West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1905-05-18
Secretary Of Agriculture Sending EI.
pertS 10 All Parts OF the World
In THE INTEREST OF
THE AMERICAN FARMER.
An Incident Of tho Funeral Of Con.
Fitzhugh Lee, U. S. Grant,
The Third, Being Marshal
OF Tho Procession.
From Our Regular Correspondent,

WASHINGTON, DC, May IS, 1905.
Impressive ceremonies attended
the funeral of General Fitzhugh
Lee, and not only all the members
of the General Staff of the Army,
and the usual military escort, at
tended the funeral but the Secretary
of War left his numerous duties and
was present at the Church. 1t was
remarked as something OF a coinci-
dence that u. 5. Grant 3rd, lieu
tenant OF Engineers, was the adju.
lant marshall OF the military process
sion. A further incideat which
appears to have escaped the notice
of the vigilant reporters was partici-
pated in by Mr.. Grant. The honorary
pallbcarers consisted Of Confederate
veterans who appeared in the gray
uniforms of the Confederaoy. ItIs
a rule of the military service that
mounted junior officer when address
sing a superior who is on foot, shall
always dismount. When the body
IF General Lee was about to he
borne from the Church the Confed-
crate veterans preceded the coffin
and drew up in parallel lines between
which the body was carried. To
Lieutenant Grant fell the duty of
assigning the Confederate soldiers
to their places, and as two men
emerged from the Church door
wearing the insignia Of captains
(three stars on their collars) Lieut..
Grant Immediately dismounted,
before saluting and indicating to
them their proper places. To the
few who noticed the courtesy it
appealed as a touching tribute to
the rank of men who had fought in
the army commanded by General
Lees great ancestor, and opposed
by Lieutenant Grants own grand
father.
al am sending men to all parts
of the earth 10 acertain those things
which will contribute to the pros
perity Of the American farmers"
said Secretary of Agriculture Will
son, yesterday, when asked by your
correspondent what was going on in
the Department Of Agriculture. "I
am opposed to the summer fallow,"
continued the Secretary. "You know
at present, the farmers of the North
west are compelled to let their wheat
fields lie idle for an occasional
season, The land becomes "wheat
weary" and in order to grow profit
able crops it in necessary TO lose
the use Of the land for an entire
year. Now this IN my judgment is
all wrong. In the South we have
crops, like the cow.pea for instance,
can be grown between cotton crops
and which not only yields good fod-
der but improves the land as well.
So il should be in the North and so
sent a man to Norway and Sweden
to Russia and Finland and Denmark
to investigate this subject and to
endeavor 10 find some crop which
will make the ideal rotation with
wheat in those sections too far
north for the cultivation Of other
legumcs, or nitrogen gathcrers.
available in more southern sections.
/ This man has already secured sew
eral varieties Of seed from plants
which he hopes will accomplish
our purpose. When these arrive we
will send them TO the various exper-
iment stations where they will be
thoroughly tested and IL is possible
that we may find the very thing we
need"
"By the way;" continued the
Secretary, "1 have just received an
interesting report from an agricul-
tural explorer 1 sent TO the oascs of
the Sahara Desert lie writes me
that they grow date palm trees in
these oases, although they do not
have 20 exceed SIX inches Of rain a
year Now this is the way they do
it. They plant their trees in rows
sixty feet apart and twenty feet
apart in the row. Then they cult
vatc every inch Of land between
them. Not blade of grass, not
weed Is allowed to grow and evap.
crate through its leaves the least
portion of that precious six inches
Of moisture Nor is the surface
ever allowed to crust over and set
up evaporation by capillary attrac-
ton. A continuous soil mulch with
never a weed is the secret Of the