Convention— war and Food. 
22 ? 
promised me specimens of winter and spring” wheat shown at the 
Centennial, from this state, to experiment with, the results of which 
I shall report in the future. 
WAR AND FOOD. 
BY CHAKLES SEYMOUB, LA CROSSE, 
The unsettled condition of affairs between Turkey and Russia, 
and the possibility of a war that may involve several powers, whose 
armies, composed of able-bodied men withdrawn from productive, 
useful, or industrial employments, must, nevertheless, be fed, oc¬ 
casions much solicitude in some countries, which, although not nec¬ 
essarily engaged in the impending conflict, are more or less depend¬ 
ent upon one or the other of the belligerents for food and traffic; 
and, at the same time, is regarded with profound interest by all 
classes of people in this country, whose agricultural products would 
be in greater demand, if our Russian competitors in the British 
food markets are to be engaged in military operations instead of 
agriculture. This subject is one about which no American farmer, 
mechanic or business man can be indifferent, as the fluctuations in 
the prices of breadstuffs, meats and dairy products in England, con¬ 
sequent upon a war which effects the supply and consumption of 
/■ 
these commodities, are sufficient to affect all commercial and indus¬ 
trial interests in America, 
In the threatened contingency of war between Russia and Tur¬ 
key, even if Great Britain stands aloof from any active participa¬ 
tion in the struggle, after her severe experience in the Crimean 
war, in which France won all of its honors, while Turkey absorbed 
most of its benefits, there can be no doubt that North America 
would derive immense benefits by the withdrawal of Russia, as our 
most formidable competitor, from the British grain markets, which 
require a larger importation of wheat and flour than the aggregate 
wheat production of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, as ver¬ 
ified by accurate statistics derived from the official reports of the 
British Board of Trade. The ablest writers on the press of'Great 
Britain have written and are writing instructive and sensible arti- 
