Upon the farmers of this country, therefore, in large measure rests
the fate of the war and the fate of the nations. May the nation not
count upon them to omit no step that will increase the production of
their land or that will bring about the most effectual co-operation in
the sale and distribution of their products? The time is short. It is
of the most imperative importance that everything possible be done,
and done immediately, to make sure of large harvests. I call upon
young men and old alike and upon the able-bodied boys of the land to
accept and act upon this duty--to turn in hosts to the farms and make
certain that no pains and no labor is lacking in this great matter.
I particularly appeal to the farmers of the South to plant abundant
foodstuffs, as well as cotton. They can show their patriotism in no
better or more convincing way than by resisting the great temptation
of the present price of cotton and helping, helping upon a great
scale, to feed the nation and the peoples everywhere who are fighting
for their liberties and for our own. The variety of their crops will
be the visible measure of their comprehension of their national duty.
The Government of the United States and the Governments of the several
States stand ready to co-operate. They will do everything possible to
assist farmers in securing an adequate supply of seed, an adequate
force of laborers when they are most needed, at harvest-time, and the
means of expediting shipments of fertilizers and farm machinery, as
well as of the crops themselves when harvested. The course of trade
shall be as unhampered as it is possible to make it, and there shall
be no unwarranted manipulation of the nation's food-supply by those
who handle it on its way to the consumer. This is our opportunity to
demonstrate the efficiency of a great democracy, and we shall not fall
short of it!