Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 191, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 August 1918 — CORN VS. PORK [ARTICLE]

CORN VS. PORK

By HAMLIN GARLAND

of the Vigilantes. If the war goes on (as it seems likely to do) we may come’ to Doctor Kellogg’s way of thinking and cut out the raising of pigs altogether. He estimates that it takes nearly ten pounds of corn to make a pound of pork, and that when we get the pork we are worse off than if we had none. This, I suspect, is true, for I, under orders of my doctor, have had no pork of any kind for three years. Kellogg is an extreme vegetarian, of course, and his statements must be read in the light of that fact And yet he has logic on Why continue to feed the most vital food of the human race to droves of animals whose flesh is admitted to be unwholesome to many people and without which all of us would be better off? Another curious reflection comes in when discussing the raising of any kind of flesh food. How much of the corn or oats goes to supply energy for exercise on the part of the animal? Every time a pig or steer takes a trot or a gallop around the yard a considerable amount of food is used up in a muscular action. This sounds like a Joke, but it isn’t, it is a serious observation on the part of vegetarians.

The Germans, with their usual efficiency, have taken these matters in hand. They have decreased the number of pigs not only to save food, but to preserve a certain balance In the ration. .We may yet come to Kellogg’s point of view and begin the reduction of pork raising to save corn, retaining only enough pigs to act as scavengers of the kitchen refuse. This much we can do, we can feed our hogs with care. .1 wonder how many Western farmers still feed their pigs as they used to do by throwing the corn into the pen? At that time, with com at 15 cents a bushel, it didn’t matter how much was trampled ipto the mire, but now the case is different. We are, careful to clean our own plates, and yet I am not sure that the farmers are making their cattle feed go as far as it might by careful rationing. Animals used to be overfed on our farms. Are they being scientifically fed now? Corn and wheat can win this war, and when the final choice is made pigs must go, cotton and wool be reduced in amount, and cattle be raised without exercise and in the most economical way. As I write these things I am suddenly taken anew with the wonder of the changes that have come to this America of ours. That we of all nations of the world should be seriously considering how to conserve our food supply, makes clearer than any other measure the appalling blight which the war, with its destructive agencies, has thrown over the entire earth. It is incredible but it is true. It is not only true, but is becoming each day more vital in our thinking. How shall we feed the allies, ourselves and the waves of the North sea? We must double production, we must save, and we must use with scientific precision.