The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1899-08-05
SECRETARY WILSON.
SAYS WE HAVE THE RICHEST
LAND IN THE WORLD.
What He is Planning to Do For
the High Dry Lands Of
the State.

James Wilson, Secretary of Agri-
culture, who for several days past has
been making a tour of observation in
this State, passed through this city
on yesterday mornings overland train,
bound for the nations Capital.
Secretary Wilson was seen on his
car by Record reporter, and
spoke freely of his trip and Of the con-
illusions he had reached.
California; Secretary Wilson said,
lis one of the richest agricultural sec
tons 1 have ever seen, and the coun-
try surrounding Sacramento is the
richest in the State. 1t is a great gar
den and seems to be capable of pro-
ducing almost everything in the line
of cereal and horticultural products.
But your farmers run too much to one
thing. l have seen fields which l am
informed have been sown to wheat
every season for the past thirty years
with the result that good crops are
had only every second season. Your
farmers must learn the lesson that a
change of crops is necessary for every
soil, no matter how deep or how rich
it may be, and they must also learn
manure and other fertilizers, the
heavier will be the crop and the bet
ter the quality
Secretary Wilson said California s
valleys are the richest in the world,
and the orchards and vineyards be-
yond comparison, but" he said, your
wheat farmer must come to realize
that the soil will produce other pro-
ducts than wheat, and that one crop
planted year after year, particularly
with no effort to enrich the soil. will
not give satisfactory yields"
Secretary Wilson's attention was
called to the vast acreage of plain or
high land in the State, which, owing to
lack of summer rains and proper irri-
cation, could be depended on only for
an early crop. and was asked to what
the land could be sown if not to grain.
1T is that very question" replied
Secretary Wilson, which brought me
to California. 1 would like to see
owners of dry lands give more atten-
ton to dairying and less to wheat.
and to that end I and my scientists
have been and are working.
Il think 1 understand pretty thor
oughly the conditions which confront
the owners of dry land. Nearly every
vestige of native grass has been rooted
out by sheep on the high lands, and
it's place has been taken by nom
descript growth of squirrel grass,
which is a poor article of forage while
green and absolutely worthless when
dry. But there are grasses which will
thrive which will root down to
water and remain green and sweet
throughout the driest, hottest season,
and it is with those that I am ex-
perimenting. For that purpose the
Department of Agriculture has estab-
lished four dry-land experimental sta
tons, two in Texas and one each in
Oregon and Washington, and at those
stations experiments are being made
with every grass adapted to regions
where during a portion of the year
no rain falls
Secretary Wilson said he had exper-
imented particularly with a grass
which is native on the Russian steppes,
or highlands, and that he believed it
to be what is necessary for the ranges
and pasture lands of California.
He thought the one thing which
seems to stand in the way of success
fully seeding the ranges with grasses
which would stand the drought was
the fact that vast areas are of land
owned by the State, and upon these
areas sheep and other animals Were
ranged These areas, he said, are
looked upon as being no-mans- STAND,
and as result. nobody would under
take to seed them with evergreen
grasses furnished by the Agricultural
Department. intended to furnish fresh
forage for dairy herds the year round.
In that relation he said he would ad-
wise that the State lease the lands to
parties for dairy purposes for a num-
Der of years. This would, he thought,
be an incentive for the lessee to throw
wire fence around his holdings. and
once that was done the Department
of Agriculture would step in with it's
grass seed, and soon the ranges would
be as green as Eastern pasture lands
in June.
Secretary Wilson and party went to
Truckee yesterday, at which place they
laid over until this morning. They will
continue to travel by day only so as
to see as much of the West as sis
possible through car window. ar