Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1903-07-11
The Department of Agriculture.

4
Wilson, which he delivered at Siou,
Falls, July the 3rd, 1908. We regre
that we have not the space to give th'
address in full, and must be content Il
CLEAN and reproduce in substance onl,
some OF the things mentioned in th'
line of their work, which is proving 81
beneficial oour farmers and consequent
ly to the nation at large.
He commenced by stating that he haC
just been on trip over a portion Of the
country looking over the work done al
the various experimental stations, and
studying the conditions in the various
localities. The nature Of the soil, the
amount of rain fall, the varying condi
tions of climate, ETC., as it was the pur.
pose OF the Departmental ascertain what
sections Of the country were best adapt.
ed to produce certain kinds of fruits
vegetables, grains, trees and animal life.
He had visited the Gulf states in the
south at this time, and had been as far
west as Salt Lake, Utah, and noted some
Of the varying conditions of each section
as he passed through. He mentions the
fact that down in the Gulf states they
have from so to 80 inches of rain fall,
which washes much Of the soil into the
Gulf, while here in South Dakota our
soil has accumulated for thousands OF
years. As we come north through the
Mississippi valley the rain fall is from
80 to so inches. In Iowa II is from q
to 2S inches, and grows less as we pass
westward, over what he calls the short
grass country" and at Salt Lake the an.
nual rain fall is but 10 inches year.
BY studying the conditions of each Sec
tion and planting in each such seeds as
were best adapted, it was possible to
raise good crops in all, but On this trip,
the best crops he had seen were those
he had been shown in South Dakota
Wherever the farmers have any diff
Guilty with their crops and apply to the
department they send a man there to
study the conditions, and they spare no
pains or expense to apply remedy. A
few years ago we imported the greater
part of our rice from China and Japan,
for the reason that the rice planters in
Florida, Louisiana and Texas, said they
could not grow rice that was marketable
ON account of its being such long grain
and brittle that in threshing out it broke
in pieces. The department sent a man
to China, and he brought back seed that
was round and plump, and the result ts
that last year we grew all the rice that
the country consumed.
The year that President Mckinley was
elected we raised in this country $4,000
tons Of sugar beets. The department
took hold of the subject and gave the
growers the benefit Of their knowledge,
and last year we raised $4,000 tons.
We have been paying abroad $780, 000, 900
for sugar, and we propose to save all
that. 1--WE are trying to do similar good
turns to South Dakota as we'll as other
states. We found that the United States
had been paying $S,0OO,OO0 year to
Italy for macaroni, which is made from
certain kind of wheat. We begun
looking for grain which could be sue
cessfully grown in what we call the short
grass country Of the west. In the upper
Volga region in Europe we found a
wheat which grows with 10 inches of
rainfall, and introduced it here. In the
western part of the Dakota's, last year
10000 900 bushels of this wheat was
raised, and this year there will be 15,-
100000 bushels. We found that it had
per cent gluten than our varieties, and
we arranged with the millers for prop.
er grading, as it makes better bread and
is better for stock. We extended the
cultivateable area one hundred miles by
introducing this grain, and in the Salt
Lake district they raise it without irriga-
ton and have as high as 38 bushels to
the acre."
"We have introduced the Swedish oats
in South Dakota and we expect you will
grow better oats here than formerly.
You have purer air with less bacteria
in it, and consequently less trouble from
blights, rusts and smuts in the grain.
The thing to do is to get the best out of
the natural conditions which in your
state are excellent. Anyone who is
disposed to make complaint to me about
South Dakota will get very little encour-
agement from me-"
In the above quotations we have given
Mr.. Wilson's exact language, for the
reason that it applies to our state, and
our farmers should not be slow in tax
ing advantage of the things herein in.
dicated. The department of agriculture,
through the aid of their experimental
stations have gained great deal of USE
full knowledge, and have promptly
transmitted that information to the
growers of every kind of commodity,
animate and inanimate. that goes to
make up the wealth of the nation. The
field is wide one, and takes in not only
the tree and vegetable growth, but the
fruits and flowers and all animal and in.
sect life as well. In every department
their investigations have brought i'm
proved methods of culture, which have
conferred millions of dollars in benefits
to our citizens, and to the nation at large
Through this department we are able to
keep track of the storms and warn the
people in advance of the approaching
cyclone. Their agents and experts tell
us how to best preserve the timber of