8.9 
The War and Food Problems 
“THE NEED OF FOOD.—The men now in the 
trenches of Fi-ance are fighting our battles. They 
must be fed. Our men will soon be there too, fight¬ 
ing shoulder to shoulder with the French and Eng¬ 
lish, the Russians and the Italians. They must 
also be fed. The civil population of the countries 
fighting the Teutons will need food, and they will 
look to us for much of it. Lastly, our own people 
at home will need food, and we mu.st see that 
they have it. 
THE FARMERS’ RESPONSE.—Already our far¬ 
mers have responded to the appeal for more food 
products. In New York State, the promise is that 
we will have a third gi’eater planting than last year. 
The reports from other States are about the same. 
The result may be affected in some sections by the 
late Spring, and by unfavorable conditions in other 
parts of the country; but as a whole, the reports 
should indicate approximately the increases to ex¬ 
pect. A large supply is -therefore reasonably ex¬ 
pected. A large demand is certain. With so many 
people to be fed, to waste food would be criminal. 
iNIany people are anxious to do something unusual 
or i-omantic to help in the war. All cannot .shoul¬ 
der a gun. Everyone can save waste in food. We 
hope every person in America will have ahiindance 
and eat three full meals every day. This may be 
done wtihout waste. 
STORAGE FACILITIES NEEDED.—The great 
saving of waste in the farm home, however, will 
not be at the table, but in the fields. The farms 
abound with implements to produce food; but they 
are lamentably lacking in facilities to store and pre¬ 
serve and distribute food. This gives the speculator 
his opportunity to control foods when crops are 
light. When the sui>ply is large, and surplus ap- 
1 tears, the speculator is not in .sight, and the want 
of stoi’age and manufacturing facilities are all the 
more apparent. Last year in onion-producing sec- 
tion.s, dealers paid two cents per pound for onions, 
ruiring the Winter they sold for 14 cents per pound. 
On Long Island, farmers sold potatoes for fiOc and 
.$1 a bushel. In the Winter they saw the same pota¬ 
toes sold for ^3.75 per bushel. Last year, eggs were 
put in storage at 22c per dozen. They were sold 
out at wholesale at 4.5c and retailed to families as 
strictly fre.sh eggs at 60c to 65c a dozen in com¬ 
petition with really fresh eggs that cost 60c to 
produce in cold Aveather. The producer is selling 
milk today at 4i^c per quart. For this grade, the 
city consumer pays lie and up. These speculations 
and speculative profits are possible only becau.se 
the farmer lacks the facilities for storing and pre¬ 
serving, and is also Avithout the implements of 
distribution such as cans and pasteurizers for milk 
and cold storage for butter and eggs. 
CREDIT FACILITIE.'^.— Another infiuence that 
favors the speculator is the Avant of credit facilities 
at the farm. The speculator places the food in a 
storehouse and takes the Avarehouse receipt to the 
bank, and gets a liberal advance on the goods. This 
is al.so done by farmers in sections of the State 
Avhere farmers have established storehouses of 
their own and deA'eloped their credit. In sections 
Avhere no stoi’ehouse is controlled by .the producers, 
credit has not been developed, and the farmer is 
often obliged to .sell in order to secure ready money 
to meet obligation.s. The speculator takes ad\'an- 
tage of the necessity, and refu.ses to buy except at 
prices favorable to himself. As a result, prices are 
always low at harvest time, and adA’ance promptly 
AA-hen the goods have left the hands of the producer. 
An examination of the records will show that this 
rule Avorks regularly every year in such products 
as Avheat, eggs, butter and cheese, and a score of 
other speculative products. 
ESSENTIAL IMPLEMENTS.—In this .situation, 
the logical thing to do is to provide the essential 
things we need to save food and distribute it. The 
community interests must include the city or vil¬ 
lage and the farm environment. The implements 
required are: 
Markets. 
Fold storage rooms. 
Storage warehouses. 
Canning rooms. 
Drying plants. 
Root cellars. 
Fruit presses. 
Assembling rooms. 
Packing-houses. 
Grading machinery. 
Pasteurizing plants. 
Abattoirs. 
LOCAL PROBLEMS.—Every community in the 
State has its own peculiar problems. Some com¬ 
munities may need all these facilities, others may 
need one or more of them. The Avealth of produce 
in one place may justify elaborate and expensh'e 
equipments. In anothef ulace cheap or ca’cii tem¬ 
. . Oic RURAL NEW-YORKER 
porary facilities only Avould be justified. The facil¬ 
ities must be provided to meet the local require¬ 
ments. There is no other way to prevent AA’aste 
and to forestall destructive speculation. Thei’e is 
no other way permanently to encourage the produc¬ 
tion of a full supply of food. Temporary expedients 
and an appeal to the patriotism of farmers will tide 
us over a crisis, but from noAv on, to insure a full 
supply of food, it must be produced on an economic 
basis. The tAA'o blades of grass theory for the price 
of one will not do any longer. Vacant lot planting, 
vacation help for farm labor, and seed distribution 
at cost help in a crisis; but these gratuities cannot 
be relied upon to stabilize the great and important 
agricultural industry of this State and of this na¬ 
tion. If the farm is to endure as an institution, it 
must be operated on a sound financial basis. The 
farmer must furnish his OAvn seed, and compete with 
the factory and the contractor for his help. He 
must reckon on Avages for himself and for the 
members of his family AVho Avork. He must be 
rewarded for the capital invested in his enterprise. 
