Show r s af a sg s Modern 1 devices help agriculture department officials In their dealings with producers Above a county compliance worker uses an aerial map to study acreage allotments with a Nebraska farmer authority it began systematic work in marketing Congress authorized the tho further development of ot commod commode commodity ity grading and Inspection services and ond the tho provision of ot a wide nation market news service After Atter the World war it became necessary to todeal todeal todeal deal with production and ond marketing as the tile two halves of ot a single preb- preb pr b. b hem lem Experimental legislation In n eluding the agricultural marketing act ot of 1020 1920 led eventually to the enactment of the agricultural ad adjustment act In 1033 and subsequently subsequently to the enactment ot of tho the soil soU conservation and domestic allot allot- allotment allotment ment act To a large extent however the department has been and still Is a n research Institution l. Through its research agriculture and industry have lave reaped huge benefits The late Sir Horace Plunkett Irelands Ireland's noted authority on agriculture described it as perhaps the most popular and ancl respected of oC the th worlds world's great administrative institutions Investigated Splenetic Fever I ever Department research has many Brilliant achievements to its credit many of which reach far beyond the field of ot agriculture In 1893 1693 de de- department scientists proved that a organism micro found In the blood ot of cattle was the cause of ot splenetic s fever ever and that the disease was transmitted by the tho cattle tick This was the first demonstration that a disease can be transmit transmit- ted cd exclusively by an insect car car- This discovery led physicians to the knowledge that such diseases as yellow fever lever malaria African sleeping sickness Rocky mountain fever ever and other maladies are lire simi simi- I t J U it made k ble the ilie control of yellow fever 1 In Inthe Inthe the Panama Canal zone and th the United States completed the cant canal after the French had failed After years of fruitless efforts b by scientists of many countries depart depar ment meat workers in 1903 discovered that hog cholera is caused by a a fil fi virus and developed a pre pre- preventive serum scrum that controls the dis dis- dis ease This discovery saves laves millions million of Ot dollars for Cor American farmers e ev ev- every ery cry year Cheap nitrogen from the air pro by a synthetic ammonia proc process process ess In many American plants is t ta to toa a large extent an outgrowth of re research reo re- research search In the departments department's labora tortes This development resulted in the Ule collapse of ot the foreign mo me monopoly in organic nitrogen ers era and the United States Is well 01 on the road to independence In its reo re- requirements re for fertilizer raw ma ma- tennis Developed Better Products Research in the ilie department dem demo for the first time that re re re- resistance to disease in plants is i a genetic character and that resistant qualities can cnn be bred into plants This discovery has led Jed to far far- reaching improvement in wheat oats cotton tobacco sugar cane tomatoes cabbage potatoes anc and other important crops This phase of research is well illustrated b by bythe bythe the discovery of department set set- that mosaic disease was wipe wip wiping ing out the sugar cane industry ii in inthe inthe the deep south Introduction of mo mo- sale resistant resistant stocks from the tho far fai east and a consistent quality breed breed- breeding breeding ing program have restored sugar lugar sugarcane cane productivity within a few years These are just jus I a a few examples o of what department research has done doni for Cor the American farmer larmer Many Mony o ot of the experiments are conducted in operation co-operation with state experiment stations There are now more than ilian 1200 operative co-operative research agreements agree agree- agreements agreements ments between the department and the he experiment stations operative Co research received mother another big Impetus in the Bank Bank- Jones head act which provides special cial lal funds for basic research The act also serves to integrate state and md federal research through re re- regional gional lonal laboratories More reach far Ing ng In this respect was section ot of f the agricultural adjustment act for lor 1938 1930 which provides for four regional re re- regional gional glona laboratories at New Orleans and Peoria and in the vicinity of ot ofSan ofSan San Francisco and Philadelphia Combat Farm Surpluses The research to be carried out at atthe atthe the new laboratories will attack through science and technology the problems of ot developing new and ex ex- extended extended tended outlets and markets for the main surplus agricultural commodities ties tics in the four major maor farm produce producing ing lag areas of the country To begin with the northern lab lab- laboratory laboratory oratory will study corn wheat and agricultural wastes the southern laboratory cotton sweet potatoes and md peanuts the eastern labora labora- laboratory tory ory tobacco milk products apples potatoes and vegetables the west west- western ern rn laboratory wheat potatoes al al- alfalfa aUa falfa vegetables and fruits other than han apples Today's department of agriculture agriculture ture also has many other duties Including the administration of ot more Ulan than 50 regulatory laws The food and md drug administration is preparing preparing ing ng to administer the new food drug and md cosmetic act which goes Into effect next June The new act oct gives wider protection to the consumer md ond protects manufacturers from unscrupulous trade practices Supervise Super Meat leat Tacking Packing Among Its regulatory duties is the I supervision of ot the packers and stockyards act supervising the thereat I great reat commodity markets to re re- restrain restrain strain dishonest practices and ex ex- excessive speculation it grades prod prod- products for the wholesale and retail markets and defends the country against foreign insects and animal and md plant pests None the less Jess Important are the tIle duties of ot the weather bureau in fore fore- forecasting casting asting floods storms frosts any ana ami weather in general protecting wild wildlife life ife conserving the soil the for for- forests ests ests and certain tasks relating to flood lood control through land treat treat- meat nent These and other means of ot correcting old abuses in our land utilization tion method are lively ively recent developments The department but 50 years ears ago one ine small sma bureau employing a small technical stall staff now has a technical staff tatt of oC about lt trained persons C e Western Newspaper pr Union 1 l I I. 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