The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-07-15
HELP THE FARMERS
Department Of Agriculture and the
State Experiment Stations
Have Done Much.
Discoveries Made in the Minnesota
Iowa and Wisconsin Stations
of the Highest Value.
From The Journal Bureau, Room IS, Post Build

From The Journal Bureau, Room IS, Post Build
ing, Washington.
Washington, July 15.--It is the boast Of
the department of agriculture that. the
United States has, in that department,
and the state agricultural experiment sta
tions, the most complete system of agri-
cultural research in the world, and that
the results obtained thru these agencies
have had wider application and have
influenced to greater extent the masses
of the farmers than in any other country.
Agricultural experiment stations are now
in operation in every state and terHtory,
including the Philippines In all there are
sixty and they employ nearly 1000 trained
scientific, practical men. In 1902 the
income Of these stations was $1,S2S,S47, Of
which 100000 came from the government
and S60S,S47 from the states and other
sources. During the fourteen years OF
their existence there has been expended in
maintenance about $14, 0O0 900. of which
SO. 900 came from the national
treasury and 100000 from the states.
During the same period the agricultural
products Of the country were valued at
over $40, 900 900, 900. In other words. the
outlay for agricultural investigation has
been at the rate Of 81 for nearly $4,000
worth of product. @.. ....
Cooperation between the national gov
eminent and the states by means of the
experiment stations is very close. w. H.
Beal, chief Of the editorial division of the
office Of experiment stations, calls atten-
ton to a number of highly practical re-
suits which have followed this corpora
tion. and shows how the farmer and the
country get much more than value re-
ceived" for every dollar expended in sci
entific agricultural investigation. One
of the most striking Of these results, and 1t
is only one Of many, has to do with the
inspection and study of fertilizers, and be-
cause this work has been done an industry
whose annual sales are S50,000.0 900, direct
ly affecting over thirty states. is con-
Quoted on a high plane Of honesty and
efficiency. The farmers understand fer
tilizing, know how to apply its principles
economically, and are in position to escape
fraud. The Investigations made by the
New Jersey experiment station are saw
ing the farmers Of that state more than a
million dollars per year, and in a single
year pay the total expenses Of the expert
ment station from the time Of Its founda-
ton In 1880, down to the present time. A
single good wheat crop in Minnesota will
pay for all that the St. Anthony Park sta
ton has cost the state, hundred times
over.
In respect has the benefit from station worb
In connection with the introduction of new varie
ties been greater than in the case of cereals
Notable instances OF the successful Introduction
of cereal crops Mnnsbury barley, fo
which the Wisconsin sta ton Is mainly responsl
BILE, and which has materially increased the yiel'
of barley wide region, with results wortl
millions Of. dollars, and Kahr corn, first distrib
uted by this department In 1886, and introduced
20 practical large scale by the station
In California, Kansas and Oklahoma. Kah
corn has been found specially suited to condi
lions in which the rainfall Is too scanty for tn
most successful culture Of The crop II
Kansas alone In 1899 valued at over So, 600,
OOC
A variety Of oats introduced by the department
and tested and improved by the Wisconsin sta
ton among others, has been widely distributed
and grown. with results which indicate that 1T
general introduction will be followed by av
erage increase Of YIELD of from 3 to bushel
per acre AS the urea devoted to oats IL
Wisconsin alone in 1901 was 229O2Ss acres
producing So CAT 3S1 bushels, estimated to b.
worth $25 ,9a2 ATS, this would mean If main
tanned turnout the state, gain to the farmer
Of Wisconsin annually of from ~, 100000 t.
a. 400, 900 the cat crop alone.
After quoting a paragraph from W. S
Harwood's notable article in Scribner'
regarding experiment station work AM
plant breeding, Mr.. Beal says that at j
very evident that the yield and quality o
wheat in Minnesota Is undergoing
marked improvement as result especially
Of the distribution Of seed Of two improves