St. Paul daily globe., 1892-11-21
Only One or Two Things Need
ed to Make America Per-
feet for Farming.
How Wheat Growers Can Soon
Look Over the Bars at the
Millennium.
Kind Words Thrown In About
One Benjamin Harrison.
Of indianapolis.

w lON- NOF. EO- CCOiOlnly
RuSk has sought to make his fourth and
last annual report as head of the de-
Dartment of agriculture valuable docu-
ment, and has grouped together many
Interesting facts to show what great
agricultural people we are, and what
proper thing it was to make the prime
commissioner of agriculture a cabinet
officer He says we sent abroad last
year two hundred million dollars worth
of products more than we had to i'm
port from foreign nations, and 50
per cent Of these products were
agricultural. He claims some credit
for that, because he shows an increase
of 40,0O0,00O pounds weight of pork
sent to countries which formerly eX-
cluded American pork and S40,0000OO
value increase in our exports OF live
cattle. All this comes from the in
creased precautions to secure healthful-
ness of American food products. The
regulations enforced for the prevention
of Texas fever alone have saved cattle
growers more than three times the cost
of running the whole department. And
as to the suppression of pleuro-pneu-
the secretary grows emphatic and elo-
quent. Notwithstanding the assertions
to the contrary Of
Wicked ana PrejuCiced
London newspapers, he again declares
that pleuro-pneumonia does not exist in
the United STATES. This result, he
claims, has been obtained at cost less
by 100000 than was paid out by Great
Britain during seven years as indemnity
for slaughtered cattle alone. lie also
points out that the loss 10 the cattle
growers of Great Britain by this disease
in deaths alone has amounted to not
less than half billion dollars, and that
this is the only country in the world
where the disease. having once gained
a foothold, hts been entirely eradl-
Gated. He explains why our wheat
did not realize tTIe big hopes raised by
the short crops in various European
countries in 1891 by saying that these
anticipations Of enhanced prices failed
to take into account the changed condl-
tions now surrounding the production
and rketing of the worlds wheat
crop. Taking the world throughout,
the fat crops more than equaled the
lean crops of 1891, so that there was
actually more wheat grown in that year
than i'll 1890. Even the exports from
Russia, where famine existed in solarge
a section and where exports were Tor q
time prohibited. amounted 10 05,O0O,0UO
bushels, nearly as much as the average
of the past four years, and more tilan
the average for the past ten years. lie
SAYS: The conditions which nave at
last
Overwhelmed Cotton Growers
now confront wheat growers. Hence
the American farmer must reduce the
wheat acreage, and so bring production
down to the normal demand While
insisting that Southern cotton growers
must continue 10 reduce the acreage OF
cotton planted, he has some encourage
ment to offer them in the shape OF new
varieties of cottonseed. He has under
taken experiments with imported seed
to secure the production of a home
grown cotton which will meet all
the requirements for which Egyptian
and other cottons are now imported. He
also wants the United States to raise It's
own raw silk instead of sending S25 uDO,
600 year abroad for the raw material !:
and he thinks we might also save S61,-
OO0,000 a year which we now spend on
imported tberS. He has some hopes of
getting the Germans to use our
Indian corn. Many difficulties have
attended the introduction of a
new food heretofore gener-
ally regarded in Europe as not suitable
for human consumption. A mixed corn
and rye bread was found necessary to
secure keeping qualities i'll a country
where all bread is made and sold by the
bakeries, and corn-grinding machinery,
purchased in America, is now i'll use III
several mills in that country. One re-
suit is the maintenance Of the prize OF
corn in the face of largely increased
exports, conditions which have hereto
fore always accompanied great
depreciation in Price.
The corn exports for 1890, the only
year iu which they have equaled those
OF tho present year. brought the price
down 10 a fraction under AZ cents a
bushel at the port of shipment against a
fraction over 90 cents d OuShel this year,
a difference aggregating. OH the exports
of the past fiscal year, not less than
SlO,00O.OO0. The report is the first
from the cabinet 10 find its way to the
presidents desk. Secretary RuSk
throws cold water on the rainmakers.
The experiments are being Loyalty made.
as congress directed. but the facts in
his possession do not justify the antici-
pations formed by the believers i'll this
method of artificial rainmaking, AS his
last word, the secretary expresses his
profound appreciation of the cordial
sympathy and broad intelligence with
which the president has uniformly.
throughout his administration, needed
the needs OF agriculture. and he pre-
diets that the people of this country
Will learn to appreciate more and more
the fact that the first administration
during which the departmunt OF agri-
culture held the ranks of an executive
department of the government was pre-
sided over by chief executive who
never failed to appreciate the impor-
tance of agriculture, its dignity and its
value to the country at large.