Patriotic Obligation. While it is true that the increase in the production of crops on your farm will contribute to the country's welfare, still in the last analysis such increased production will add to your benefit and profit. Therefore, your federal government is asking you to make a patriotic contribution to your country by becoming the adviser, friend and patient instructor to the boys sent to you. THE SERVICE FLAG WILLIAM HERSCHELL IN The Indianapolis News Dear little flag in the window there, Hung with a tear and a woman's prayer; Blue is your star in its field of white, And now you've come, in this frenzied day, To speak from a window-to speak and say: "I am the voice of a soldier-son Gone to be gone till the victory's won. "I am the flag of The Service, sir; The flag of his mother-I speak for her Who stands by my window and waits and fears, But hides from the others her.unwept tears. "I am the flag of the wives who wait For the safe return of a martial mate, A mate gone forth where the war god thrives To save from sacrifice other men's wives. "I am the flag of the sweethearts true; The often unthought of the sisters, too. I am the flag of a mother's son And won't come down till the victory's won." Dear little flag in the window there NECESSITY FOR FOOD CONSERVATION H. E. BARNARD Our Government is only what we, the people, make it and has only what we, the people, give it. A free government can not thrive without an active public spirit, a steadfast love of country, a genuine patriotism. In times like these, of stress and war, it is all important that we give freely of our talents, whatever they be. We can not all go into the trenches and fight for the flag: We can not all be “captains of industry" and direct the manufacture, transportation or distribution of munitions, supplies, foods and equipmentthese things are of prime importance-but there is one thing, a vital necessity, which we can all do, and, while not spectacular, is of the very highest type of patriotism: that is the Conservation of Foods. Allied Armies Dependent on Us for Sustenance. Never in all history has the need for saving been so great as now. For several years there has been a practical failure of staple crops throughout the whole world, until no surplus food remains. Millions of men in Europe who were formerly producers are now consumers, while millions of fertile acres in that wretched country can not be cultivated because of the war. The submarine infamy has destroyed immense quantities of food and made shipping hazardous on the seas. Transportation by rail is so paralyzed in many parts of the world that efficiency and dispatch are lost and great waste results. As a result of these, and many other things, our Allies, who have always been large importers of foodstuffs, are now dependent on the United States for sustenance. They are our comrades in arms, helping us to win the war of freedom for the world, and it is our bounden duty to do everything possible to feed the Allied Army and the Allied people. It is an obligation we can not escape. Our own people and our own glorious army must be fed-fed first and fed well. In some way nature has not been kind to us recently, late springs, droughts, hurricanes, hailstorms, early frosts, scalding heat and killing freezes have turned, in some sections, promising harvests into bitter failures. But despite all, we have enough and to spare. Not enough, however, to supply our desperate Allies unless we save-not unless we exercise the greatest kind of care. And unless we divide with them generously, black dismal starvation is in store for them. and defeat and slavery for us. Save Food or Suffer Defeat. This saving can not be effected in any haphazard kind of way. It can not be done by legislation, or edict, or rubbing Aladdin's lamp, or waving aloft a witch's wand. It must be done by teamwork. Only by cooperation, generous, whole-souled, active, patriotic cooperation. This cooperation must begin in the home and embrace every member of the home. It must extend to the production end, to the transportation end, to the selling and serving end of the whole food problem. We have become proverbial wasters. We are known the world over because of our extravagance-and we should hang our heads in shame. Prosperity has made us wasteful and extravagant. Will war and distress bring us back to sanity and economy? To save is a moral obligation and a virtue. Useless waste is a sin and, in wartime, unpatriotic and unpardonable. Some authorities say that seven hundred million dollars are wasted annually in the kitchens of the United States. It is said that only one-fifth of our perishable foods reach the dinner table. With what we thoughtlessly waste and what we can thoughtfully save, we can feed our own people and feed our Allied friends and our Allied armies. Remember this: Food will be the deciding factor in this world war. WHAT CONSERVATION IS Conservation means to preserve, maintain, protect; to save from loss or damage, or decay. It means to make what you have or can produce go as far as possible. These are the things we must do for the food supply of America. Conserve and Produce-Not Produce and Consume. In other times, two phases, only, of the food question were generally considered-the production and consumption ends. The production of foods will always be a question of intense interest. At this time of distress it is of vital moment, because it will tax the best thought and the liveliest energy on the part of all classes of our people, whether of farmers, stock raisers, dairymen, fruit growers, food manufacturers or the city householder in command of a back yard, to produce sufficient food to feed themselves and our Allies. To this end, the greatest care should be exercised in the selection of the seed, the preparation of the soil, the choice of fertilizers, the cultivation and the harvesting of cereals; the selection of meat-producing and milk-producing animals, their care and the care of the output, all the time working |