J14 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLVII. No. 1209 



creasing or even of maintaining agricultural 

 production. There was special concern as to 

 the sufficiency of the supply of labor that 

 would he available for farming operations and 

 much apprehension was manifested over the 

 disturbance of the supply as the result of 

 industrial demands and the drafting or volun- 

 teering of men for service in the army and 

 navy. As a matter of fact, there was no 

 little disturbance and in some sections the 

 situation was especially acute. There were 

 other difSculties confronting the farmers, in- 

 cluding those of securing fertilizer and ma- 

 chinery in sufficient quantities at a reasonable 

 cost. 



^Notwithstanding all the difficulties, how- 

 ever, the farmers, patriotically responding to 

 the appeals to them and influenced by the pre- 

 vailing prices, labored energetically to meet 

 the needs of this nation for food and also those 

 of the friendly nations in Europe. They 

 planted the largest acreage in the history of 

 the country, produced and harvested record 

 crops of most products except wheat, and suc- 

 ceeded in increasing the number of live-stock, 

 including not only work animals, but meat 

 and milk animals. 



The farmers of the nation planted during 

 1917, an acreage of 246,275,000 of the leading 

 food crops (winter wheat, spring wheat, com, 

 oats, barley, rye, buckwheat, rice, Irish pota- 

 toes, and sweet potatoes), which was 23,038,000 

 acres (10 per cent.) greater than the acreage 

 in 1916, and 32,339,000 (15 per cent.) greater 

 than the average for the 5 years preceding the 

 outbreak of the European War. 



The farmers not only planted these acre- 

 ages, but they harvested record crops of corn, 

 oats, barley, buckwheat, and Irish and sweet 

 potatoes. The total production of these prod- 

 ucts and of spring wheat and rice was 5,771,- 

 928,000 bushels, or 1,204,659,000 bushels (26 

 per cent.) more than in 1916, and 1,002,442,- 

 000 (21 per cent.) more than the average for 

 the 5-year period (1910-1914). Winter wheat 

 and rye are omitted from this comparison be- 

 cause the 1917 harvests of these crops were 

 from sowings made in the fall of 1916, be- 

 fore the United States entered the war. It 



should be borne in mind in this connection 

 that the percentage of soft corn this year was 

 very much higher than usual, and also that 

 the aggregate crop of spring and winter wheat 

 harvested in 1917 was short. 



During the first half of 1917 there was par- 

 ticular apprehension lest the number of live 

 stock should be decreased. As a matter of 

 fact, owing to the greater abundance of feed- 

 stuffs that the large crops of the year made 

 available and the prevailing prices, there was 

 revealed a most gratifying increase in the 

 principal classes of live stock — an increase in 

 the number of horses during the year of 353,- 

 000, or 1.7 per cent.; of mules, 101,000, or 2.1 

 per cent.; of milch cows, 390,000, or 1.7 per 

 cent.; of other cattle, 1,857,000, or 4.5 per 

 cent.; of sheep, 1,284,000, or 2.7 per cent., and 

 of swine, 3,871,000, or 5.7 per cent. 



The total estimated value of all farm prod- 

 ucts, including animals and animal products, 

 for 1917 is given as $19,443,849,381, as against 

 $13,406,364,011 for 1916, and $9,388,765,779 

 for the five-year average (1910-1914). These 

 valuations are based upon prices received by 

 producers, which are applied to the total out- 

 put regardless of whether the products are 

 consumed on the farms or sold. 



PLAN OF WAR ORGANIZATION OF DIVISION 



OF MEDICINE AND RELATED SCIENCES OF 



THE NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL 



I. OFFICERS 



Chairman, Eichard M. Pearce (National Re- 

 search Council) 1023 16th St., N. W., "Washington, 

 D. C. 



Vice-chairman, Major Robert M. Terkes, Sur- 

 geon General's Office, Washington, D. C. 



Executive Committee : H. D. DaMn, 819 Madison 

 Avenue, New York City; C. B. Davenport, Cold 

 Spring Harbor, L. I., N. Y. ; Major Simon Flexner, 

 Rockefeller Institute, New York City; W. H. 

 Howell, School of Hygiene, Johns Hopkins Univer- 

 sity, Baltimore, Md. ; Major Chas. H. Mayo, 

 Rochester, Minn.; Major Wm. J. Mayo, Surgeon 

 General's Office, Washington, D. C; Colonel F. F. 

 Russell, IT. S. Army, Washington, D. C; E. R. 

 Stitt, U. S. Navy, Washington, D. C; Major V. C. 

 Vaughan, Surgeon General's Office, Washington, 

 D. C; Wm. H. Welch, School of Hygiene, Johns 

 Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md.; the Chair- 

 man and Vice-chairman ex-officio. 



