Mat 3, 1918] 



SCIENCE 



445 



Considering the subject from the standpoint of 

 "The present status of production," Dr. John Lee 

 Coulter, of West Virginia, reported that of the 

 total land area of continental United States, 1,900,- 

 000,000 acres, approximately 900,000,000 acres, or 

 less than half, is in farms. Of the latter only about 

 half is improved land, much of the balance not 

 e\en being used for pasturage. Of the improved 

 laud, about 90,000,000 acres is used for pasturage, 

 some 20,000,000 acres around buildings is not pro- 

 ductively employed, and another 40,000,000 acres 

 annually lie fallow; t. e., some 150,00,000 acres are 

 not employed to their limit. 



Improvement, he felt, should begin with these 

 areas, and he did not favor at this time expansion 

 into new areas requiring heavy expense and labor 

 for development through drainage, irrigation, re- 

 moval of stumps and stones, etc. There was ample 

 opportunity for all the necessary and possible in- 

 crease within the limits of farms already in active 

 operation. In an emergency like the present, state 

 and national governments should encourage con- 

 centration of effort, especially labor, in the more 

 productive agricultural areas, in order that the 

 largest amount of farm products may result. The 

 drainage of improved farm lands was advocated as 

 one of the effective means of making efforts more 

 productive, and also liming to sweeten the soil on 

 millions of farms. It was advocated that during 

 the war the government "devote all funds which 

 can be intelligently expended in the promotion of 

 agriculture on farms already in active use. This 

 will include help in the matter of drainage, lime, 

 fertilizers, seed, machinery and, above all, agricul- 

 tural labor." 



Referring to the effects of the tenant system, it 

 was argued that more studious care on the part of 

 the land owners through supervision could do more 

 toward increasing production than most any other 

 means. 



The "Obstacles to enlarged production" were 

 set forth succinctly by Professor W. T>. Hurd, of 

 Massachusetts. These cover a wide range and their 

 enumeration showed the great extent to which the 

 producers of the country are required to cope with 

 difficulties, some of which inhere in the status of 

 the industry and many of which are outside of hu- 

 man control. 



Conspicuous among the obstacles to enlarged pro- 

 duction are the systems of management which 

 farmers are following, unwise and ineflScient 

 marketing, the enormous losses from plant diseases 

 and insects and other pests such as rodents in the 

 fields and storage buildings, the ravages of animal 



diseases, and the lack of adequate supply of farm 

 machinery and equipment. The inadequacy of good 

 farm labor, which has become very acute in many 

 sections, was instanced as one of the chief ob- 

 stacles at the present time. The possible means of 

 relieving this situation and the efforts which the 

 state and federal governments and other agencies 

 are making in that direction, were detailed. 



Other obstacles were noted which have arisen out 

 of war conditions, such as the shortage of seed of 

 \ariou3 kinds, the lack of fertilizers in sufficient 

 quantity, the shortage and high price of feeding 

 stuffs, transportation difficulties, etc. Again, lack 

 of necessary working capital and the absence of 

 efficient organization among farmers to meet the or- 

 ganized forces with which they have to contend in 

 their outside dealings, are elements of weakness 

 which tend to restrict production and to make an 

 increase more difficult. 



Among uncontrollable factors are those of cli- 

 mate and season, the effects of which were cited, 

 for example, in the large percentage of soft corn 

 the past year, and the reduction in the area of 

 winter wheat which it was possible to sow or bring 

 through the past wnter. 



Professor Hurd gave many interesting illustra- 

 tions of what is being done to overcome many of 

 the difficulties under which farmers are laboring 

 and to aid them in meeting such as can not be 

 eliminated or reduced. This made a remarkable 

 showing of organized effort for relief and assist- 

 ance, extending over the whole range of the agri- 

 cultural industry, from which much was predicted 

 in increasing the output of the nation's agricul- 

 ture. 



In discussing ' ' The limiting factors in produc- 

 tion" Director Charles E. Thome, of Ohio, pointed 

 out that increased production must be accom- 

 plished either through increase of area or by in- 

 creased yield per acre. Increase in area involves a 

 corresponding increase of capital and labor and is 

 limited by the land which may be profitably added. 

 The latter limit, it was felt, has been nearly or 

 quite reached. The chief limiting factors in crop 

 production were stated as (1) inadequate drain- 

 age of lands in cultivation, against which two ob- 

 stacles have been removed, by providing capital 

 through the farm loan banks and machinery to 

 simplify the labor problem; (2) deficiency of lime 

 in many soils, the remedy for which is associated 

 with problems of labor and transportation; (3) 

 neglect of crop rotation, which both scientific re- 

 search and actual farm practise have demonstrated 

 to be necessary in growing cereals economically; 



