The United States: Its Soils, etc. 



277 



Value of pork exported '. $1 ^059,551 



" " lard exported 46,560,148 



" " beef products exported. . 44,225,319 

 " "all other meat products 



exported. .. . 23,369,0 3 



" " dairy products exported. 9,403,722 



" cotton, raw 3 T 3> 6 73.443 



" " breadstuffs . 275,594,618 

 " " tobacco, unmanufact- 

 ured, exported 27.656,475 



WILL OUR FOOD SUPPLY KEEP PACE 

 WITH OUR ENORMOUSLY INCREAS- 

 ING POPULATION? 



The foregoing data will show, in a 

 general way, the vast agricultural re- 

 sources of the United States. It is 

 seen that we are not only able to feed 

 our own people, but millions of people 

 in other countries. 



There is one question which con- 

 stantly presents itself to the mind of the 

 political economist, namely, Is the rate 

 of increase in population to be dimin- 

 ished, or, if continued, will the food 

 supply be exhausted in the near or re- 

 mote future ? In looking for answers 



to these questions, political economists 

 must consult scientific agriculture. In 

 the application of the principles of agri- 

 culture to science is found the only safe 

 response. It is certain that under the 

 fostering care of this country and with 

 wise and well-directed engineering, 

 many millions of acres of rich land can 

 be procured for agricultural purposes 

 through irrigation. Science teaches us 

 in many other ways the methods of 

 making the farm, to a certain extent, 

 independent of* the variations in rain- 

 fall. The true principles of conserving 

 moisture for the purpose of crop pro- 

 duction, and of utilizing to the best 

 advantage the excess of precipitation, 

 are now well known and are daily taught 

 to our people. Scientific forestry is in- 

 creasing the number of trees and bring- 

 ing large areas into tree culture which 

 before were only featureless plains. 

 What the effect of tree planting will be 

 upon the climate is not known with cer- 

 tainty, but the general impression is that 



A Field of Silverskin Onions on Bloomsdale Farm, Philadelphia 



