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May:] 1017 THE F L E S H £ It r N A D V AN C E ^ Famine and World-Hunger â- ** â- >. j«t.- ..^ . Are On Our. Threshold ONTARIO in the nation's honour, heed! Acquit youraelvet like men. Aa workers on the land, do your duty with all your strength!" â€"Lloyd George. THE CRISIS "* France, England and Italy In peace times did not (3epend upon America but on Russia, Roumania and Bulgaria for most of their breadstuffs. With these sources closed the crisis of the hour demands that we see that our soldiers and the Motherland are fed. Everyone in Great Britain has been put on limited rations: meat is prohibited one day a week and the making of cakes and pastry has been stopped. Further i restrictions are anticipated. 1 7" Bread has gone to 28c per four-pound loaf in Eng- land, for the first time since the Crimean War. Lord Devonport, British Food Comptroller, pro- poses taking authority to search the houses of Great Britain to prevent food hoarding. Forty million men, less the casualties, are now on ifictive service. ; Twenty million men and women are supporting tKem by service in other war activities, f^ In the last analysis, the land is bearing this burden. ; ^^ One million tons of food-carrying ships have been torpedoed since February 1st, 1917. ' Germany s hope for victory is in the starvation of Britain through the submarine. Canada's sons will have died in vain if hunger compels the Motherland's surrender. The land is waiting â€" the plough is ready â€" will ' \ve make the plough mightier than the sword? Will we help the acres to save the flag) World-Hunger Stares Us in the Face Ijavivl l.iibiii, rL-prL'^entalive of the UiiitcJ Stales to the InternatioiKil Institute of Ai^riciiltiire â€" niuintaineJ l\v forty Govcrniiieiits â€" reports oliicially to Washinirton tliat the fooil grains ol tl'.e vorid on March Ust, 1917, .siioucJ :i sliortage of 1 50, ()oi>, 1)1)0 bushels lielov^- the amount necessary to feed the wo'ild until August, 1917. He declares it is beyond question tiiat unless a K^reater acrea,i;e is put to crop in 1<,M7 there will Iv WORl l)-l!L'\GliK before the 1<)1K cmp is harvested. 'Ihe failure uf the j,'rain crop in the Ar.irentine Republic, which \^ ordinarily a great i;raiii-exportin'< nation, resulted in an embargo being placed, in March, 1017, upon the export of grains from that country to avert local famine. The United Slates Ueparlnjent of Agriculture, in its official report, announces the condition of the fall wheat crop (which is two-thirds of their total wheat crop) on April 1st, 1917, to be the poorest ever recorded and predicts a yield of 244, (')()0, ()(!() bushels below the crop of 1915. 'i'he 1910 crop uas'p'ior. Hven witii favorable weather, tiie wlieat crop of the United States is likely to be the sunallest in thirty-live years, nr)t more than 6 I',;" of the normal crop. Under date of Apjil lotii, Ogden Armour, executive iiead of Armour ^ C(jmp;tliy, one of ihe world's largest dealers in food prt'ducts, slated that unle.-^s the United States wisiies to walk deliberately into a catastrophe, the best brains of the country, under Government supervision, must immediately devise' means of increasing and conserving food supplies. Armour urged the cultivation (jf every available acre. Tiie food shortage, he said, is world-wide. liuropean production is cut in half, the Argentine Republic has 'ulfered droughts. . Canada and the United States uuinI wake up! Hunger Tightening His Grip - Ni'W Voik KvcnInR .Mnll '«mii>>ii> i» 1. » â- Â«o»» f- ' People are starving to-day in Belgium, in Serbia, iti Poland, in Armenia, in many quarters of the globe. Famine conditions are becoming more wide-spread every day. On these alarming food conditions becoming known. President Wilson immediately appointed a Food Comptroller for the United States. He selected Herbert C. Hoover, to whom the world is indebted as Chairman of the International^ Belgium Relief Commission for his personal direction of the distribution of food among the starving Belgians. Mr. Hoover is already urging sacrifice and food restric- tions, for, as he states, "The war will probably last another year and we shall have all we can do to supply the necessary food tc carry our Allies through with their full fighting stamina." The Problem for Ontario The land under cultivation in Ontario in 1916 was 365,000 acres less than in 1915. Consider how much LESS Ontario produced in 1916 than t she raised in I9l5 : 1016 DECREASK Year Acres Bushels Acres Busbvis Fall Wheat ....... 1910 704,867 li,912,OuO ir« 711; Q 7<u 0«t 1915 (M1.185 24,737.011 ^^'^^^ 9,/»4,9«l Barley and Oats .... 1910 529,880 12,388,909 ,- .„ - ^aa i£* - " 1910 552.318 19.893,129 2^32 7,5<M,160 Peas and Beans .... 1910 9j,W2 1,243,979 •• " .... 1915 126,943 2,013.019 31,461 799,070 Corn . . , 1910 258.332 12,717,072 . 1915 309,773 21.700,490 51,441 9,043,424 Potatoes and Carrots . . 1910 139,523 7,408,429 . . 1915 173,901 13,207.023 H^ll 5,858,594 Mangcl-Wiiizils 1910 42,793 9,750.015 and Tumps .... 