He^ must not depend on the gratuities of the fac¬ 
tory, the advice of the railroad or the charity of 
the city philanthropist. They all have axes to 
gi’ind and he knoAA's it. The railroad wants freight; 
the factory Avants cheap food for its operators, the 
philanthropist Avants the government to name prices 
for food, and then he wants to be the government. 
Ender the present system, the farms are not op¬ 
erated on a sound financial basis, because there is 
too much .waste and too much loss through the sijecu- 
lative system of marketing. The admission of a 
short food supply is the severest indictment of the 
present system that can be spoken or Avritten. As 
soon as Ave make the farm pay, Ave Avill make food 
plentiful. We must save the waste and eliminate 
the speculation and then pay the cost of produc¬ 
tion for the food we need. The farm Avill then be 
on a sound, economic ba.sis and Ave need never fear 
a shortage of food. 
PROVIDING FACILITIES.-If we except the 
food speculators, no one else Avill dispute the neces- 
.sity of the facilities enumerated above. There Avill 
be differences of opinion as to the best methods of 
establishing them. So long as we get them prompt¬ 
ly, it Avill not matter hoAV they are produced. They 
will henefit evex’y one who produces or consumes 
food, and that means all. They Avill pay their 
Avay from the start, and will pay for themselves 
every three years. The quickest and most efficient 
Avay Avould be to furnish the most important facili¬ 
ties by the State. Others might be furnished joint¬ 
ly by the State and cities and farm communitie.s, but 
it is all the same in the end. The shortest AAmy is 
the best. The State could Avell assume it all, and 
repay itself through A^ery modest charges for the 
service. It .Avould cost less than the barge canal 
and be Avorth a million times more. Under this 
system, food Avill be graded, preserved, distributed 
and .sold under State supervision. Distribution will 
be made at a reasonable cost. Speculation will be 
eliminated and the producer Avill receive a fair 
share of the con.sumer’s dollar. 
TEMPORARY EXPEDIENTS.—We are spending 
the cost of these facilities in temporary expediences 
to increase production. Why not go at once direct to 
the source of the trouble? Everybody knoAvs that 
the farmer Avill produce all the food we want if 
he is paid for the job. We may as Avell make up 
our minds noAV that Ave cannot continue to cheat 
him out of his goods after he produces them, and 
continue to induce him to pi’oduce food at a loss on 
patriotic grounds. Give the farmer the facilities 
to sav'e Avaste and the implements of distribution 
to prevent speculation, and farmers Avill be in a 
position of healthy competition Avith each other in 
the markets of the Avorld. Distribution Avill be ef¬ 
fected under the law of supply and demand, and the' 
floAv of food from the American farms Avill feed the 
Avorld. 
The New Markets Bill 
The second Wicks bill AA’as finally approved by 
Governor Whitman last week. This bill creates a 
Department of Farms and Markets Avith 10 com¬ 
missioners. It Avill take over all the duties of the 
l^tate Department of Agriculture, the Department of 
Foods and Markets, the Department of Weights and 
Mea.sures, and so much of the Department of 
Health as relates to cold storage regulation. The 
first hoard of commissioners Avill be appointed by the 
Governoi’. The terms of the members of the first 
board Avill vary from one to 10 years, .so that one 
Avill expire each year, and their successors Avill be 
elected for 10 years. After the first appointments 
the succe.ssors Avill be elected by the' I.egislature 
just as the members of the Board of Regents are 
noAv elected. The commissioners are to .serve Avith- 
out .salary, but their expenses are to be paid by the 
State. The Board Avill have the appointment of 
officers and employes. It will also appoint a Com¬ 
missioner of Agriculture and a Commissioner of 
Markets. 
After the farmers killed the original bill this 
measure was propo.sed to take its place. The prin¬ 
cipal criticism of the neAV measure was that the agri¬ 
cultural interests of the State needed constructive 
legislation, and this bill left them just as they Avere 
except for the change of form. The Governor re¬ 
ferred to the deficiencies of the bill Avhen he .signed 
it. He Avas also reported as saying that he regretted 
'the omission of the provision to axithorize (jo- 
operative associations of dealers as Avell as of pro¬ 
ducers and consumers. The friends of monopoly 
must have misled the Governor on this point. The 
sanctioned combination of dealers was the most 
objectionable feature of the original Wicks bill. That 
one feature alone Avas enough to defeat it. It did 
not provide for cooperative associations. Dealers 
like any other class may oi’ganize cooperatively noAv. 
