The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-12-07

progress has been made and teachers nave
 been prepared. Over five thousand stu dents are in attendance at our State asri-
 cultural colleges. The Federal Government l expends ten millions of dollars annually to- ward this education and for research in Washington and in the several States and Territories. The Department of Agriculture
 has given facilities for post graduate work
 to five hundred young men during the last | seven years. preparing them for advanced | lines of work in the Department and in the State institutions.
 | The facts concerning meteorology and its | relations to plant and animal life are be- ing systematically inquired into. Tempera- ture and moisture are controlling factors in
 all agricultural operations. The seasons of the cyclones of the Caribbean Sea and l their paths are being forecasted with in- creasing accuracy. The cold winds that come from the north are anticipated and their times and intensity told to farmers. gardeners and fruiterers in all Southern To- calfties. l We sell two hundred and fifty million doi- | lars worth of animals and animal products | to foreign countries every year, in addition
 to supplying our own people more cheaply
 and abundantly than any other nation Is l able to provide for its people Successful | manufacturing depends primarily on cheap | food. which accounts to . considerable ex- tent for our growth in this direction. The | spection of meats. guards the health of our people and, gives clean bills of health to
 deserving exports; 1t is prepared to deal promptly with imported diseases of animals. and maintain the excellence of our flocks l and herds in this respect. There should be
 ap annual census of live stock of the Na- | ton.
 We sell abroad about six hundred million | doilars' worth of plants and their products every year. Strenuous efforts are being l made to import from foreign countries such grains as suitable to our varying lo- caifties. Seven years ago we bought three fourths of our rice; by helping the rice srowers on the Gulf coast to secure seeds 1 from the Orient suited to their conditions, | and by giving them adequate protection. they now supply home demand and export | to the islands of the Caribbean Sea and to l other rice-growing countries. Wheat and | other grains have been imported from light l rainfall countries to our lands in the West | and Southwest that have not grown crops
 because of light precipitation. resulting in an extensive addition to our cropping area | and our home-making territory that can not be irrigated. Ten million bushels of first class macaroni wheat were grown from l these experimental importations last year.
 Fruits suitable to our soils and climates
 are being imported from all the countries of the Old World-the fig from Turkey the
 almond from Spain. the date from Algeria, | the mangoe from India. We are helping our fruit growers to get their crops into | European markets by studying methods of | preservation through refrigeration. pack | ing. and handling. which have been quite | successful We are helping our hop grow CTS by importing varieties that ripen earlier
 and later than the kinds they have been
 raising. thereby lensthening the harvesting | season. The cotton crop of the country is | threatened with root rot. the bollworm. and | the boil weevil. Our pathologists will find | immune varieties that will resist the root l disease. and the boil worm can be dealt | with. but the boil weevil is a serious menace | to the cotton crop. It is a Central Ameri- can insect that has become acclimated in Texas and has done great damage. sci l enlist of the Department of Agriculture has found the weevil at home in Guatemala be- | ing kept in check by an ant. which has been brought to our cotton fields for ob- l servation. It is hoped that it may serve | good purpose.
 The soils of the country are getting at- tention from the farmers standpoint and interesting results are following. We have duplicates of the soils that grow the wrap per tobacco in Sumatra and the filler to- | bacco in Cuba It will be only a question | of time when the large amounts paid to these countries will be paid to our own people. The reclamation of alkali lands l is progressing, to give object lessons to our people in methods by which worthless lands may be made productive.
 | The insect friends of the farmer are | getting attention. The enemy of the San Jose scale was found near the Great Wall of China, and is now cleaning up all our orchards The fig7fertilizing insect import | ed from Turkey has helped to establish an industry iu California that amounts to | from fifty to one hundred tons of dried figs | annually. and Is extending over the Pacific | coast. A parasitic fly from South Africa is keeping In subjection the black scale. the worst pest of the orange and lemon tn- dustry in California
 Careful preliminary work Is being done towards producing our own silk. The null berry is being distributed in large numbers, eggs are being imported and distributed. im- proved reels were imported from Europe last year. and two expert reelers were
 brought to Washington to reel the crop of cocoons and teach the art to our own people. The crop-reportng system of the Depart ment of Agriculture is being brought closer
 to accuracy every year. It has two hundred and fifty thousand reporters selected from
 people in eight vacations in life. It has ar engagements with most European countries for interchange of estimates. so that people may know nearly as possible with what they must compete.
 Irrigation.
 During the two and a half years that
 have elapsed since the passage of the re- clamation act rapid progress has been made in the surveys and examinations of the op- portunities for reclamation in the thirteen States and three Territories of the arid West Construction has already been begun on the largest and most important of the r- rigation works. and plans being com pleted for works which will utilize the funds now available The operations being carried on by the Reclamation Service. corps of engineers selected through competi- tive civil-service examinations. This corps includes experienced consulting and con- structing engineers well as various ex- perts in mechanical and legal matters. and is composed largely of men who have spent most of their lives in practical affairs con- nected with irrigation. The larger problems have been solved and it now remains to execute with care. economy. and thorough ness the work which has been laid out. All important details are being carefully com sidered by boards of consulting engineers. selected for their thorough knowledge and practical experience Each project is taken up on the ground by competent men and viewed from the standpoint of the creation of prosperous homes. and of promptly re- funding to the Treasury the cost of con- struction. The reclamation act has been found to be remarkably complete and ef- fective, and SO broad in its provisions that a wide range of undertakings has been pos- sible under it. At the same time, economy Is guaranteed by the fact that the funds must ultimately be returned to be used over again.
 Forests.
 It is the cardinal principle of the forest reserve policy of this Administration that