Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-09-12
THRO' MANY STATES
Director True's Observations On an
Extensive Trip.
OF FARMERS is IMPROVED
Problem Of a Cheap Meat Supply
in the Future.
TOO MUCH COTTON GROWN

| TOO MUCH COTTON GROW N
| DR.. True, director of the office of expert
\ ment stations of the Agricultural Depart
| ment. has just returned from a trip of in
specton of experiment stations in about
| thirty states. from New York to Florida
and California. In conversation with a
Star reporter today DR.. True spoke interest
| ingly of his observations.
| THE farmers of the states which I Wis
| ited," said DIR. True, ''are much more gen.
| orally prosperous and hopeful than in for
mer years. Their financial condition has
greatly improved, and the prospects for
! this years crops are good. The most i'm
portant exception to this state of affairs
is in the cotton-growing states of the south.
| The continued low price of cotton and the
| cultivation of this crop on large areas
| which give only small yield have kept
| many of the farmers very poor, and there
| is no prospect of lettering their condition
| as long they continue the exclusive cul-
| tivation of this crop.
| The only remedy possible is the reStric-
| ton of the area of cotton cultivation to
those lands for which it is specially adapt
| ed In the years when cotton was high in
| price its cultivation greatly extended,
| especially in the upland regions Of the south,
| on lands where the yield must always be
| relatively small and where the necessity
| for the large use of commercial fertilizers
| must always make the cost of production
| relatively high. Intelligent farmers in the
| south are beginning to understand this
| and are giving more attention to stock rails
! ing, truck and fruit farming and other ag-
| ricultural industries. The great mass of
| the negro farmers yet persist in raising
| nothing but cotton. AS long as they do this
| there Is little room to hope for a change
In their financial condition for the better.
| Proprietary Absenteeism.
1.-THE south especially needs the intelli-
| gent organization of it's agricultural labor
under the direction of the proprietors of
| the farming lands. The owners have in too
many cases left their plantations to live
in the towns and have been content to live
| on the scanty rentals which they could
| get from the negro tenants. They are be-
| ginning to see that this is foolish policy,
| and it is hoped that before long they will
generally take an active hand in the re-
| Mobilization of the agricultural south.
| Advance in the Price of Meat.
1.-THE jewellers in towns and cities
| have recently been disagreeaby surprised
| by the advancement of the price of meat
They have not yet learned that the problem
| of securing continuance of cheap meat for
| the masses of the population is one of the
| most serious questions of the day. What
| ever artificial increase in the price of meat
| may be due to the influence of great trade
| combEatiors, it is nevertheless true that
| the supply Of animals available for meat
| has declined. and that it will not be an easy
| thing in the future to secure a supply which
| Will keep pace with the increase in
population and the enlargement of our
| export trade
| with every year the limits of the pub
| lie lands available for grazing purposes
| will decrease, and under present conditions
| the number of cattle per acre which can
| be maintained on the ranges will diminish.
| 1t Will be more and more necessary that a
large part of the feeding of animals in
! tended for meat shall be done in the irri-
| gated valleys and on the farms of the east
| Arid Public Lands.
| THE present system for the management
| of the arid public lands is wasteful in the
! extreme. 1t is believed that the benefits
| largely accrue to very limited number of
| persons, and that it tends to retard the
proper development of the agriculture of
| the great west Intimately connected with
| the problems relating to the grazing lands
| are those which have to do with the
! maintenance of the water supply, to the
| preservation of the forests and the storage
| of waters which now run to waste. The
| mere complete and equitable utilization of
| the available water for irrigation purposes
| Is also a very important matter.
In many regions of the west it is absO-
! lutely useless for individuals to take up
| land under the homestead act. The land
| is either too arid for successful agriculture
/ and situated that it cannot be irrigated,
| or else it is remote from the markets
| that the products grown with the aid of ir-
| rgation can only be protitably utilized by
| feeding them to live stock. But animals
| cannot be profitaby raised unless they are
kept in considerable numbers ard fed for
| part Of the year on the ranges adjoining
the irrigated section
| Use of the Public Range.
"Under present conditions the small land
owner has little chance of making any use
| of the public range. This is largely con-
| trolled by individuals and companies hav-
| ing large herds or focks which are driven
| from place to place, and are often fed
| the lands Immediately adjoining the irri-
| gated areas The settler in those regions
| needs some provisions of law by which he
can control few thousand acres of tn:
| adjoining range. 1t would then be to his
| interest TO preserve the range grasses, and
| he could hope to make a decent living by
! combining grazing with agriculture under
irrigation.
Thus far the country has not been suffi-
| GENTLY awake to the Importance of the
problems connected with keeping up the
| meat supply. 1t Is hoped the present in
| crease in price of meat may lead to an
| awakening upon this subject and that
| a result Congress will take up in some seri-
| Gus way the settlement of the great ques-
| ton involved in the management of the
vast public domain.
| Advantage OF Cheap Meat.
zone of the chief advantages thus far
which the working people in this country
| have enjoyed has been the supply of cheap
, meat, and 1t is believed that this has had
| much to do with making the American me-
| chanic and laborer more active and eff
| ficent than those in lands where meat has
| been dear. and therefore not much used
| by the masses. 1t is perhaps true that
meat has formed too large a portion of the
diet of the wel-to-do people of this coun-
| try, especially those following sedentary
| occupations. They can usually meet in
| crease in the price of meat by reduction
| in the amount which they consume, hut
| the man who is engaged in manual labor
| can i'll afford to do this. Some way ought
| to be found, therefore, If possible, to raise
sufficient animals at a moderate price TO
give him all the meat that he needs.