Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-11-21
RUSK'S LAST WORD.
Final Report of the Secretary of
Agriculture.
WHAT Els OFFICE HAS ACHIEVED,

A Very Sood showing for the First Quad
!. renniaI OF the New Executive Depart
ment-Increase of Exports OF AgricuI-
turai Observation-Disclosures of Pleuro
why Whra; Didn't Boom This Year
Teaching Europeans to Eat Corn Bread
The President Compiimented.
WASHINGTON. Nov 2l.-Secreta ~ Rusk
has sought to make his fourth and last an
nUal report as head of the department Of
agriculture valuable document, and has
grouped together many interesting facts
to show what a gIeat agricultural people we
are, and what a proper thing it was to
make the prime commissioner Of agricul-
ture a cabinet officer. lie says we sent
abroad las year $3yJ.UO). 90 worth of pro
ducts more than We had to import from
foreign nations, and 50 per cent OF these
prodHots We're agricultural lie claims
some credit Ior that because he shows IL
increase o-l5. 1899, 900 pounds weight of pork
sent to countries which formerly excluded
American pork and SiooC5,GJ3 value in
crease in our exports OF live cattle IL
this comes l-s-u the increased precautions
to secure L,a-g..l!ness o. American food
products
No PIeUro Pneumonia in the Country.
The regula..I enforced for the pre-
vention 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-pEcu-
moGia the secretary grows emphatic and
eloquent. Notwithstanding the assertions
to the CONTRARY Of London newspapers he
again declares that pleuro-pneumQnia does
not exist u ne United Stats. This re-
suit, lie claims has been obtained az Z cost
less By 100000 than was paid out by Great
Britain during seven years as indemnity
for Slaughtered cattle alone He also
points out that the total loss to the cattle
growers of C-eat Britain by this disease in
deaths alone mas amounted TO not less
than half billion dollars, and that this is
the only country il the world where the
disease, having once gained a fooEhold, has
been entirely eradicated =
Why Wheat Didn't Go booming.
He explains why our Wneat did net
realize the big hopes raised by she short
crops in various European countries in 1921
by saying that those anticipations OF en-
HANGED prices failed to take into account
the changed conditions now surrounding
the production and marketing OF the
worlds wheas 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 1897 Even the exports from
Russia where famine existed in so large a
section and where exports were for a time
prohibited. amounted to los, 900 coo bushels,
nearly as much as the average for the past
ten years. lie says the conditions which
have 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
PropaEating Johnny Cake in Europe.
He has some hopes of gHttirg the Ger
mans to use our Indian corn. Many di.ii-
culties have attended the introduction of a
new food heretofore regarded in Europe IS
not fit for human consumption. Mixed
corn and rye bread was found necessary to
secure keeping qualities IN country
where all bread Is made and sold by the
bakeries, and corn grinding machinery
purchased in America Is now IL use in
that country. Oae result is the main
tenance OF the price OF corn in the face Of
Increased exports, conditions which have
heretofore always accompanied great de-
probation IN price. The corn exports for
$780, the only year in which they have
equailed those OF the present year, brought
the price down TO fraction under a cents
bushel at the port OF shipment against a
fraction over So cents per busnei this
year, a difference aGgregating, ON the eS-
ports Of the past fiscal year, not less than
$4,000, COS
Relative TO Cotton and SiIk.
While insisting that southern cotton
growers must continue to reduce the acre
age Of cotton planted he has some encour-
Rgement To ouer them in the shape OF new
varieties OF cotton seed. He has under
taken experiments with imported seed,
to secure the production OF a homegrown
cotton which will meet all the require
ments FOR which Egyptian and other cot
tons are now imported. He also wants the
United states to raise its own raw silk
instead OF sending S25, 100000 abroad tor
the raw material; and he thinks we might
also save SOS 400, 600 year which we now
spend on import ed fbers.
Compliments the President.
As his last word, the secretary expresses
his profound appreciation of the cordial
sympathy and broad intelligence W b
which the president has uniform Y,
throughout his administration, needed the
needs of agriculture, and he predicts that
the people of Jhis country will learn to appre-
ciate the fact that first administration ar
ing W hich the department agriculture held
the rank OF an executive department OF ne
government was presided over by CHIEF
executive who never failed to appreciate
the Importance Of agriculture, its dignity
and its value to the country at large
CYCLONE IN ARKANSAS.