and as 

 such must be safeguarded, conserved and developed to meet 

 the needs of a growing population. For its own protection 

 a nation should be self-supporting in peace as well as in 

 war. The consumer should be interested in the mainte- 

 nance of the quality of the product through protection from 

 insects and diseases by inspection and demonstration, grad- 

 ing and standardization to secure uniformity, and efficient 

 methods of marketing to preserve quality up to the time 

 of delivery. 



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