Review: Science Fiction: "Pipe of Peace" by James McKimmey, Jr.

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Henry the farmer wasn’t going to work today. Or tomorrow. Nor were farmers August Brown, Clyde Briggs, or Alfred Swanson. Without the food they produced, the government couldn’t feed the army. One farmer could do nothing, but farmers are the same everywhere. A farmer in Maine is the same as a farmer in Oregon and anywhere in the world. “It won’t work,” his wife tells him. “It’ll work,” Henry says. “Right now, it’ll work. Yes, we’ve got milkers and shuckers, and we’ve got hatchers for the chickens. We’ve got tractors and combines and threshing machines. They’re all mechanical, all right. But we don’t have mechanical farmers. In time, maybe. Not now. We’re still ahead of them on that. It’ll work.” Not surprisingly, the farmer’s wife is afraid of starving to death. Henry takes his pipe and goes out to admire the corn. Things don’t quite go as planned. Author James McKimmey, Jr. hailed from Nebraska. He originally studied architecture. World War II interrupted his studies. He served for about three years in the Army and got a BS in English from the University of San Francisco. He started writing fulltime in 1955 and eventually wrote seventeen books. This story is available from Project Gutenberg: _____ Title: “Pipe of Peace” Author: James McKimmey, Jr. (1923-2011) First published:If, May 1953 Source: ISFDB