Arizona republican., 1904-12-07

J our rice. By helping the rice growers : on the gulf coast to secure seeds from The Orient suited to their conditions } and by giving them adequate protec- ], ton, they now supply home demand and export to the islands of the Carib- bean Sea and to other rice growing , countries. Wheat and other grains have been imported from lIght-rainfall countries to our lands in the west and
 southwest that have not grown crops
 because of light precipitation, result
 ing in an extensive addition to our
 cropping area and our home making
 territory that can not be irrigated.
 Ten million bushels of frst-class mac
 alo oni wheat were grown from these
 experimental importations last year.
 Fruits suitable to our soils and eli
 mates are being imported from all the
 coUptries of the old World-the fig from
 1U1key, the almond from Spain, the
 d5te from Algeria, the mango from ln-
 d1a. We are helping cur fruit grow
 CTS to get their crops to European mar
 kets by studying methods of preserva-
 ton through refrigeration, packing, and
 handling, which have been quite sue
 cessfu We are helping our hop grow
 CTS by importing varieties that ripen
 eaTlier and later than the kinds they
 have been raising, thereby lengthening
 the harvesting season. The cotton crop of the country is threatened with root rot the bollworm, and the boil weeV1l- Our patholCgistS will find immune varieties that will resist the root dis
 ease, and the bollwOfm can be dealt
 with, but the boil weevil is a serious
 menace to the cotton crop. It is a Gen.
 tral American insect that has become
 acchmated in Texas and has done great +l,o T, v-ft of,f of agriculture has found the weevil at
 home in Guatemala being kept in check
 by an ant, which has been drought to
 our cotton fields for observation. It is
 hoped that it may serve "a good pur- pose.
 The soils Of the country are getting attention from the farmers standpoint,
 and interesting results are following We have duplicates of the soils that l grow the wrapper tobacco in Sunaatra
 and the filler tobacco 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 aikah lands is progress
 sing, to give object lessons to our peo-
 ple in methods by which worthless l land may be made productive.
 The insect friends and enemies 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 l figfertilizing insect imported from ! Turkey has helped to establish an in- dustry in California that amounts to 1 from fifty to one hundred tons of dried | figs annually, and is extending over | the Pacific coast. A parasite fly from
 South Africa is keeping in subjection the black scale, the worst pest of the
 orange and lemon industry in Califor- nid-
 Careful preliminary work is being l done towards producing our own silk | The mulberry is being distributed in l large numbers, eggs are being imported
 and distributed improved reels were imported from Europe last year, and l two expert reele-S were brought to 1 Washington to reel the crop of cocoons and teach the a-t to our own people. The crop-repOrting system of the de- partment of agriculture is being | brought closer to accuracy every year. It has two hundred and fifty thousand l reporters selected from people in eight
 vacations in life. It has arrangements with most European countries for in terchange of estimates. so that our people may know as nearly as possible i with what they must compete.
 IRRIGATION
 During the two and a half years that have elapsed since the passage of the reclamation act rapid progress has been made in the surveys and exami- ! nations of the opportunities for. recla- nation in the thirteen states and three territories of the arid west. Construc- tion has already been begun on the 1 largest and most important of the ir- rigation works, and plans are being completed for works which will utilize the funds now aWadlable The opef- ations are being carried on by the rec Ianation service, a corps of engineers selected through competitive civil ser vice examinations. This corps includes experienced consulting and construct ing engineers as well as various experts m mechanical and legal matters and is composed largely of men who have spent most of their lives in practical affairs connected with irrigation The larger problems have been solved and it now remains to execute with care economy, and thoroughness the work which has been laiG out. All important details are being carefully considered by boards of consulting engineers. se- lected for their thorough Knowledge and practical experience. Each project | is taken up on the ground by competent men and viewed from the standnoint of the creation of prosperous homes, and Of promptly refunding to the, treas | ury the cost of construction. The rec lamaticn act has been found to be re- markedly effective, and so broad in its provisions that wide range of un- dertakings has been possible under it. | At the same time economy is e:uaran- | teed by the fact that the funds mus, | ultimately be returned to be. ssd over again.
 FORESTS.
 It Is the cardinal principle of the | forest reserve policy of this adminis tration that the reserves are for use. | Whatever interferes with the use of their resources is to be avoided by every possibIe means B1rt tlnes.a ..o