130 ELEMENTARY BIOLOGY 



or better wheat, or more corn to the acre, as described in the 

 chapter on plant and animal breeding (Chapter LXXXI). 



The entrance of the United States into the Great War has 

 made us all aware of the importance of (i) more definite knowl- 

 edge of national food resources and (2) more systematic control 

 of production, distribution, and utilization of food supplies. 



Arrangements were made to record every prospective bushel 

 of grain or potatoes, of every head of cattle, of every catch of 

 fish. Bulletins and proclamations were issued broadcast, in- 

 structing all people how to get the most out of the food mate- 

 rials that they had, how to save every usable scrap of organic 

 matter, how to make every square yard of cultivated ground 

 yield more, how to preserve the food that could not be used up 

 immediately. Canning and drying demonstrations, as well as 

 cooking and gardening demonstrations, were made in all parts 

 of the country, and for the first time in history a whole nation 

 was brought together to face the food problem as a single family. 



In connection with this great national need, the problem of 

 food distribution has come to the front as never before. We 

 now see that it is not sufficient merely to provide warehouses 

 and transportation for the year's production. It is necessary 

 also to see that every child and every adult finds it possible 

 to obtain an adequate supply of nourishment. It is more im- 

 portant to the nation that every living unit be kept in good 

 living condition than that a few individuals make large profits 

 out of speculation in the needs of the rest of us. For these 

 reasons we may expect the regulations inaugurated under the 

 stress of war to be continued in time of peace, to the point 

 where' our knowledge and our skill insure the people of the 

 nation the material foundations for their well-being; namely, 

 their " daily bread." In England it has already become a com- 

 mon saying that " all must have bread before any have cake." 



