dominating question before the world to- 

 day is that of the food supply. 



But recognition of the importance of a 

 complex problem does not imply that it is 

 understood, or that its manifold details are 

 widely or generally known. The truth of 

 this is particularly manifested by the amount 

 of definite and comprehensive knowledge 

 which inquiry concerning the food resources 

 of the United States will elicit from per- 

 sons of even more than average intelligence. 

 The vastness of this country, its wide varia- 

 tion of climate, its diversity of agricultural 

 enterprise, and the localization of interests 

 as a result of state lines, have served to 

 divide the United States into practically 

 forty-eight separate and distinct countries. 

 As a consequence, the information possessed 

 by those who are interested in agricultural 

 matters is essentially limited to their own 

 localities. There are a few. of course, whose 

 knowledge in this direction is national in 

 its scope, but these — with rare exceptions — 

 are the experts connected with the Federal 

 and State governments, whose special 

 studies and labors have given them per- 

 force a comprehensive grasp of the agri- 

 cultural resources of the entire country. 



For nearly three years the American peo- 

 ple have been viewing the Great War "from 

 the sidelines." In spite of the attention 

 food matters have received, abroad and in 



