OCR Text |
Show FOR THE FiRMERS. WHAT WAS DONE BY THE REPUBLICAN RE-PUBLICAN ADMINISTRATION. ssurrerln; 80IU In the Arid Region to . Aid Irrigation Flans for Reclamation la the Pecos Vallejr Sarins; of Hour for Connecticut Tobacco Growers. The most Important work ot the Division Di-vision of Botany of the Department of Agriculture In the last three years, has been the survey and mapping of the soils in a number of the important agricultural ag-ricultural districts of the United States. The most important work of this kind has been in the arid portions I of the United States, where irrigation is practiced. About 45U,CUl) acres have been surveyed and mapped in some of the principal irrigated districts of Montana, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona, Ari-zona, the maps so prepared having a very practical value, as they show the distribution of the different types of soil, which lands can be irrigated with safety, those which require especial care in the application of water on account ac-count of alkali, and those which have too much alkali for cultivation without with-out special efforts for reclamation. Practical methods for removing the salts have been, and are being, worked out. In the vicinity of Billings, Montana, Mon-tana, thousands ot dollars are being Invested In-vested now as a result of these .investigations, .investi-gations, and it U likely that this Investment In-vestment will be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Immediate vicinity.' In the vicinity of Salt Lake, Utah, there is a large area of 80,000 acres of land at present lying Idle on account of the accumulation of alkali, which It has been estimated could be reclaimed fur a comparatively small sum, when it would be worth in the neighborhood of ,5,000.000. of useful books and bulletins, so that now any farmer in the United States can find out, by sending a postal card to the department, what are the best books and public documents for him to read to keep abreast of the times in his business. In the Pecos Valley, New Mexico, plans were devised for the reclamation of a large area in the immedia'e vicinity vicin-ity of Roswell which has lately been ruined by alkali and seepage water. It Is estimated that at Hoswell alone the damage to the land has amounted to at least $500,000. This land can all be reclaimed, re-claimed, and steps have recently been taken to reclaim this land and to protect pro-tect the rest of this area as pointed out by the Department of Agriculture. At Carlsbad the water itself contains con-tains so high a percentage of alkali salts that special methods will have to be adopted, for the use of this water to prevent further injury, as the lands have already been, somewhat injured in the valley. T jfc results . of this work will be worth hundreds of thousands thou-sands of dollars to the Pecos Valley. Over 1.000,000 acres of land have been surveyed and mapped in the states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, ana Louisiana, besides re-connoissance re-connoissance over a much larger area. In the Connecticut Valley the tobacco tobac-co lands were classified and mapped, and the influence of the soil on the character of the tobacco was studied. In addition to this the cause of the fermentation fer-mentation of the cigar-leaf tobacco ha3 been worked out, and an improved method of fermenting the Connecticut tobacco has been introduced, which it is believed will revolutionize the practice prac-tice in that state. This method gives a much more uniform product, and thus improves the value of the leaf. It shortens the time requ:ved to ferment fer-ment the tobacco about eight months, and so reduces the insurance and the loss of interest on the money invested. invest-ed. It is estimated that the value of this work will amount to at least $501,-000 $501,-000 per annum to the farmers of the Connecticut Valley. The investigations investiga-tions are being carried still further in order to see whether the quality of the tobacco can be further improved. There is reason to believe it can be. In addition to these practical results, improvements have been made in the methods of soil investigation, both In the laboratory and in the field. Some very Important problems connected with the physical and chemical constitution consti-tution of soils are being worked out. which give promise of being of great value in economic lines. Under the present administration the work of the office of experiment stations has been more than doubled. This Is due In part to the development of old enterprises and in part to the establishment of new ones. Under the liberal policy of the past three years the agricultural department depart-ment has largely increased' its efforts to aid enterprises for the practical education edu-cation of the farmer. It has joined actively ac-tively In the movement to improve the methods of teaching agriculture in the colleges and to Introduce agricultural subjects and nature study Into the public schools. It has shown what Is being don in these lines in other lands, and how we need to more thoroughly thor-oughly develop our system of agricultural agricul-tural education in order to keep pace with the strenuous efforts of our industrial in-dustrial rivals. It has collated and published Information regarding the farmer's institutes, showing that now these institutes are held in forty-three states, and are annually attended by half a million farmers. It has promoted pro-moted the establishment of reading courses for farmers and published lists |