Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1906-11-20
FARMING A SCIENCE.
Secretary Wilson Asserts Production
viii Double In Decade.

There will BE- nO more crop failures,
This prediction Is confidently made by
Secretary Wilson. who knows NOR"
than am other man In public life about
agriculture. The secretary IL antlei-
pating only normal conditions. such o.
weather experienced year after year
and dos not say that SOME great ca
lami'y in the form Of floods or Of
freezing weather In July may not des,
Crnd upon the earth out of some re-
mote corner of the heavens.
There has been material improve
ments In agriculture during III" pres
ent decade" said Secretary Wilson.
important improvements have been
made In agricultural machinery which
are of great advantage 70 the farmers
The department of agriC lltuTc has. b.
experiments, demonstrated what can
be don" In preparing for climate luc,
tuatinns In heat and moisture. and has
made q study OF the sntts Of i%ncalcul'
autP htlp 10 tue tiEtIF.
IT IL not only possible. but practic
al. and IL IN the general rule nowadays
for the farmer to study the soil h.
has to work. and intelligently select
the crons adapted, The days Of old
when year after year farmers would
plant the same crops TO gather affair
Il. ,nt.,.nntfy ha~..Asf xrhnn annHi
tions were good. and to experience
failures when conditions were adverse
have gone not 10 return. The farm
ers now make It their business tC
know what their lands will do. and
they utilize them to the best possible
advantage.
In 1910 the production per acr" vii
h" twice as great as in 1870. This
will be due entirely TO the advance
which the farmers are making In the
direction Of selecting and methods
TIL" work Of the department in bring
ing about this result is of sufficient
importance TO warrant all the appro
priations that have been made during
the last six years for It's mainten
ance.
But the work "f the department.
has not slapped with increased acre
age production. Agents have been al
work all over the world searching fUl
crops best adapted to conditions OK
listing in various sections of our wide
expansr of territory. They have
brought us crops which bloom in the
desert and now in the arid tracts
of the west crops are being pro
~tlesnakcs and lizards could live.
"lrrigation is doing much to make
waste lands fertile. but any inexperi
enccd farmer given an abundant sup.
ply of water, which he can control
can produce good results. What the
agricultural department is attempt.
ing is TO overcome the natural cOndi
tions, and I think much has already
been done in this line. More will be
done.
"Whcn I say there will be no more
crop failures. | do not mean that every
seed each farmer plants will thrive
and produce said the secretary
"We can, however, safely count upon
sufficient crops to supply our own
needs and leave a surplus for export,
A flood may visit some valley and
acres of growing crops may be washed
away. Locusts may. and probably will
again appear in Kansas. Hot winds
will blow, but We will not hear SC
much of the grasshoppers and the hot
winds In the future.
THE grasshoppers will find so much
to eat that they will not be noticed,
and the hot winds will find so much
fresh and green to blow against tina,
they will be checked and cooled
Speaking seriously, however, the farm.
ers of today go about their work with
cool deliberation and knowledge OF