The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1905-07-19
UNCLE SANS GREAT WORK FOR THE FARMERS
Secretary Wilson Tells of Many Things the National Department
of Agriculture Is Doing for the People.

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Not long ago the sea island variety
was threatened with determination
through a root disease. By cross
breeding every kind of cotton we final
ly found one that would grow there.
1t took four years to do it, but now
! they have cotton that is immune.
Rice is another example. They grow
large quantities of it along the gulf
coast, and men from New England and
men from Iowa went down there with
labor-saving machine in connection
with it. But they found that too large
proportion of the rice broke in the
machine; it was too soft A round,
finty rice was desirable, so we sent
experts to the Orient, where they have
been growing all kinds of rice for cen
turtles, and he brought back just what
was needed One American with his
machinery can now grow in a year
what four hundred Cinnamon can
grow.
''There is about our department this:
We open our doors, books and records
to everybody from all over the world.
European countries have come for our
men, but oftentimes they explicitly
forbid our getting anything in return.
Our experts went to Bohemia one year
for hop roots and got a full collection,
but when the government found where
they were going the contracts were can
celed and they came back empty-hand-
ed. But only for year. Next season
I sent an agent over with money in his
pocket and orders to stay there until
he got the roots. They came.
Plants and Animals.
I'm addition to everything else we
have to train men in plant pathology
"a study which is not even attempted
at agricultural colleges. We do this
for the sake of abstract science, be-
cause the farmers need help. Our
pathological department studied the
important subject of grass and for
age crops, and as a result we are now
able to send about the country in dry
form a special kind of bacteria which
takes nitrogen from the air into the
soil, making clover and grass grow
where they never grew before. We
have introduced new kind of alfalfa
from Turkestan which is not killed in
northern climates, and that is what
you want to grow here.
81 have given you few samples of
our work among plants and animals;
let me now tell you of some of the diff
fculties we have to encounter. The
colleges, with their growing tendency
toward extreme specialization, are
producing men well trained along
lines, but unable to coordinate their
knowledge along other lines. In ag-
ricultural work we can make little use
of such specialized men. An ordinary
chemical analysis will not tell what is
going on in plant, no matter how
we'll equipped the chemist.
Forestry, Soil, Tobacco
"Our forests are disappearing all
over the country, and we are now
training several young men in forest
ry and cooperating with private own
ers in reforesting and preserving the
trees. One hundred thousand trees
will be sent out this year to different
states. Our universities have begun
to realize the importance of this, and
Columbia and Yale have established
schools. But the study of soil is still
almost unknown, and wei are testing