Enemies in the Field 345 



ship to farmers because of the new management's lack of 

 information in regard to agriculture, and because of the delay 

 involved in securing action on farm loans. In one village, seven 

 of the best farmers, each owning from two hundred and forty 

 to three hundred and sixty acres of unencumbered land, were 

 refused loans of from $400 to $800 for seed and fertilizer in 

 the spring of 1931. 



These are the enemies of the cornfields. Not the thieving 

 crows, or the ear-worm or the borer. Not the smut; though 

 the black fungoid growth ruins millions of ears each season. 

 Recent experiments have revealed that corn smut is edible. 

 It may even, in time, so the hopeful say, compete with mush- 

 rooms as a table delicacy! No, the enemies are drought, ig- 

 norance, waste of natural resources, faulty economics. Every 

 year these take heavy toll of our harvest. Their conquest is an 

 immediate challenge to American adaptability and to Amer- 

 ican imagination. 



