The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. THURSDAY, JULY 11, 1929. THE WORLD’S FOOD.

Hokitika Guardian, 11 July 1929, Page 4

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. THURSDAY, JULY 11, 1929. THE WORLD’S FOOD.

It is now thirty years since Sir William Crookes, one of tiie most eminent of nineteenth century scientists, addressing the British Association, suggested to his hearers the gloomy prospect of future centuries when the world’s food supply would prove altogether inadequate to meet the demands of its ever-growing population. At a moment when the wheat market is so tragically depressed, it is interesting to recall the precise terms of this celebrated prediction : “All civilised nations stand in deadly peril of not having enough to eat. As niouths mukipiy, food i<esources dwindle. The hread-eaters of the world increase in geometrical proportion while the wheat area does not.’’ Like many other prophecies, Sir William Crookes’ forecast has lacked fulfilment. But the means by which tne world has endeavoured to meet, and has successfully met, the dangers that he foreshadowed have an important bearing upon the future of all lands, which, like our own, derive their wealth and their means of subsidence principally from the natural resources of their soil, comments a northern writer. It has been said witli justice that “the greatest triumph of the 19th.' century in the matter of food production was the discovery of artificial fertilisers.” The wonderful effect produced by these stimulants to productivity, as illustrated in the Rothamsted experiments and in practical use, had drawn the attention of Crookes to the immense value of nitrogenous factors in the work of cultivation. But so far the world’s chief source of nitrogenous supplies took the form of Chilian nitrate of soda and sulphate of ammonia prepared from coal; and obviously the stock would speedily be exhausted. By a stroke of genius Crookes hit upon the iaea of utilising the immense store of nitrogen present in the atmosphere to produce nitrates of lime and soda, and at the present time, with the help of electric power, artificial nitrogenous fertilisers are being thus produced b the extent of about eight million tons per year. But curiously enough, we are told by Sir John Russell, a great expert in the chemistry of agriculture, this enormous output of nitrates “ha? had little, if any, effect on the wheat supplies of the world.” The fertilisers have gone to produce sugar and potatoes, rice and oranges, but very Little additional wheat. Therefore Crookes’ problem in a sense has remained unsolved. But the difficulty has been met by means that he did not anticipate. The rapid advances recently made in agricultural chemistry, botany and engineering have made it possible to bring under cultivation land hitherto regarded as desert country unprofitable and irreclaimable. This applies more particularly to cultivation in “dry” regions where the annual rainfall is only 20 inches or less, and where rotation of crops, diversified with sheep grazing and aided by water-storing and irrigation, have already transformed what were once arid wastes into fruitful areas contributing generously to our food supply. The story of the attempts to adapt the l'rowiii of cereals to straiige and untried conditions is interesting, but too long and complicated for repetition liere. Tlje discovery of drought-resistant type of grain, the introduction of different rotations of crop growing and stubble grazing, and the careful conservation and diffusion of a limited water supply have produced astounding results. Moreover, apart from the productivity of the soil, in dry regions cost, and especially labour - cost, is lower, production on a large scale is easier, and the methods of harvesting are infinitely cheaper and more effective than in the older cereal areas. In Australia, as a natural consequence, wheat, once limited to the 25-in. rainfall districts, is now grown in area® where as little as 15 or even 12 inches of rain fall yearly. In Canada, again, where the problems to be faced presented a different aspect, vast stretches of land once unproductive are now regarded as an inexhaustible granary for the world at large. , The careful selection of types of grain adapted to the extreme climatic conditions, and the applications of engineering and mechanical science to the work of agriculture, have. enabled the farmers of the North-West to bring 25 million acres under cultivation, producing over twelve million tops of grain a year.