Show i t addle inQ real afe a 77 A lood drive rive N T 1 I L M M i c n noil vo 9 M A r f a M ji t AA I 1 FL ezz Y farmers of our oar vast A S ji central vot not only M t ak ai are e giving their sons solis but are rais raising big bumper crops clop cl s to h he e it win w t i M the e war against autocracy 4 V of a revolutionary character have taken place on the middle western farms since americas entry into the war when president wilson issued his call to the american farmer to do his duty in war times by feeding the world or that portion of it engaged in te he war for democracy he launched tho the biggest drive for increased food production in n the history of the world in fact no stop step toward preparedness in connection with the participation of the united states in the war has proceeded more rapidly than the mobilization of the farm resources of the middle west which just now Is preparing itself for the task of feeding not only the united states but a large part of the world despite the file fact act t that the call to the fields came too late to affect the winter heat crop the middle western farmer fanner has bris made tremendous advances in increasing the acreage of his other food crops such as corn oats rye and other farm products present indications fire are that the wheat crop will not be large enough to much more inore than meet the needs of america let clone alone the exportation of large quantities of this product which must be made to the allies but famine Is still a distant specter for the first time in its history the world Is going to learn a valuable lesson in domestic economy and that Is the of other farm products for food purposes one of the first rosultha will be a worldwide world wide campaign to dethrone king wheat and enthrone king corn whose monarchy heretofore has scarcely extended beyond the boundaries of the united states the bumper corn crop which the middle west will raise this summer barring such unforeseen calamities as drought and floods will stave off hunger tor for a large portion of the world present indications are that the corn acreage in the 12 great corn states of the country will be increased from 20 to 80 per cent or even more in some localities due to the fact that thousands of acres of winter wheat lands were made useless for that purpose by the severe cold weather which killed the wheat an increase of 20 per cent in the acreage planted in corn will nill add approximately bushels of corn to the nations crop A large portion of this increased yield will go to european allies of tho the united states and to neutral nations it Is probable that uncle sam wIll have to send some of his experts in domestic science abroad to instruct tho the european in the value and methods of preparing corn ns as ft i food product the nations corn crop has averaged J J bushels in the last few years a no inconsiderable mark in itself but reports collected by agricultural ri experts from the middle west indicate that the 1017 crop will approximate bushels the banner corn states of the union ore are prepared to do their share in the drive for increased food production conservative estimates of what some of the leading states in the corn belt region will do this year are illinois bushels rowa iowa to bushels nebraska bushels bushel missouri bushels indiana bushels bua hela and a n d texas bushels biAs hels such middle western states as minnesota south dakota north dakota wisconsin and michigan will have greatly increased of corn this season due to several reasons in the western group of states which lie in the heart of the wheat belt thousands of acres of winter wheat were killed during the winter despite the fact that the spring wheat acreage planted this year Is unusually larger there still remained many thousands of acres of land which could be used for no other purpose than for corn or oats oata two of the leaders in the great trio of farm crops the harvest this summer la in likely to see a rec ord breaking crop of oats approximating 2000 bushels tremendous increases will also be made in the rye corn sorghum and for crops nil of which are important factors in supplying the tables of the world with important food products it Is this latter activity in planting greatly increased of the minor crops that Is expected to bring on ft a small revolution in farming fanning circles instead of depending upon one two or three of the big trio of crops the farmer Is dp voting his energy to the growing of other crops which supplement the food products gained from wheat corn and oats thus in the case of t ii failure of any of the import important rint crops america will have plenty of substitutes to fall fail back upon already food chemists and experts in fit almost all of the middle western states ure busily engaged in finding new hour substitutes discoveries nindo made in a number of laboratories indicate that americas Amerl caB bread will he bo baked with mhd aid of more varieties of flour than ever before knur corn and fete feterl rifa ta have been found to make acceptable cep table flours and the use of cottonseed meal in the preparation of brend stuffs will soon gain widespread popularity chemists Chemist sare anro engaged on other still hunts tor for new food substitutes and by the end of the year america will he be eating scores of new foods and combinations of fo foodstuffs which have been wasted heretofore or fed to live stock emergency food commissions established in till nil of tho the states are conducting an aa aggressive cam 44 z laign to enlist the support of nil fill farmers in the he work work ox of growing greatly increased Inci eased crops keep every acre working this summer Is a campaign slogan which Is heard in all of the great farming states the result will be that in the fall the partners banners fart ners will harvest peanut bean buckwheat potato and other catch crops a departure in the history of agriculture according to present indications the potato crop will be nearly bushels larger than ever before while prodigious quantities of peanuts and beans will be t available for food products in the fall and during 1918 the mobilization of the farms for war service has been conducted along many lines of service close ordination coordination co between till all branches of the industry has given tremendous impetus to the campaign to increase the nations food suli supply ply travelers who pass through the middle west this year will see scenes along railroad property comparable to those in europe where the farmers have been cultivating such idle ground for years in some states notably iowa and kansas well defined steps have been taken to encourage the planting of certain useful crops along the roadsides iowa has hag more than acres of unused land along its public highways which could be drafted for this purpose while kansas has more than acres according to a recent survey it la is safe to say that virtually every acre of rys h a annd which can bo be handled conveniently during the summer months has been placed under tinder caiti cultivation in iowa and the surrounding states the labor shortage is so serious th that a t tho thou of formers farmers have been greatly handicapped in li putting out increased acreage because of thi the fedr that they would be unable to harvest the crops unaided it Is estimated that the middle wet west will require an firmy army of farm laborers this summer if the food crop Is to be saved in its entirety farm laborers can command almost any price for their services but despite alluring offers they are hard bard to get canada Is paying as high as 75 a month for laborers and in some cases Is promising them free homesteads in the northern states farm hands bands can command wages ranging from 45 to 60 a month and board A few years ago the farm hand who could get 25 or 30 tor his services was considered a genius the patriotic service the farmers are doing this year and which they will be called upon to do next year on a much jar larger ger scale will add millions it if not billions of dollars to the wealth of the country mobilization of the farm resources has been one of the most stupendous undertakings der takings ever attempted by the government but it has succeeded admirably well for 1017 1917 despite the late start by 1918 every available resource of the middle west will be thrown into the production of vastly increased yields of fill all farm crops |