The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1895-11-14

tuTal products in this and all other
countries. The great possibility, how
ever, OF the Department of Agricul
ture as a national power for good does
not lie in its clerical and perfunctOry
offices, but in the course Of actual ex
perimentatiOn. 1t must consist in
engaging its scientific divisions in the
study OF problems which concern the
broader public, aud which cannot be
adequately undertaken by the iudi-
vidual state station. For example
In the recent past efforts were directed
towards forming two more zones in
which the production Of sugar will be
possible in this country. In the one,
expert mentatiOn has been pursued in
order to found an absolutely new in
dustry in the growth and manufacture
Of sugar from sorghum, with Kansas
! for its centre. In the other. the great
beet sugar industry Of Europe i being
introduced, and its area will embrace
vast tracts of land extending from the
Atlantic coast west to California. Now,
either one of these undertakings il too
great for a State TO take in hand. Each
one requires, and has, an experiment
; station for its own especial end, and
both these stations are very properly
maintained by the public treasury.
One other great work is that of the
: Bureau of Animal Industry. The
scope and results of this work prOba
bly, exceed even the most precise cal
culation 1t is true that the diseases
Of the hog are still battling the most
elaborate efforts 10 bring them within
specific control. The work alone,
/ however, which has resulted in rid
ding the country OF pleurO- pneumonia
in cattle has paid, more than q, hun
dred fold, the cost of administering
/ the Agricultural Department of the
| Government. These results enabled
/ the late Secretary of Agriculture Rusk
| to present a clean bill of health with
every cargo of animals which the
American farmer offered for sale in
European markets. Likewise, the f.
microscopic Investigation instituted .
by our late Secretary made it possible .
for the great american hog" TO be /
received where, hitherto, he had been .
rigidly forbidden. We have said that .
il il difficult to over estimate the F.
value to the American agriculturist .
of the results accomplished by Secre
tary Rusk. / have often stood in the
meat markets of middle England and
watched the sale of American and
English beef proceeding side by side.
The home beef sold for 20 cents to "a
cents per pound, and the American
for 10 cents TO Is cents per pound. To
u judge of meat, there was no reason
in such difference. But what were
the poor people saying who bought
the American beef and pork? One was
heard to say: " Nobody knows what
live things are in it?' Another said,
"WelI, it can't be worse than no meat
at all" These remarks, with the
prices of the American article, told
the whole tale. 1t was a matter of
no confidence. Now, the scientific
work of the Department of Agricul-
ture has not only resulted in obtain
ing for the meat products of this
country an entrance into all the best
markets of Europe, ii is giving to the
people in those countries trust in
the sOundnGss of our meats, which
will enhance their value several cents
per pound. Only a few weeks ago, a
committee appointed by the British
House of Lords, gave its verdict de
claring the general quality of Ameri-
can beef equal to, or perhaps superior,
to that of the home beef of England.
And what is the cost to the country
of our National Agricultural Expert
ment Station? Before we reply, let
Us recall a statement that the nations
losses annually by insect ravages,
many of which are preventible, are
$3.50, 100000, or Sc per capita of the
whole population. Now, the apprO-
priatiOns made by Congress to the
Department of Agriculture for the
current fiscal year, including also the
sums granted to the State Stations,
were So, 323, 500, or almost exactly B
cents per capita OF our people. But
the present Secretary of Agriculture
says that that amount is too much,
and, in the estimates for the forth
coming year. he comes forward with a
huge proposal TO save the people of the
United States one half of one cent per
head per anuum. Let us hope that
there will be no more talk of de-
pleted public treasury.
AS a part of the experiment station,
and usually affiliated with 1t, is the
Agricultural College. On this phase
OF our present modes of agricultural
inquiry we shall be brief and leave its
consideration as a home topic to others
who will treat it specifically. Yet We
will Just step outside for nome { to
relate an observation recorded in that
won .erful little country, Switzerland.
At the Agricultural School of the Con-
federacy one week is set apart for :
lectures by the professors TO farmers
assembled from all parts of the cOun-
try. The object is to keep the farmers
up to date with each new step of agri-
cultural science, and with every
technical discovery that may be of
value. At one of those courses /
observed farmers present varying in
age from eighteen 10 slAly SediS.
We do not need to speak OF the ,
present days need of stations and
agricultural colleges, but the words of
a very distinguished Judge may not
be out OF place here upon the subject.
Three years ago, when we had oc-
casion to interview the Permanent
Secretary of Agriculture of the French
Government in Paris upon the ques-
ton of beet sugar production, we
finally asked that gentleman If he
considered the experiment station
still essential to the development of
the industry. He replied, "The ex-
pertinent station is more important to
day than ever il was And not only
the station, l am arranging for open
ing a technical school, where our
youuO men shall he taught the theory