414 
American Agriculturist, May 12,1923 
The Good Old Reliables 
A. A. Radio Talk on the Benefits of Greater Consumption of Bread and Milk 
W HEN I was a boy, the Sunday 
dinner hour was half past one 
o’clock. The time between 
breakfast and that belated meal 
was so long that every Sabbath day I nearly 
died of hunger. This inordinate appetite of 
the occasion caused such gorging of the 
stomach as to make another regular meal out 
of the question. Therefore, the evening meal 
of Sunday was always bread and milk. 
There is a saying old as the hills, that 
“bread is the staff of life.” In certain age 
groups milk is almost as essential as air and 
water. Without doubt the old-fashioned dish 
of bread and milk is one of the best that can 
be planned. 
To eat too much of too many kinds of food 
is a common fault. We should strive to 
make our lives simpler and there is no better 
place to begin than by eating simpler meals. 
Bread and milk, if we never took any other 
food, would restore waste, supply energy and 
accomplish practically everything 
food is expected to do for us. 
Add to this dish a few green 
vegetables, a leafy salad, or a lit¬ 
tle fruit, and we require nothing 
else. 
There are three kinds of food 
—protein, fats and caiBohy- 
drates. Bread and milk supply 
them all. If I had my way I 
would include in every daily diet¬ 
ary a quart of milk and a half 
loaf of bread. If this were the 
practice of each of us, kidney, 
liver, intestinal and other ail¬ 
ments would be much less fre¬ 
quent. 
When I speak of bread in this 
enthusiastic' way I refer to the 
product made from a flour un¬ 
robbed of its mineral and rougher portions. 
I cannot get pleasantly excited over the de¬ 
natured and bleached flour of commerce. 
There is no particular harm in them, but 
neither is there any particular good. One 
might as well eat candy and call it the staff 
of life. In its place candy is a desirable food, 
but no one pretends that it supplies anything 
but the energy-needs of the body. Real flour 
made into wholesome bread is invaluable to 
our welfare. 
When I refer to milk I speak of clean, 
bacteria-free, whole milk. It must come from 
healthy cows. It must be received and trans¬ 
ported in clean receptacles. It must be 
handled by clean persons. If not pasteurized 
it must be delivered immediately after 
milking. It must be kept in a cool, clean 
place. 
There is no other article of food so delicate 
and easily contaminated. On this account, 
unless properly kept, this precious food may 
be changed into a poisonous and dangerous 
article. 
But when the milk is properly prepared 
and unrobbed of its butter fat, it must be 
counted first of all our foods. 
In normal time the United States ships 
abroad a tremendous amount of wheat. Our 
exports are about 170,000,000 bushels. 
Poverty and currency depreciation make 
it impossible for Europe to buy our 
products. 
What is to become of the surplus grain? 
This is a serious problem and it must be 
solved. Otherwise, agriculture, the founda¬ 
tion of American prosperity, will suffer un¬ 
told damage. Unless the farmer prospers, 
the national welfare declines. There must 
be found some means of absorbing this sur¬ 
plus of wheat. The happiness and well be¬ 
ing of the Nation demand it. 
A few days ago a great expert told me the 
whole problem would disappear if everybody 
By DR. ROYAL S COPELAND 
would eat an extra slice of bread at every 
meal. To do this would require an extra 
annual supply of 170,000,000 bushels of 
wheat. 
My first thought was this: If we eat more 
bread we will eat less meat and other farm 
products; therefore, we would help the 
farmer one way and damage him another. 
But the expert had a very convincing an¬ 
swer. If the surplus wheat were converted 
into flour and then baked into bread, the 
process would require great quantities of 
other products. 
For instance, to make the necessary yeast 
to prepare this vast mountain of bread, 
would require 1,500,000 bushels of corn. An 
equal quantity of corn would be needed to 
fatten the four million hogs from which the 
lard would come. The pastries made from 
the flour would increase the demand for corn 
starch, another corn product. The farmer 
would be called on for at least three and a 
half million bushels of corn for these pur¬ 
poses. 
To bake the surplus wheat into bread 
would require an ocean of milk. The daily 
consumption of milk in New York City is 
three million quarts. Poured into quart bot¬ 
tles and then placed side by side these would 
make a line 167 miles long. To make the 
surplus wheat into bread would require the 
amount of milk used by New York foi’ 220 
days, or almost four thousand miles of milk. 
Two hundred million pounds of milk powder 
or condensed milk would be used if one of 
these products were substituted for fluid 
milk. 
