1 1 94 Farming in Peace and in War. [mar., 



the " plough maniacs." To him it seemed as if the emissaries 

 of the Department were bent on destropng a sure and certain 

 supply of food in search of problematical advantages. * ' Are not 

 beef and mutton," he asked, " as necessary foods for men and 

 women as wheat and oats." ? " When our children cry for 

 milk can we offer them potatoes." ? 



In adopting a plough policy, it may here be remarked, the 

 Food Production Department were not forgetful of the com- 

 mercial advantages of stock-farming on grass land ; but in 

 facing the conditions imposed by war, their problem was to 

 secure the largest possible amount of human food from the soil 

 of the country. In giving effect to this policy they were 

 limited by scarcity of labour and manure, and it was, therefore, 

 necessary to adapt their methods to the special circumstances 

 of the time and to neglect the less important question of farming 

 profits. 



In ascertaining the food needs of a whole country, the total 

 requirements may be estimated by different methods. In 

 pre-war times, when the country could import what it wanted, 

 it was merely necessary to purchase the number of tons of beef, 

 mutton, wheat, sugar, butter, etc., for which there was an 

 effective demand, but, on the outbreak of war, these commodi- 

 ties could not be secured in unlimited quantities, and, as the 

 War progressed, ships could not be provided to carry all the 

 foodstuffs that could be purchased in other countries. We 

 had, for example, to substitute margarine made from West 

 African palm-nut kernels for Danish butter, and American 

 maize for Australian wheat. In feeding the human population 

 we had, therefore, to adopt the methods familiar to farmers 

 in connection with the preparation of rations for live stock, 

 and to provide from the best available sources the essential 

 proteins, fats and carbohydrates required in food. 



In dealing with a large mixed population, so long as a 

 sufficiency of bread, margarine and milk can be assured, the 

 best means of comparing the value of one foodstuff with that 

 of another is to determine what is known as the " energy 

 value." Most of the food which is eaten is burnt up in the 

 body, just as fuel is burnt up in the furnace of a boiler, and 

 in " burning " it produces energy which maintains such vital 

 processes as the movement of the muscles, the circulation of 

 the blood, and digestion. As the result of the food eaten, 

 work is done by the body, just as work is done by a 

 locomotive because of the energy released from the coal con- 

 sumed in the furnace. 



