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Show 5Z?SRIfilENT STATION FOR SALT LAKE VALLEY V - , : Needs of Such an Enterprise Forccfullj Presented in Committee's Report. The special committee of the Salt . lke County Horticultural society on the establishment of an experiment station sta-tion auxiliary to the Government sta-. sta-. tlon Logan, report as follows: The action of the society In appointing appoint-ing fhls committee was taken In view f theVact that the district Immediately Immediate-ly adjacent to the Great Salt lake and to Utaf lake, Including In whole or In art the counties of Box Elder, Weber, Davis, Salt Lake, Utah and Juab, has bo such Btatlon and there Is practically no official or scientific experiment farm work done In the State with the possible possi-ble exception of one or two subjects which will apply to this district. Moreover, More-over, all the other climates, soils and altitudes of Utah are now provided for by duly established experiment stations. , The principal station, carried on In con- nection with the State Agricultural college, col-lege, is at Logan, in Cache county, where the altitude Is greater, the win- . ter climate more severe and the soli of a much different character than in the middle counties. By reason of these differences the work at the Logan sta- tlon, however well done, cannot meet the demands of the lake district. (Nevertheless (Nev-ertheless the Logan experiment station has been of great and lasting benefit to the State. The improvements in Cache county, whose wealth and prosperity undoubtedly come from the demonstrations demonstra-tions and influence of the experiment station in behalf of the dairy interests there, are sufficient illustration of this.) On the other hand the peculiar condi-; condi-; tlons jot lesser altitude with a drv and semi-tropical climate in the extreme - south are being well cared for at the station at St. George. This station was established by action ! of the last Legislature and' has devel-' devel-' oped under the direction of the president presi-dent of the State Board of Horticulture, the Hon. Thomas Judd. It is evident that the good work of the last named station can In no wise benefit the mld- die-northern counties. The only other official farming ex-i ex-i pTrlments In Utah are the work of th United States Government in cleansing the- soil from alkali and in the dry farm crops produced under the direction direc-tion of the Logan station. Any and all . of these are of great and permanent good for places possessing conditions which they represent; but so far as the lake district is concerned it Is without provision or representation, and this notwithstanding that it is the wealthiest, wealth-iest, the most populous and has the most favorable conditions of soil, ' cll-. cll-. mate and altitude for general farm . products and especially for fruits and fine vegetables. Not only are all northern north-ern grown fruits and farm products raised here, but they are of superior quality and quantity. Furthermore, this district is the home of the great sugar industry. Thoroughbred Thor-oughbred live stock of all kinds and . fine poultry are successfully raised and these lines are increasing. This is the railroad shipping center. Its cannerl s and preserving plants are considerable and are rapidly Increasing. Dairy enterprises en-terprises are successfully carried on here and might be Increased Indefinitely. Indefinite-ly. Its soils are fertile and deep and Its water supply, when properly conserved, con-served, Is ample and convenient. It Is, in short,, the great heart of ths State and the place of the State's most substantial sub-stantial farm resources. Yet there Is no experiment station within or without the State to represent repre-sent the requirements of this favored valley. This situation was set forth by the committee to the press and to a large number of business and professional men, including national and State officials, offi-cials, most of whom were personally visited. It was pointed out by the committee com-mittee that good citizens are leaving this valley to seek homes in other States on the inducement of better conditions con-ditions of. climate land and water, ( whereas the conditions here are more desirable and require only to be demonstrated. dem-onstrated. It was shown that large ar.rt valuable quantities of fruit, vegetables, meat and poultry (fresh and canned) are imported, although the State is able and by reasonable effort may provlle for its own and also supply outside markets. The great desirability of the education of the young to be fitted for the business busi-ness of profitable cultivation of the soil was also shown. Finally, it was emphasised that in experimental and educational appropriations appro-priations Utah is behind neighboring commonwealths. In order that the respective counties might be fully and officially informed, the committee sent an identical communication com-munication to the Commissioners of each of the six counties in this district, setting forth the object sought and reasons rea-sons therefor. Thus each county was given ample time to provide a site or other Inducements for -the location of the proposed station If it should so desire. de-sire. As a result of these efforts we are able to report a strong sentiment In favor fa-vor of the enterprise. The movement is heartily Indorsed by the press, espe-dally espe-dally the leading newspapers of Salt Lake City. Every person consulted hi approved the project, in most cases offering of-fering their personal assistance. The Commissioners of the counties addressed ad-dressed have all responded with the exception of Box Elder and Utah. The Commissioners of Weber county sent a special committee of their board to meet this committee when the subject sub-ject was favorably discussed and at length. In Davis county this committee commit-tee by invitation of the County Commissioners Com-missioners addressed a large meeting of representative farmers, with the result re-sult that a local agricultural society was Immediately organized and steps taken to procure a desirable site to be offered for the proposed experiment station. Further action in co-operation with this committee 'by representatives of the two last-named counties is promised. In Salt Lake county the Commissioners Commission-ers expressed their favorable regard for the movement, but took no further action. There has, however, in Salt Lake county developed recently a strong movement by prominent citizens to induce the location of the station here, and this committee has been assured as-sured that a suitable site, of 160 acres of desirable land would be provided without cost to the county or State. Quite recently a written Inquiry has been received from the Commissioners of Juab county, which has been acknowledged. ac-knowledged. Though no communication communica-tion has been received from the Commissioners Com-missioners of either Box Elder or Utah counties, prominent citizens representing represent-ing those counties have personally highly approved the movements The Deseret Agricultural and Manufacturing Manufactur-ing society heartily supports the proposition. propo-sition. Many citizens have urged the advantage of a centrally located station as a desirable advertisement for the State. A bill has been drawn and Is now being be-ing perfected for presentation to the next session of the Legislature asking for a sufficient appropriation for the permanent establishment in this district dis-trict of an agricultural experiment station sta-tion auxiliary to the Government station sta-tion at Logan. This bill will provide for the selection of the site by a competent com-petent non-partisan board of commissioners commis-sioners representing all parts of the district. The bill is in general terms and will not in itself favor any particular par-ticular site or county. This committee desires to emphasize what has been before stated, that what is done at an experiment station In this district will benefit every portion of the State, while the work at existing stations sta-tions is of but little use to this rich lake region. This is then a matter of great general good to the whole State. It does not belong to any faction or party, and does not antagonize or conflict con-flict with any existing institution or measure. - Colorado has several such stations. California has as many as five. Regarding this as the principal fruit and general farming district of our State, it may be said that for an available avail-able representative experiment station Utah has none. The committee will be grateful for suggestions of any kind on the subject. Respectfully submitted. ALBERT W. CASEY, Chairman. JOHN E. COX. Secretary. |