72 OUR USE OF THE LAND 



stitute order that wheat flour henceforth be 20 per cent 

 coarser. 



"The use of corn flour had been ordered to conserve wheat 

 as a result of this year's poor crop. A scarcity of the substitute, 

 however, led to the change in regulations. 



"The fact that the United States and other countries have 

 bumper wheat crops is of scant solace to the Italians. Italy is 

 bound to a self-sufficiency program and is determined to stretch 

 her own sparse crop as far as possible, importing only what is 

 absolutely necessary." 68 



Italy is not the only country cutting her imports. No nation 

 wants to buy from another more than it can help. The question 

 is what can be done with a surplus like that of 1938. To sell 

 it in the United States means that the price will drop so low 

 that fanners cannot make a profit. No one abroad wants it. 



LAND MANAGEMENT 



While the Agricultural Adjustment Administration was 

 trying to balance markets, another government agency, the 

 Soil Conservation Service, was trying to balance the needs of 

 the soil. The Soil Conservation Service had made a good be' 

 ginning as an emergency public works unit in the Department 

 of the Interior. After a short while, it was transferred to the 

 Department of Agriculture, since its activities were so clearly 

 a part of the agricultural program. 



The main job of the Soil Conservation Service was to stop 

 soil erosion. It attacked the farm problem from the point of 

 view of the balance of nature, while the Agricultural Adjust' 

 ment Administration attacked it from the point of view of the 

 balance of economics. 



The chief tool of the Soil Conservation Service was what is 

 called "the demonstration project." In various parts of the 

 country where the erosion problem was acute, the Soil Con' 



ror\ Times. Section 4, July 24, 1938, p. 7. 