It authorizes combinations of men and corporations. 
The Governor has intimated a possibility of a spe¬ 
cial session of the Legislature to enact further legis¬ 
lation along these lines. It is to be hoped that this 
intimation hhs not become a purpose. We have had 
quite laAvs enough. Bad as some of the old laAvs are 
AA'e liaA’e learned to get on with them; and our great¬ 
est concern usually is to preA^ent the enactment of 
bad hiAvs designed like the Wicks bill for selfish 
purposes. 
The Biggest Fake Yet 
When the other “patriots” were planning at the time 
of our declaration of war, the wool men of the East 
generously offered all their holdings to the Government 
at the price on April 3. That Avas very nice of them, 
and a safe offer, .since the government has no Avay to 
manufacture avooI at present. Incidentally it Avas a 
good statement to have, to show to men who had wool 
to sell. •The appalling scarcity of wool referred to by 
Mr. Reynolds in a late article might not be generally 
known, and it might be possible to capture most of 
that in growers’ hands before they thought of it. 
Until now, every neAvspaper has been continually 
telling the scarcity and the rising prices of everything 
but wool. Wool is the scarcest of any commodity and 
one of the most essential under the present di.stress, 
but there has been no noise about it. Now we have it 
in about the same language in many papers, and the 
following is copied from the Chicago Tribune: 
“Ncav York, May 17.—That suit of clothes you paid 
$25 for last Winter is Avorth $37.50 at today’s price 
of Avool. Clothes Avill also experience a further sky¬ 
rocketing Avhen Uncle 'Sam starts making uniforms, 
blankets, etc., for an army of 2,000,000 men, Ncav York 
manufacturers declared today. California wool, Avhich 
sold for 10 cents before the war began, sells now for 
55.” 
This is all very cheering information, of the same 
cla.ss that has been in use since the fracas began for 
some one to nvake easy money. The generosity ex¬ 
hibited in the first paragraph was for the avooI groAV- 
ers’ consumption and the clipping is for the buyers of 
Avoolens. Let us see hoAV truthful it is. California is 
a long Avay off, but it suits the purpose. It produces 
about one-thirtieth of our half quota of wool. Now 
notice the two prices named and we will correct them 
to 20 cents and 40 cents, as much Avas contracted on 
the sheep’s back at that. Four pounds of this wool 
will make a .$25 suit, since it does not lose as much 
in scouring as much ea.stern wool. Four times 20 
makes 80 cents, which “is worth” the $12.50 they 
tack on, and the “sky-rocket.” 
Eastern wool has advanced 20 cents a pound in the 
past year and fiA^e pounds will make a $25 suit. One 
dollar is what the avooI grower gets extra for high 
feed and labor, both doubled, but “at today’s price of 
Avool” the suit is worth “$12.50 extra” and watch 
the “sky-rocket.” How is that for “the 35-cent dol¬ 
lar?” “Can you beat it?” g. h. j. 
Pennsylvania. ^_ 
A City Man^s Value of Labor 
Where can you find men more ready and willing to 
do their part than the farmer, but he is exactly right 
in being a little shy on the question of taking the in¬ 
experienced city boy or man on to his farm. I was 
raised on the farm and knoAv the problems from A to Z, 
and knoAving the farm problem and knowing the city 
boy, take it from me that there would be feAV city boys 
that I Avould want to undertake to train for farm work. 
For a feAV short Aveeks they would be a very expensive 
proposition, hindering more than they helped. It takes 
time to get seasoned to the strenuous Avoi-k of the farm 
and many of them Avould not stick until they were AVorth 
their keep. The idea of employees Avith two or three 
weeks’ vacation going to farms to Avork is all “bunk”. 
Their vacation would be over by the time they were in 
trim to earn their board, to say nothing of the trials 
and inconvenience of the farmer Avho took him in train¬ 
ing. I spend about ten Aveeks in the country every 
Summer and it takes me about tAvo weeks to get into 
shape to AA’ork all day Avithout being all in. 
When the farmers are as thoroughly organized as the 
labor unions, Avhen the city people acknowledge that 
there can be no permanent prosperity unless the farmer 
gets a return for his labor in proportion to risk and 
cost of production, Avhen Ave stop trying to substitute 
an artificial law for the natural economic one of sup¬ 
ply and demand, then and not till then will the farm 
labor problem be solved. When the farmer buys 
the question is “AYhat do you charge?” When he 
sells, his question is “What will you give?” The far¬ 
mer is the salt of the earth. Without the farmer no 
other industry can flourish, and until the farmer can 
be assured of a price sufficient to warrant him in 
assuming the risk incident to production we shall have 
the farm labor trouble. If we are to use the idle men 
of the city and the city boys on the farms in our pres¬ 
ent emergency, they must be grouped under military 
rules and Avork in .squads. If the farmers Avill stand 
as a unit in organization, they will come into “their 
kingdom.” e. m. wixliams. 
