The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1905-05-11
WASHINGTON.
From our Regular Correspondent.

Wdoiih SeOhj - ~ NSJ ~ NSOO'
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
attended the funeral but the Secre.
tary of War left his numerous duties
and was present in the church. 1t
was remarked as something of a
coincidence that y. S. Grant 3rd, a
lieutenant of Engineers, was adju-
tant marshal of the military pro-
cession. A further incident which
appears to have escaped the notice
OF the vigilant reporters was partic.
ipated in by Mr.. Grant. The hon
orary pallbearers consisted of Con-
federate veterans who appeared in
the grey uniforms of the Confeder-
acy. 1t is rule of the military
service that mounted junior offic-
er, when addressing superior who
is on foot, shall always dismount.
When the body OF General Lee was
about to be borne from the Church
the Confederate 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 Confeder-
ate soldiers to their places and as
two men emerged from the church
door wearing the Confederate insig-
MIA of captains (three stars on their
collars) Lieutenant Grant immedi-
ately 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
grandfather.
XXX
81 am sending men to all parts
of the earth to ascertain those
things which will contribute to the
prosperity of the American farm
ers," said Secretary of Agriculture,
Wilson, yesterday, when asked by
your correspondent what was going
on in the Department Of Agricul-
ture. ~ am opposed to the sum-
mer fallow," continued the Secre-
tary. You know, at present, the
farmers of the Northwest are COM
PEELED to let their wheat fields lie
idle for an occasional season. The
land becomes "wheat weary" and
in order to grow profitable crops it
is 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, which can be
grown between cotton crops and
which not only yields good fodder
but improves land as well. So 1t
should be in the North and SO /
have sent a man away to Sweden,
Norway, to Russia and Finland
and Denmark to investigate this
subject and to endeavor to find
some crop which will make the
ideal rotation with with wheat in
those sections too far north for the
cultivation of other legumes, or
nitrogen gatherers, available IN
more southern sections. This man
has already secured several varieties
of seed from plants which he hopes
will accomplish our purpose. When
these arrive we will send them to
the various experiment stations
where they will be thoroughly test
ed and it is entirely possible that
we may find the very thing we
need"
Xxx
by the way" continued the
Secretary, II have just received an
interesting report from an agricult-
ural explorer I sent to the oases OF
the Sahara Desert. There he found
the extreme principle of cultivating
arid land. He writes me that they
grow date palm trees in these oases,
although they do not have to ex-
ceed six inches Of rain 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 cultivate every
inch of the land between. Not a
blade of grass, not a weed is allow