The new South-news., 1905-07-01
REDEEaiNG TIE DESERT.
The Great inland cooquese rhst 70
oeino Wased BY the Department Of
ASr'euisure-Tnere Are No Useless
American Acres. Says Secretary
Wo'isoonoaooo,eoooosi yom 90
Wilson,

Guy 4. Mitchell write. in Opporia-
nifty as follows:
A great inland conquest 10 beins
| waged D, the Derartm ui OF AgricG..
ture which is completely overturn-
ing the time-honored theory that
The vast acres In the Nesi which can
not be irrigated but q scant natural
! growth OF grass The engineer aud
the ditch builder xdl brng under
| cultivation many millions OF highly
productive acres. but the water sap
Ply OF the West is limited. and there
VIII remain perhaps half billion
| acres of trie arid region for which
there rs no water. The aggressive
work of Secretary Wilson's depart.
ment- however. promises fair to make
very large proportion of this land.
heretofore supposed to be entirely
un.it FOR agriculture. Into farms
through scientific methods OF sol cll-
ture and TIE introductioa OF exceed;
ingly drough-res. sting plants.
There are no bad acres" said
Secretary wilson we have no use
less American acres. We viii MAKE
them all productive. We have agri-
cultural explorers in every far corner
oi TIE word. and they are finding
crops which have become so accii.
mated 10 cry ccndiuons similar TO
our own In the West that We shah ia
time have plants thriving upon all
our So-called desert lands. We viii
cover this arid area with plants OF
various sorts which viii. yield hun
dreds- of millions OF tons OF addi
t.onal forage and grain for western
locks and herds Cur farmers Will
groy this upon land now considered
practically worthless"
The machinery OF Mr.. Wilson's de
s;ariment 10 Ger .AiSiy tar-reach!ng. its
xplorers are traversine every dis
tant land in the interests OF the
American farmer. and especially from
the vast high. dry lanJs OF central
Asia, have come some of the most re-
mdrkable of desert plants, requiring
but minimum of moisture 10 pro
ance luxuriant yields.
A student OF oeserf rec,amation
through the agency Of drontn plants.
Is Frederick v. Coyille. the chief bo-
tanist of the department. who is per
sonaily very familiar with the West.
There are millions ana millions OF
acres" said Mr. Coville. lin the strict.
ly arid region, now considered worta-
iess for agriculture. which are Ger
tain to be settled in small farms as
were the lands os Illinois This ap-
plies particularly to the great pla.
,eaus In the northern Rocky noun
tam region | DO not hesitate TO pre-
dict that the transformation of these
barren-looking lands into farms
through the Introduction of desert
pants will lie as extensive work as
the enormous reclamation through ir-
rlgatiOn-'
case In pos1t, as suggested by
Mr.. Coviile. IL indicated in = re4ens
State report Of Wyoming. which
shows as result OF experiments
near Cheyenne on a vast plateau
q eco feet above the sea that profit
able crops can be grown on lands
which heretofore have been univcr-
sally regarded as suitable for nothing
but the sparse graz ng Of cattle and
sheep.
David G. Fairchild, an Agricultural
explorer. ana in cnarse OF the work
OF introduction Of new seeds and
plans, says that the greatest sur
prises will lie In tla nliization OF
what Are now considered desert
lands. for the growing OF spe-
ciai aria ia1a crops requiring but a
fIaction of the moisture necessary for
the growth OF Ordinary plants. suca
as corn aad wheat. I'VE are finding
new plants OF Turkes-al and the
steppes OF Russia aad Siberia, wnicn
grow luxuriantly under sucl c0ndi-
Ions Of ar:dity that the crops of the
Mississippi valley farms wouiu
wither and die as though scorched by
a sirocco.'
.aacaroni wheat affords a good in
stance Of crop which Is capable Of
millions of acres OF arid land.
The macaroni w-aeat Oeit' said
Marx A. Carleton. cereal specialist cr
the Bureau OF Plant Industry, Eek
| tends, on IN average. tae width OF the
United States and from the ySth to
well beyond the lO2d meridian. WITH
a general yielding capacity for half
Of this vast area of thirty bushels an
| acres. and OF the otler Eaif of fifteen
| bushels.
"Macaroni wneat Will grow with
ten inches Of rainfall and yield fl
nary wheat Is an absolute failure.
| Tais is Two bushels more than the
average wheat yield for the United
| States. There are many other crops
with as great possibilities and which
thrive on but sngnt moisture. in
Guiding splendid forage plants.
might mention kaffr corn. the sor-
ghums. mlllets. bronze grass. as well
as new kinds OF oats and barieys OF
wonderful droug a-res ting powers
| tie emmer or sperz. and a loag line
| OF others. We are constantly finding
new grains and forage plants in the
| Caucasus. in Algeria. Turkes,an ana
other dry Countries which will bring
under cultivation amazing areas OF
| great American desert now booked
aDon as absolutely unfit for agricul-
| ture II is a somewhat singular
ning that 20 men are as sseptical Q.
the reality ol these facts as the resi.