Greater Market for Butter 
A billion pounds of butter would be called 
for to spread on the bread. Great quantities 
of rye and barley, in addition to the corn, 
would be needed to make the yeast. 
Sugar, jams, cheese and sauces would be 
demanded. Fruits for the pies and all the 
other ingredients used for fillings would be 
increased in consumption. 
To carry all the flour made from the sur¬ 
plus wheat, there would have to be cotton 
sacks. This demand would require forty mil¬ 
lion yards of cotton goods, creating a de¬ 
mand for the cotton growers’ crop. 
Think what a lot of good would be done 
for the farmers of America if we were to 
help them by consuming the wheat normally 
sent abroad. But we would be doing our¬ 
selves a lot of good. There is no better food 
than bread when made of the whole grain 
and not from denatured and devitalized 
flour. 
The national health would be benefitted 
and each of us would add to the expectation 
of life. This plan to eat the surplus is well 
worth while. Let us go ahead with it. 
In bread and milk we have a combination 
of foods, possessing all the elements for 
health and growth. The mother who learns 
these truths and applies them in the home, 
has started her children on the way to a 
vigorous life. Strong bodies, good brains 
and pure blood are made by bread and milk. 
Let us aid the farmer and promote health 
by consuming quantities of these simple, but 
essential food stuffs. 
* * * 
I have filled out the Radio Questionnaire 
and am sending it in. I enjoy the program 
•from station WEAF and every Wednesday 
evening I hear your fine program. Keep it 
up, you are doing fine. Indeed, I think your 
program the best of any that is broadcast 
on Wednesday evening.—0. H. F., West Val¬ 
ley, N. Y. * 
We do not feel one bit isolated in our coun¬ 
try home. Wp enjoy the broadcasting from 
WEAF. It is fine. We have a 
three tube set and have listened 
in on the program of 38 different 
stations from New York to Los 
Angeles.—W. W. H., Canfield, 
Ohio. :i: M: 
Your radio lectures are excel¬ 
lent. Keep them coming. We 
are most interested in marketing, 
feeding and cooperation.—E. L. 
B., College Park, Md. 
* Hs :i: 
I had the pleasure last Wednes¬ 
day evening of listening to the 
radio address of Enos Lee of 
the New York State Farm Bureau 
Federation on Cooperative Mar¬ 
keting. It seems to me that this 
address is worthy of still further 
broadcasting. I would appreciate it if you 
would send a copy of Mr. Lee’s address to 
a number of persons whose names I am en¬ 
closing on a separate sheet.—H. B. A., New 
Brunswick, N. J. 
Quotations Worth While 
Our principles should not be like the 
slender cornstalk which the north wind will 
blow one way, and the east wind another, 
and which the first storm will blow over; 
but they should be like the mighty oak, with 
its roots so firmly spread out in the earth 
that no wind can shake it, and no storm 
fell it to the ground. If our principles should 
have similar firm roots, deeply planted within 
our hearts, no temptation, however strong, 
will allow us to waver for a moment in do¬ 
ing our duty.—M. L. M. 
* ♦ * 
I expect to pass through this life but 
once. If therefore, there be any kindness I 
can show, or any good thing I can do to any 
fellow being, let me do it now. Let me not 
defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this 
way again.— Stephen Grellet. 
=1= --l-- si: 
Lying is trying to hide in a fog; if you 
move about you are in danger of bumping 
your head against the truth; as soon as the 
fog blows up, you are sure to be discovered. 
* * * 
A man should never be ashamed to own 
he has been in the wrong, which is but say¬ 
ing in other words that he is wiser to-day 
than he was yesterday.—P ope. 
* * si: 
Hate is a bad spirit to face the world with, 
my boy. Hatred is heavier freight for the 
shipper than it is for the consignee.-— 
Augustus Thomas. 
A Boost For Farm Products 
T he address on this page by Dr. Royal S. Copeland, United States 
Senator from New York State, is another one of the American 
Agriculturist farm radio talks which are attracting so much atten¬ 
tion throughout the East. Dr. Copeland was formerly Commissioner 
of Health of the City of New York, and knows whereof he speaks. 
He had an audience of 500,000 people when he broadcast for us from 
the WEAF station on Wednesday evening, May 9, at 6:30 P. M. 
Standard time. With such a great audience you will see, when you 
read his address, what a strong argument he has given for a larger 
consumption of milk and other farm products. 
We ask you again if you like these talks to let us know. Give us 
suggestions as to what you would like to have broadcast, and whom 
” you want to hear speak.—The Editors. 
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