Durango semi-weekly herald., 1905-12-04
SAYS AMERICAN SOIL
CAN FILL ALL NEEDo
(William E. Curtis Correspondence of
Chicago Record -HeraIdj

|
: Chicago Record-Herald.)
: WASHINGTON. Nov. 27.-Secre-
; tary Wilson has a theory that w can
r supply all our national wants from onr
, own soil with the help of the Phil
ipplnes. Porto Rico and the Hawaiian
islands. We are now importing BILL
lion dollars worth of goods from for
, eign countries, the greater part OF It
/ raw material. for the use of our man
ufacturers. such as rubber. silk. hides.
hemp and wood. and food products
! such as sugar. coffee, tea. cocoa and
drugs. II is one OF Professor wil.on's
: hobbies that we ought 10 raise all of
! these things in our own land and
while he is in the agricultural depart.
} ment he proposes to push that idea
! into practical form as far as he Is
| able. He thinks we can raise all our
coffee sugar. rubber. chocolate. me-
dicinal plants and tropical raw mater
ials In the Philippines the Hawaiian
islands and Porto Rico. and he does
not even stop at tea which Ia now be-
Ing cultivated on q small scale In
South Carolina. We buy s60.000,OO0
worth of coffee from Brazil and other
South American countries which he
believes may be grown in our own in
suar possessions. The coffee Of Porto
Rico and Hawaii is OF very hign grade.
1t Is much better than the average
Brazilian product AT present, how
ever, the cultivated area Is limited.
and the supply is correspondngly
small
The same remarks apply to sugar.
for which we now spend 500. 1000 900 or
S70,000.000 every year in foreign coun.
tries. We get small amount from
Hawaii and Porto Rico-nearly all
they have to export--but they have
enormous areas OF good sugar lands
lying Idle. which may be developed to
such an extent that we will not he de-
pendent upon foreign countries for
any important staple. He is a home
market man, and he believes In the
encouragement of the planters of the
Philippines. Hawaii and Porto Rice
In order that they may have every ad-
vantage In competing with Cuba and
other tropical countries In the markets
of the United States. II is largely a
question of labor however. The cof
fee and sugar exports from our lnsu-
lar possessions will never be much
larger unless an additional supply OF
labor can be found.
| We now import from $4,000 600 to
$20,000.000 worth Of medicinal plants
and crude dugs manufactured from
them greater part of which Secre-
tary Wilson says can be raised in our
own country. Many interesting exper-
iments are now progressing in the bu-
reau OF plant industry at Washington.
and in several other places In the
United States where the climate and
soil are particularly favorable. Seeds
and shrubs brought from foreign
countries are planted whore the rain
fall, the soil and other conditions seem
to be like those of their native lands,
and some remarkable results have al
ready been attained. The rgeat diff
Guilty Of growing medicinal plants In
this country however Ia the high
price and scarcity of labor. Most of
the care and cultivation OF the plants
and their PREPARATION after they are
grown must be done by hand. In for
cign countries the picking and prepar-
I alton Of leaves, seeds and berries and
the grading and preparing them for
market Is done by women and girls
of the peasant class. It must be done
with the hands: 1t can not be done
with machinery. We have no peasant
class In this country, and 1t Is diff
Il rnIt N 10 ha nf ha
rural districts OF the United States to
undertake such work. They are not
compelled to do 1t; they are not re-
quired to earn their living. or contrib.
ute to the family income as Ia almost
invariably the case In other countries.
That is why we raise no silk.
| The southern states offer the most
favorable opportunities for the cult
walton OF medicinal plans. and prices
have risen so rapidly that there is
great profit In gathering roots, bark,
leaves and other botanical specimens
which grow wild in that section of the
country. The climate and soil are also
suitable for raising the classes OF
plant life that are needed, and if they
had little instruction the colored
women In the South might make a
good deal Of money gathering burdock.
dandelion roots, couch grass, sarsa-
parilla. sassafraB and other herbs; and
In cultiyating ginger. ipecac, vanilla
beans. castor beans and caraway
seeds. which grow easily in the South.
but are not raised TO any extent in
this country.
Take licorice root. for example. We
import about s2.OO0.OO0 worth every
year from the Mediterranean, where
the plant grows wild and the roots
are gathered and dried by peasant
women. Licorice culture is carried
on 10 considerable extent in Eng
land by market gardeners. They raise
1t between rows OF cabbage and potar
toes and In the fall the roots are dug
up and dried. The warm climate and
rich soil OF the South Is especially
adapted to licorice growing. and the
colored women might make a consid.
cradle amount OF money in that way