Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1895-11-21
FACTS ABOUT FARMS.
Secretary Of Agriculture Morton Make,
His Annual Report.

Secretary of Agriculture Morton Makes
His Annual Report.
Washington, Nov. 49, Secretary Nor
tons third annual report is q briefer docu-
nlent than the two which preceded it. It
discusses the work of the several bureaus
of the department. asserting that expendi-
lures have been reduced in some of them
for the sake of economy and increased in
others for the sake of efficiency. Much of
the matter of the report has been antici-
pated in publications from time to time
duh Ing the fiscal year and since its close.
The more important information and rec
concentrations not heretofore made public
are subjoined.
Over 100000 animals cattle and sheep,
were Inspected for foreign markets, Of
which $4,000 were shipped abroad. Over
100000 pounds Of pork was inspected
mtcroscopically and exported, against 49,
600 900 in 1894 and 3.000 900 pounds in 1893. OF
the amount exported last year nearly 49,
100000 pounds went to Germany and over
,9,OOG,OOO pounds went to France. The secre-
tary says on the subject: 1.-THE protection
of domestic health will be much improved
when each purchaser Of meats demands
and insists upon that which has been gov
ernmentally inspected and certified"
Speaking of the export trade In dairy
products Of the United States, the report
points out the fact that in cheese the
United States, while a large shipper to
British markets, holds the conspicuously
unflattering place in the extreme rear as to
quality and price, and as the only one of the
competitors for this trade whose business
shows serious falling off. This he at
tributes to the deterioration in the quality
OF American cheeses by adulteration with
oleo and other ingredients. In butter the
United States is out of the race, supplying
less than one per cent. of the British de-
mand for foreign buffers, notwithstand-
ing the fact that Great Britain imported In
eight months $4e.ooO.ooO worth Of butter.
The work of the weather bureau for the
year cost $S7S. 4S9. and owing to reduced ex-
penditures, which were accompanied by
increased efficiency, $4,000 will ultimately
be covered into the treasury from the
amount appropriated. 1t is claimed that
the warnings of cold waves alone secured
from freezing more than 81, 275, 900 worth Of
perishable agricultural products which 9TH
erwise would have been lost.
Speaking Of the work of the division of
chemistry. Secretary Morton makes the
following vigorous protest: 1.-THE people
are frequently misled by perverted refer
ences to the ANALYSIS of this division of
advertisers of baking powders. food prod
ucts, etc., whose products have been an
alyZed in the course of investigations of
food authorizations or other official work.
have been noticed in which the work of
this division he been referred to- there is
scarcely single case in which the facts
We're accurately set forth as officially pub
lished. There is therefore just reason for
complaint. 1t seems to the secretary Of
agriculture that there should be some
method adopted by means Of which adj
vertising Misrepresentation Of official an
alysis, intended originally to protect the
people, could be prevented"
Improved road construction Is progress
ing in many of the states, notably in Mas
sachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina
and Kentucky. More than half the states
have passed new road laws within the last
year, and there Is general effort to as
certain the best methods of developing the
county roads, for using the county prison.
ers or state convicts for this purpose and
for organizing state commissions to look
after these matters. 1t is proposed during
the coming year to secure the cooperation
Of agricultural colleges and experiment
stations in the object lesson method of dis
seminat1ng information regarding i'm
proved roads. They will be taught to con-
struct model roads on the farms of their
experiment stations or on their college
grounds, where they can be regularly used,
and thus become lesson to all the farmers
who visit them.
The expenditures of the department for
the year 1884 and 1895 were 81, 81, 766 less
than the amount appropriated for that Pc
riod. This sum, together with the $500, 900
or $500, 900 that could be secured from sale
of the property now occupied by the
weather bureau, Secretary Morton recon-
mends be invested in the construction of
suitable building for the department.
The report closes with a discussion of
1.-THE future Of farms and farming in the
United States" In which the secretary
compares the Indebtedness Of the various
classes Of owners.
'"These figures" he says. show an enor-
nous and constant Indebtedness of the
banks and bankers alongside of which the
money In farm mortgages and the debts
owed by farmers are relatively insigniti-
cant. The debts Of railroads., bankers,
manufacturers and merchants entitle
them, and not the farmers, to be called the
debtor class in America"
The average value Of farms by the census
of 1890 was s., 800. The value of implements,
domestic animals and sundries will make
a total farm plant Of $1,000 for family
averaging six persons. These farms have
fed the farmers and their families and 49,
900 urban RESIDENTS, besides supplying
over $500, 900 worth of products to for
eign consumers.
The mortgage on farm values does not
exceed 16 per cent-a less incumbrance
OH capital invested than!fn any other line Of
industry.
He foretells, confidently, steady in
crease in the value of farm lands as the
population of the country increases.