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4. The cost of food can only be reduced in one of two ways: 



(1) reducing the cost of marketing. 



(2) reducing the cost of production per unit or increasing 

 production, which amounts to the same thing. 



The cost of distribution must be reduced by 



1. Eliminating duplication and unnecessary service, speculation, 

 etc. 



2. Direct selling from producer to consumer. 



To reduce production cost involves more intensive farming and more 

 intelligent farming. 



Intensive farming requires more working capital — it is primarily 

 a financial consideration at the outset because it requires 



1. More labor and the labor cost is 25 to 75 per cent of the 

 cost of production. 



2. More fertility — commercial or natural manures. 



3. More equipment and higher grade management. 



These improvements hinge on making more capital readily avail- 

 able to the farmer and of promoting educational enterprises which will 

 show him how to improve his methods without too great cost. 



We can here see the relation of rural credits to co-operation and the 

 food problem. 



To reduce the costs of distribution requires co-operation. 



1. Co-operation of consumer and producer to eliminate the mar- 

 keting evils. 



2. To introduce direct selling. 



What Europe Can Teach Us. 

 The recent investigation and previous studies show us 



1. That Europe has solved some but not all her rural problems. 



2. Her experience is suggestive but her methods are not wholly 

 . applicable to our conditions. 



European versus American Farm Production. — Europe views agri- 

 culture from the standpoint of total output per acre and on this basis 

 she greatly excels us. America has viewed agriculture from the stand- 

 point of the labor of the individual and on this basis our farmers are 

 more efficient. 



If the yield per acre of all crops were fixed as the standard of the 

 world the average of the United States would be 108 and for Belgium 

 221, but if we view it from the standpoint of production per person the 

 figures for the United States are 1104 and Belgium only 508, which means 

 that while intensified Belgium gets over twice what we do per acre the 

 United States gets over twice as much production as Belgium per person, 



