<P> Gross farm income increased more than 230% from 1914 to 1919 . Apart from' wheatless Wednesdays' and' meatless Tuesdays' due to poor harvests in 1916 and 1917, there were' fuelless Mondays' and' gasless Sundays' to preserve coal and gasoline . </P> <P> In terms of munitions production, the first 15 months involved an amazing parade of mistakes, misguided enthusiasm, and confusion . Americans were willing enough, but they did not know their proper role . Washington was unable to figure out what to do when, or even to decide who was in charge . Typical of the confusion was the coal shortage that hit in December 1917 . Because coal was by far the major source of energy and heat a grave crisis ensued . There was in fact plenty of coal being mined, but 44,000 loaded freight and coal cars were tied up in horrendous traffic jams in the rail yards of the East Coast . Two hundred ships were waiting in New York harbor for cargo that was delayed by the mess . The solution included nationalizing the coal mines and the railroads for the duration, shutting down factories one day a week to save fuel, and enforcing a strict system of priorities . Only in March, 1918, did Washington finally take control of the crisis The transportation system then worked smoothly . </P> <P> Shipbuilding became a major wartime industry, focused on merchant ships and tankers . Merchant ships were often sunk until the convoy system was adopted using British and Canadian naval escorts . Convoys were slow but effective in stopping u-boat attacks . The troops were shipped over on fast passenger liners that could easily outrun submarines . </P> <P> An oil crisis occurred in Britain due to the 1917 German submarine campaign . Standard Oil of NJ, for example, lost 6 tankers (including the brand new "John D. Archbold") between May and September . The solution was expanded oil shipments from America in convoys . The Allies formed the Inter-Allied Petroleum Conference with USA, Britain, France, and Italy as the members . Standard and Royal Dutch / Shell ran it and made it work . The introduction of convoys as an antidote to the German U-boats and the joint management system by Standard Oil and Royal Dutch / Shell helped to solve the Allies' supply problems . The close working relationship that evolved was in marked contrast to the feud between the government and Standard Oil years earlier . In 1917 and 1918, there was increased domestic demand for oil partly due to the cold winter that created a shortage of coal . Inventories and imported oil from Mexico were used to close the gap . In January 1918, the U.S. Fuel Administrator ordered industrial plants east of Mississippi to close for a week to free up oil for Europe . </P>

What impact did wwi have on the us homefront