THE OPEN LETTER

In the coming months of reconstruction and restoration in Europe, Italy will have special problems of her own to solve. Victory in the world war means for Italy five million additional mouths to feed in her redeemed territory. Close rationing will, therefore, be necessary for a long time, and a liberal food allotment from outside relief sources must be made.

Italy cannot be accused of having neglected her land. The total area of the country comprises 70,820,197 acres, only a little over 7 per cent of which is unproductive land. In her agricultural production, however, cereals do not play an important part. Her wheat product did not meet her domestic demands even before the war, and annual importations of grain were always necessary. The situation, therefore, today, after the terrible toll that war has taken, is acute and distressing as far as the main "staff of life" is concerned. Italy produces fruits in quantity, but a starving nation cannot live by fruit alone. The traveler in Italy today may feast his eyes on twelve million acres of vine-covered slopes, but the children of the land are crying for milk and bread. The wines of Italy are famous for their flavor and quality, and her olives and lemons are known throughout the world, but the people cannot survive on wine and olives. They need more substantial food, and, under the present strict rationing, each person receives only seventeen pounds of bread a month.

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Italy's exports have been chiefly olives, lemons and cheese—Gorgonzola and Parmesan being among the famous brands. These fine Italian cheeses are made from goats' milk, and, as there is little enough of that now to feed wounded soldiers and children, the exportation of cheese has been stopped. Before the war olives and olive oil were shipped in huge quantities. There are miles and miles of olive trees to be seen from train windows when traveling through Italy. Today just as many olives are grown, and as much olive oil is obtained, but it is needed at home and is carefully guarded there. The Italian government practically controls the output and very little is permitted for export. Lemons are grown in great quantities and are still exported to some extent. The difficulty in obtaining boats, however, has made it impossible to ship any considerable quantity of lemons, and so this source of income has been virtually eliminated.

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Italy has found it necessary, therefore, to cultivate her products exclusively for home consumption, and, in this cultivation, thought is given only to the supply of things necessary for the maintenance of the Italian people. Things that are most needed,—that give most sustenance, are being cultivated to the exclusion of things that brought income from outside, but did not fill the hungry mouths of the people. Also, food products that formerly had to be imported, are now being home grown. Fortunately, this is made easy by the fact that Italy is a "clime where every season smiles." It is favored by climatic conditions to a degree comparable to those of Southern California, and, accordingly, a great range of crops, both of a temperate-zone and of a tropical kind, can be grown readily. In the southern part of Italy the climate is semitropical. The soil is fertile and garden-truck grows in abundance—and many kinds of fruit, including oranges, lemons, grapes, apples, plums and pears. In the fertile plains of the north are fields where cereals are grown and these are being extended and prepared for intensified cultivation. The delta of the Piave, captured and held for a short time by the Austrians, is again in possession of Italy. Comprising some of the richest soil in the world, it will soon be flourishing with growing crops, and its fields will contribute substantially to the solution of Italy's food problem.

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We may be sure then that Italy, plucky and staunch, will "carry on" through hardship to renewed prosperity. With the sympathetic assistance that is her due from the United States, there can be no question of the future. Italy's firmly booted leg will continue to kick its sturdy way down into the "warm waters" that Germany so desired; her fair domains will continue to enjoy that "place in the sun" that Prussia so imperiously demanded. With all her advantages of land and sea, Italy must "come through" and find plenty in the wake of peace.

W. D. Moffat

NEW YEAR GREETING

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W. D. MOFFAT.

THE MENTOR

A New Volume in the Mentor Library

It gives us great pleasure to advise our friends that the sixth volume of The Mentor Library is now ready for distribution. It contains issues one hundred twenty-one to one hundred forty-four inclusive, and is, in every particular, uniform with the volumes previously issued.

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