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Show Secretary Houston's Annual An-nual Report Tells of Bumper Crops Grown Despite Bad Weather. People on Farms Perform Per-form the Supremely Important Task of Helping Win the War. WASHINGTON, Dec. 6. Tribute to the part pla ed by Hie nation's soil tillers in winning the war is paid by Secretary Houston in his annual report for 1!H8. transmitted - to congress today by the White house. Bumper crops were grow.n both tliis year and last, in spile or adverse ad-verse weather, the secretary says, and the m i 1 1 101 is of men and women and boys id girls on the farm, with the organized organ-ized agencies assisting them, performed satisfactorily the supremely important task of sustaining their own country and those associated with it in the war. Ktuphasizing the difficulties and tlio absence of dramatic glamor in the war job of the farmer, Mr. Houston speaks with satisfaction of the change during the past year toward giving agriculture a larger place in the newspapers and magazines and the world's thought and bringing the groat urban populations into closer touch with rural life. SIZE OF OUTPUT NO MEASURE OF LABOR. "It is one thin? to ask a man to save," says the secretary, contrasting: the task of the one who conserves and the one who produces, "it is another to ask him, confronted as he is by the chances of the market and the risk of loss from disease, flood and drouth, to put his labor and capital into the production of food and feeds, and tho raw material for clothing." Pointing out (hat the size of the harvest har-vest may not measure the labors of the farmer, Mr. Houston records that the acreage planted this year in principal products agtrrecatcd 2R9.Ofi0.0u0 acres, or more by n,600,ouo acres than in the jire-cedlnfT jire-cedlnfT record year. Despite unfavorable climatic cmd it inns, esl imated yields for the year, with J 11 7 comparisons, were: Bushels. 1917. ("nrn 2.7 lit, 198.000 3, iri9.491.000 Wheat 91S. 92H.0IH) prO.82S.O00 (tats l,f.;;..297.000 l.r.R7.2P.OfiO Harley LK.irt.n'in 2(l,97f'.nOu Rye 7ti.fi37.oon t;n. j ir,,noo Ruckwhcat . ... 1 S, "70, 000 17.-inn.000 Rice 41 .91 S.nnn :ifi.27S.00O Kaffirs til.iS2.0M0 7r.,Sfiii.ono I 'otatikcs .T9o.mi.nnn I2.rh:tn.inri Roa us ' i7.sn-j.non 1 imT'oon Apples 197,.'bin.nnn "1 74.fiOS.000 Tobacco 1 .2r.fi.KSti.onn j ,i9fi.t: 1.000 Cotton (bales).. H.MS.OnO 11,302,000 CAMPAIGN FOR LARGE ACREAGE OF WHEAT. Kl imated meat, milk and wool pro- I ductinn is shown as folkovs: 191S. 1917. 1 Rrrf, pounds S,:ini.nrio 7.Ts4.nn7 1 Turk, pounds 1 O,500.n.i0 8. 100. US j Aim tnn and pon t , j j pounds 4 9..nmi .111 -'n:-, I Milk. Ka lions S,tJ9. S.JSS.OUO I Wool unehidins j j pulled wool). ; pounds "99. 9 J I 21 .92 1 Kpcs. dozens 1.921, fni l.sst.nnn 1 Poultry, number .... j9,uu0 ii7S.nno I of next year's prospects, the report 1 "'It is too early to mako detniled snc-2estinns snc-2estinns for J'ie nrinjr planting season j .f 1919. .nr;n t'.is full the ricf r. rt mpn t . ;ile arifiitara! riv' and other atren-; atren-; if s i-r.ri id on a ca mr a in for ri urzf. ! !,eat ae.iue. a:v) i 1 id i "a I i 1 .n were L:i-or. i :.v siates a to wlir- '.:n rfy.j is i t ,. r'ant- ' inu cmd bo ro--:-rd viton! 'linc for j j mi, oxrr-nsmn of the aiea or pvph a nor-, iv.;.i :iimt;i:" in V'f states nb.'-h I.;o! ,if i f-rcfl ,-ro'n droi;t:''t tor t .wars. R was j -t.lM fiat, if p..ssr..'n. ;. least 4:..- j j T'.'fl i'l'rTcril 1 cil S n i ' ops . -f," -, t, , , ? 1 -m t : 1 if nt ' e 1 1 a; (''.- fr, r , : - er e - j ! ed l' e tKniii'.ii-1 . ; -,-ce:-: e . l,y a ...prut- ; " i'O "Ot k"H'V !"-.w eit '.o f f v. :,f,ri ( j 1 .vd are '-o' :-o- nl ;o -vv-.-ri; ;-r ', :.'., "O" 1 ? :- : . : 1 ' ;P : v ni ri tie;- 3 : i - ' ' 0 r.-f 1 .. '- ,v,V,: -- 1' .1' : -' "lk''. 'o or . Vr iv-r,'!! .0-0' e:iTM ;' 1 ' ; 1;r j (Contiuucd on Pace Two.) I TENDERS TRIBUTE TP SOIL TILLERS (Continued from Page One.) the central powers. This will involve a continuation of conservation on the part of our people and prohably of the maintenance main-tenance of a satisfactory range of prices for food products during the period." Increased values for all farm products Bre shown. "On the basis of prices that have recently prevailed," says the report, the value of all crops produced in 191S and of livestock on farms on January 1, Including horses, mules, cattle, sheep, swine and poultry, is estimated to lie ?'M,7nn,fjO0.00O, compared with $21. "2," 000,-WM 000,-WM for 1!H7, S15.Sno,OfW,M0 for 1M6. $12,-er.o.ooo.ooo $12,-er.o.ooo.ooo for r,H and SU.H'O.OOO.WO for the live-year average. The Increased values reveal that the monetary returns to the farmers have increased propor-ti propor-ti unatelv with those of other groups of producers in the nation and that their purchasing power hfts kept pace in the rising scale of prices." The secretary acknowledges aid -hen the department by educational institutions, insti-tutions, the national agricultural advisory committee and other agencies, and speaks of harmonious co-operation with the war, naw and labor departments. Me summarizes sum-marizes the work of the department, including in-cluding the successful campaign against tho cattle tick and the pink boll weevil, and touches upon the accomplishments nf all of the bureaus carrying on tho department's depart-ment's varied activities. Successful results re-sults In efforts to meet the demand for farm labor are noted. Continuation of the form of control exercised ex-ercised over stockyards and packinghouses packing-houses under war powers Is strongly recommended. rec-ommended. Uneconomic and unfair practices prac-tices have been eliminated, the secretary says, and recognition has been gained of the possibility of bettering market conditions con-ditions bv utilizing the department's corps of supervisors with requisite authority. j In recommending steps to facilitate land settlement in more orderly fashion, the secietHrv emphasizes the (mnonancc of encouraging the uwnersni;. or farms. As to highway development, he says cooperative co-operative roads work under the federal aid act will be resumed In full measure arid vigorously prosecuted. Such work, he suegts. should furnish employment for man v u ne in ployed men. Secretary Houston says tiic federal farm loan bank system besan operations un- j der tlie troubled conditions of the world ; war and Its activities were impeded, but, in spfte of these difficulties it lias made 1 remarkable headway and there is little doubt that with the return of peace its development will be rapid and will more and more fill the expectations of the people. peo-ple. He urges that farmers form systems sys-tems of personal credit unions especially for the benefit of individuals whose financial fi-nancial circumstances make it difficult for them to secure accommodations through ordinary channels, and bespeaks the interests of the business men of townB and cities in those farmers whose standards of living and productive ability abil-ity are so low that they might not be received for the present into such associations. asso-ciations. The report closes with an appeal for extension of the benefits of modern medicine medi-cine and sanitation to the scattered popu- j lations of the rural districts. 1 "A vast deal remains to be. done," it j says, "to control such pests as mos- ; quitoes and the hookworm,, to eliminate ! the sources-.of typhoid fever, and, even ! more, to give tho country districts the advantages of modern hospitals, nursing and specialized medical practice. j Economic Waste. I "The economic wastes from insanitary i health surroundings and from disease are . enormous. It Is impossible to estimate I their extent. It is even more impossible" to assess the -amount of existing preventable pre-ventable human misery and unhappiness. The remedy Is difficult. Many agencies, some of them private enterprises with large funds, are working for improvement. States and medical societies here and there are contributing, more or less effectively. ef-fectively. The extension and improvement improve-ment of agriculture, including the drainage drain-age of lands, the ciearing of swamps and the construction of good roads, make for betterment The department of agriculture, agricul-ture, through its home-demonstration service. ser-vice. Is giving valuable aid, and the public pub-lic health service is increasingly extending extend-ing Its functions, especially recently un- i der an appropriation for this purpose of ! $150,000. To what extent the further j projection of effort is a matter for state 1 or local action remains to be determined, deter-mined, but it seems clear that there should be no cessation of activity until there has been completed in every rural community of the union an effective sani- ' tary survey and. through the provision of adequate machinery, steps taken lo control and eliminate the sources of disease dis-ease and to provide the necessary modern medical and dental facilities, easily accessible ac-cessible to the mass of the people." |
