50 wholesale, and this in
spite of unprecedented demand for our very short supply. Without
control, flour would undoubtedly be selling for $50 a barrel. During
the Civil War, with no world wheat shortage, but without food control,
the price of wheat increased 130 per cent over the price in 1861.
The milling and sale of flour, the baking of bread, and the purchases
of the individual are all regulated to a greater extent than would
have scarcely been thought possible before the war.
Every effort has been made to produce a great 1918 wheat-crop.
Congress, at the time the Food Control Bill was passed, fixed the
price of the 1918 wheat at a minimum of $2 per bushel, and the
President later fixed the price at $2.20. This has been high enough to
encourage the farmer to increase his crop and not too high to be fair
to the consumer. The Department of Agriculture, during the winter of
1917-18, had for its slogan, "a billion-bushel crop for 1918." It has
worked intensively to help the farmer in selecting and testing seed
and in fighting destructive insects and plant-diseases, and in every
way to help him grow more wheat.
Constant reliance has been placed on the individual's intelligence
and patriotism in wheat-saving. One of the unusual aspects of the Food
Administration is its confidence in the co-operation of the country
and the response which this confidence has met. Wheatless meals are
now a commonplace occurrence.
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