1915 50,799 25,356.323 S,Q06 15,600,308 t • Other crops show as critical decline. ^^ j- " Reports from Ontario on the condition of fall wheat for 1917 are decidedly discouraging. As there is an average of not more than one man on each hundred acres of farm land in Ontario, the prospects indicate even a still smaller acreage under cultivation in 1917 unless extra labor is supplied. litTittriliC " .uii I ' -Photo from London (Eng.) Bystander. A 15-year Old Girl at Work Miss Alexandra Smith, one of the thousands of British women workers on the land. She recently won an All-Comers' Cham- pion prize ioY plowing. Food Produclion is the Greatest Problem the World Faces To-day Owing to destruction by submarines, ocean ships arc scarce. It is much easier to protect shipping between Canada and Hngland than on the longer voyages from India or Australia. One vessel can make Wicc as many trips from Canada to Uritain as from India, and four times as many as from Australia. Therefore, every ton of food stuffs grown in Canada is worth to the Motherland two tons grown in India or four tons grown ill Australia. Why the Call to Canada is So Urgent If this country does not raise a big crop this year, not only will the people of Canada sutler but the Motherland ancf her Allies will suffer and their military power will be weakened if not paralyzed. Therefore, the right solution of the present war problem comes back to the farm, as to a foundation upon which our whole national and international structure must be built and maintained. The Second- Line Trenches â€" McCay In The K«w Toric Amerlcmn. iitlfilfkM lif U. l«urtnn.«il thwt Santo, >•« Iwk. ^ % The farmers know that they are the last reserve, and that the soil on which crops are grown is the strategic grouna on which wars are decided. To their care is entrusted the case of supplies. To enable the fann to do the work two factors are essen- tial. The first u Time. Whatever we are to do must be done at once. Nature waits for no man. The second is Labor. Many farmers cannot plant the acres they would because they cannot get the necessary help. Many are afraid to increase their acreage because they fear they would not be able to culti- vate and harvest an unusual crop sifter they have raised it. If they are to do the work that is essential for them to do, the last man in each city, town and village must be mobilized at once. Every man not on Active Service can help. In every city, town and village are men who, by their training on the farm, or by their present occupation, can readily adapt themselves to farm work. These can render no greater service to the Em- pire at the present time than by answering the call of the farm. Capable men and boys willing to learn should not allow their lack of farm experience to stand in the way. Can the employer render a more signal service in this crisis than by encouraging these men to help the farmer to cultivate every available acre, and by making it easy for them to go.' Ontario's farm lands are waiting â€" the implements are ready â€" the equipment is complete â€" the fanner is willing â€" all he needs is labor. So short is the world's food supply that without incieascd production many in Canada must go hungry, and even with enormously increased production we cannot expect cheap food. The world is waiting for our harvest. If peace should be declared within a year, the food con- ditions will be no better, for the accumurated hunger of the Central Hmpires must be met. This will absorb a large part of the world's sugply. We do not know when this war shall cease. It is endless â€" its lengthening out has paralyzed the thought and conception of all men who thought about it and its possible time of con- clusion. Three months â€" six months, we said; nine months, a year, we said; and yet two years and eight months have passed their long dreary and sanguinary length and there is no man who can tell how long this gigantic struggle may yet last. l.loyd George, in a letter addressed to farmers throughout the Empire, said: " The line which the British Empire holds "against the Germans is held by those who WORK "ON THE LAND as well as by those who fight "on land and sea. If it breaks at any point it "breaks everywhere. In the face of the enemy the "seamen of our Royal naval and mercantile marine "and the soldiers gatjiered from every part of our "Empire hold our line firstly. You workers on land "must hold your part of our line as strongly. Every "full day's labor you do helps to shorten the strug- "gle and brings us nearer victory. Every idle day, "all loitering, lengthens the struggle and makes de- "feat more possible. Therefore, in the nation's "honour, heed! Acquit yourselves like men, and as "workers on land do your duly with all your "strength!" So, for the honor of Canada's soldiers i-i France â€" and for the glory of our New-born Nationhood â€" let it be said of Ontario's citizens that, in the hour of our greatest need, their response was worth} of their sons. We owe a gre«t debt to those who are fighting for us. Organization of Resources Committee, Parliament Buildings, Toronto. Chairman: His Honour, Sir John .S. Ilendric, K.C.M.Q., C.V.O.. l.loxitenant-aovernor of Onfarlu; Vlce-Clmirnien: Uouuurable Sir WU-l llani 11. HeiuHt, K.C.M.G.. Ksiiiie Minister of Ontario; N. W. Rowell., E»q., K.C.. deader of the Opposition; Secretary: Albert H. Abbott. We Must Produce More Food