The Holly chieftain., 1902-12-19
FARMING MATTERS.
Agricultural Department.

.
The report Of Secretary OF Axricull
ture Wilson states that by the requesslS
Of the secretary OF the iatsri0r, the
Bureau OF Forestry has become his Of.
nctal advtser in matters ol forest pol
Icy for the national forest reserves
covering over $1,000 600 acres
Extensive studies were made 1t,
commercial trees during the year. and
studies Of the forest and its Industrial
relations were made In Michigan. Ken
lucky, Ohio. Texas. New Mexico, Ari-
xonA. South Dakota, Wyoming. Mon
tana, California and Iowa Among the
questions involved were the prevent
and future timber supply. forest nres.
relation of the forests to stream dow,
irrigation and grazing. The bureau !.
has discovered less injurious method
Of turpentine orcharding than that
hitherto employed.
Cooperation with the Bureau Of
Chemistry and in response to urgent
demands, the series of tests to deter
mine the strength of the principal
merchantable timbers-discontinue in
1S96-have been taken up.
In tree planting the bureau has
sought to enlist the interest Of the
private land owner. Up to the close
Vi kAC I6oS hnNA1 ySAk SoE AYRuCRllUASk
for assistance had been received
plans made. Not only does example
neighborhood, but in many cases II
question of tree planting, and exten. 4
sive planting on other land has fire.
quently followed.
~ Investigation -ao ha0,yu during
the year as to the possibility of re-
claiming soils in the arid regions In
jured by seepage water and the accus
mutation of alkali. Important work on
this line is being carried out on a
tract of forty acres near Salt Lake
City. Arrangements are being made
to carry on similar work at Fresno.
California, and 1t Is proposed to ex-
tend it to the tropical area in Mon
tana and possibly in Arizona, to dems
onstrate that these unfayorable con-
ditions can be controlled. Land locats
ed in the immediate vicinity Of Salt
Lake City, he believes. can be in
creased in value by at least $1,000, 900.
exclusive of the cost of reclamation,
should it prove successful
The distribution and use ri western
rivers requires legislation IA the irri-
cation industry, which, In turn rem
ders 1t necessary that there should be
a better understanding of the subject
than now exists. The department Is
securing information as to the guam
tity of water used, where it is used.
how much water is required In the
matter of crops. how 1t can be distrib-
hted with the least loss, and applied
to the best advantage. Much has been
done to educate farmers and ditctS
managers as to the direction in which,
Improvement In the method Of prac.
tice must come. They have made
plans, have shown the need Of better
work in constructing and maintaining
canals, and have shown that the loss
of water through leakage in transit Is
far greater than is generally sup
posed. The large problems which the
complete use of western. rivers Is des-
tined to create and the measure OF
public control which recent legislation
renders inevitable, give added inter-
est to the departments studies Of the
legal and economic phases Of irriga-
ton.
Through the courtesy of govern
ment officials in Egypt the represen-
tative of the department was enabled
to become fully acquainted with the
administration Of laws governing the
use OF the Nile. Allowing for differ
ences in conditions. the lesson Of one
of the Oldest irrigated countries in the
world can not fail to be Of interest and
value to one of the youngest. A num-
ber Of the arid states cooperate with
the department in these studies of So
Geological and legal problems.
The most noticeable work under
taken by the once Of road inquiries
has been In the building of object.les-
son and experimental roads, Cooper.
alton in this work has been had with
national good roads associations, man
ufacturers Of road building machinery.
and the railroad corporations. In
most cases the building OF these roads
has been accompanied by important
meetings, where the subject Of good
roads has been ably handled by prom
inent public men and the experts Of
the department. The road material
laboratory IL operated in collaboration
with the Bureau Of Chemistry. and the
chief Of that bureau reports the labori
atory as now equipped for the testing
of road materials OF every description,
rs well as cement and concrete for
drains and buildings. A large mum.
ber of samples were received from all
parts OF the country. including our is-
land possessions, showing the value
practical road builders attach to these
tests. 1t fs only by such tests that we
can predict which material will Siye
the hest reHtllfR under n piyen traf3c