Show I Ii i FOOD WILL COST MORE Era of Cheap Moat Is Gone Forever Boundless Resources Going Bread and meat will never be bo lower than they arc are now they will soon go o higher These are arc the conclusions of Dr Eugene Eu Eu- gone gene enc Davenport Davonport dean of the college o oa p of a agriculture of oC the University of 1 In n his article in the April issue of Good Housekeeping Magazine he be says We We have havo skimmed the tho cream of or the fertility off most of our lands Great stretches of country ha have e already been abandoned and aud all lands that have hR been beon Farmed for half a n century are declining in n production except the few that have havo been een ed at the expense of others near by No lands arc good enough to endure a n quarter of a century of exclusive exclusive sive grain farming without marked decrease decrease de de- de crease creaso of yield One Ono field at the tho Uni Un of Illinois has JIRI raised corn suc sue successively thirty years and it has bas declined de de- in yield eld on the a average ra o n a bushel bushela a i year though ugh it was su superior land at atho atthe atthe the ho be beginning inning and was too rich ever cyer evero everto out to o wear Someone has said that tho the tune time has bas come como when to fire a a. cannon represents hn tho cost of a n college o education and to mild build a n battleship costs a n university These heso considerations will one day amend public policies but it will only increase tho the demand for bread and now that hat we wo are checking tho the n agencies of human destruction wo we must understand nd what it will mean in population Every lifo life saved and ever every infant preserved adds dds not only to numbers but to the n ern average o length of human life and correspondingly correspondingly cor cor- t to the tho demand for food I I cannot therefore lasting see an any relief from tho the prospect of permanent bi high h prices for food Improved cd methods methods methods meth meth- of production will defer tho the da day and soften often its coming comin and and reduced d wages es consequent upon a denso population will vill result in a forced forcer demand for a lessened amount and anda cheaper a-cheaper kind of food for the tho J and this moro more than all 11 other causes tall JI keep prices in in check heck But back of it all aJI lies tics tho the fact of f tho pressure of po population and the lessening fertility that no race yet has his vcr ever stood R against nor can cnn stand against ex except opt Jbv by now and permanent methods of f a agriculture such as have not yet been established Wo 4 We cannot afford to Jive livo in a n fools fool's paradise paradiso in is i this matter rho Tho day of cheap heap meat is is over o and that of cheap whito bread is passing passing and unless wo we can an speedily establish a u more porma- porma nent ent agriculture than has ever eer yet ret been established then will prices es not only go o oh h uglier higher but hut tho the mos most t of men will be e forced breed to sub subsist on tho the cheaper foods This his for sociological reasons as well as asfor for fOl considerations of humanity is eminently emi cnn cnn- neatly undesirable Tho The era of hi high h priced priced food foo is fairly upon us in spite of our tir 4 boundless CO natural resources resources resources' and nd nil our I inexhaustible fertility and ho tho most that we can cnn do is to retard the he speed and nud soften tho the hardship of its comin coming oming b by a timely and scientific atten atten- lion lou to our a agriculture Much 4 is expected through tiou tion ion of arid rc regions ions by irrigation but ho tho areas arc uro relatively small probably pH 11 told not exceeding that of Illinois and nd the great staple grains rains grasses anI and meats will always bo ho raised on non gated lan lands s. s These aro arc largely clr occupied already Tho The largest relief comes in breaking up the thc ran range c for grain furmin farm furm- in ing ng hut but this thiat means tho the lust of cheap meat and it means neither a perma permanent erma nent food supply nor a final reduction in n price Tho The permanent food supply is s attainable only b by permanent SyStems systems eys- eys of a agriculture that increase instead in- in n. n stead tr-ad of decreasing fertility and even these do not prevent pop population lation front from overtaking o production In tho the end high riceR prices for fOl food are aio inevitable and it looks as if we had fairly started on the tho roar road add acid if it that is is so the financial relief relief is cheaper food fond or less less' of itI it U I I am in in all th things 8 an optimist not nota a pessimist but hut wo we cannot afford to close our eyes to very vcr evident facts Wo have lave lived as have havo no other people in in a superabundance unco of food That timo time is over 1 expect fluctuations in prices but nit for the reasons outlined I believe that hat tho the era of cheap food is past for for- of O Cl cr |