PROGRAM OF RECONSTRUCTION 243 



effort among farmers and prevent discrimination by 

 railways, middlemen or others. 



AGRICULTURAL INSURANCE OR STABILIZATION 



Great variations occur from year to year both in 

 amount of farm products and in their market value. 

 Diseases and pests, " bad " weather, climatic catastro- 

 phes, speculation in food products, forced sales due to 

 inadequate capital, market gluts, all play their part in 

 this unstability. An adequate program of rural recon- 

 struction requires the consideration of the feasibility of 

 establishing stabilizing influences and devices that will 

 tend to reduce the element of mere chance in the food- 

 producing process. Such a movement is in the interest 

 of consumers as well as producers. There should be 

 an effort, through government aid and supervision, and 

 partly by large cooperative associations of farmers 

 themselves, to secure the adjustment of acreages to de- 

 mand. Government should also encourage regional 

 self-support in certain products; crop insurance against 

 diseases, pests, hail, drought, wind, lightning, frost, 

 flood, and animal insurance; more opportunities for 

 short term credit for purchasing supplies needed in 

 high-grade production; advances to farmers in products 

 in storage; progressive release of stocks as needed by 

 the market; full market news service. 



AGRICULTURE IN INTERNATIONAL TRADE 



The interests of the American farmer not only call 

 for an adjustment of his business to the world's demand 

 for products of the soil, but require such an adjustment 

 of all the parts of trade relations among nations as 

 shall be just to him. It is fundamental that in every 



