Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1904-12-07
AGRICULTURE in AMERICA
INTERESTING REPORT OF SEC. Will SON
Many interesting Facts Concerning the
Nations Greatest Industry. Given
Out bv l0wa's Cabinet
Member.


ing documents ever issued by q govern
nent official. He pays glowing tri-
butte to agriculture as the basis Of
much Of the wealth Of the United
States, and fttin2ly presents to the
world the astonishing results achieved
by men who plant and SOW.
The Secretary says the years corn
crop has been enormous, the greatest
in the history of the country. Farmers
could from the proceeds Of this single
crop pay the national debt. the inter-
est thereon for one year and still have
enough left to pay considerable por-
tion Of the governments yearly ex.
penses. The cotton crop, valued for
lint and seed ut so. 900. 900 comes Sc
cond. while hay and wheat contend
for the third place. Combined these
two crops about equal the corn crop.
Potatoes. and barley reached their
highest production in 1904; save in
1902 the oat crop was never so large by
60. 600. 900 bushels. The present crop
Of rices promises yield of 800. 600, 600
pc unds 200. 600, 900 more than ever
tefore. Horses and mules reach the
highess point this year, with an ag-
greRate value exceeding 81, ,354, 900. 900.
On the other hand cattle, sheep and
hogs all show slight decline.
The steady advance in poultry leads
to some astonishing figures. The
farmers hens produce 1865. 900, 900
dozens of eggs year or enough in one
month to pay the interest Oh the en-
tire national debt for one year.
All the gold mines of the ensire
world have not produced since Colum-
bus discovered America greater value
Of gold than have the farmers of this
country N two years. This years
total products of the farms valued at
a, 900, OO0, 900. is moro than six times
the capital stock Of all the national
banks. three times the gross earnings
Of the railroads; four times the value
of all the minerals produced, twice
the sum Of the imports and exports.
and comes within three-ouarters of
billion dollars of equaling the value
of all manufacturers for the year 1900.
This is a marvellous and astonishing
showing.
The Secretary Is much pleased with
the Bureau Of Plant Industry, which,
after eight years work, has produced
an orange that will grow as far North
as North Carolina, and is proof against
frost IN Florida. thus insuring growers
crop and protection against loss.
For several years the experiments for
An orange resulted in lemon, but
this year sweet orange was produced.
and Secretary Wilson ate one of them
on Thank ksgiving Day with his dinner.
This new orange is hybrid Of the
Florida orange and the Japanese trif-
goliata.
The introduction of foreign plants
into the United States is given special
attention by the department.. During
the year 1929 selected kinds OF seeds
and plants were obtained. These in.
cluded $50 date suckers representing
442 varieties, 10 varieties Of grapes
from Russian Caucasus, 3S varieties Of
mangoes Of recognized superiority
from central India. 157 bushels Of
berseem from the valley Of the Mile,
sOOO pounds Of tha famous new barley
from Moravia., 200 trees of the hardy
vladimir chorry. from Russia (distri-
buted In the northwest). and many
others.
Havana seed tobacco grown under
cover in Connecticut brought $l.26
pound. nearly the record price. Cuban
tobacco is now grown In fair qnanti-
ties in Ohio and several of the other
northern states
The other features Of the report deal
with the fight against the boil weevil
WulCL 10 uCceAOySA 1AAAAOhc " NOA-
lars worth Of property in Texas, plans
for education of engineers in road
building, valuable research in.success-
ful shipping Of fruit abroad. establish
ment of pure food standards, the ex-
tension of agricultural education in
primary and secondary schools; and
the extension of instruction to our
island possessions to enable them to
supply the country with $500, 900. 900
worth of domestic products now i'm.
ported from abroad.
This broad and comprehensive re.
port gives an idea Of the great and
growing Importance Of the agricul-
tural interests OF the country. That
Congress is aware of this and intends
to encourage the work OF the depart.
ment's bureaus is evidenced by the