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. * * * * * 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. [Illustration: W. D. Moffat] NEW YEAR GREETING