Los Angeles herald., 1907-04-28

farmers throughout the land who
wished to plant clovers, alfalfas, cow
peas and other such crops.
Water Contamination
"The department works for many
other people than the farmer. In the
course of it's laboratory Investigations
1t was found that the water supply OF
cities, when bad, could be readily
improved by comparatively simple
methods. In the last few years the de-
partment has treated some of the
largest reservoirs in the country, which
were badly contaminated, and in all
cases has been successful.
"The treatment consists in the ap-
plication of small quantities of copper.
The water Is Immediately rendered
perfectly pure, and the copper is in
such minute quantities as to be abso-
lutely harmless.
Recently the department sent an eX-
pert to the canal zone for the purpose
of clearing up the water supplies there.
In this tropical climate water is con-
taminated quickly. A few applications
of this copper treatment cleared up
these reservoirs and rendered the water
perfectly pure.
Much of the water contamination is
due to the growth of small microscopic
athers brown. Some produce bad odors
In the water, and all are Objectionable.
1t is this class of contamination that
the copper treatment Immediately clears
away.
Transportation of Fruits
LAS agriculture develops and becomes
systematized the relations between the
farmer and the man in the city will
become more intimate. Thousands Of
tons of produce are grown which must
be handled quickly, sent into our city
markets and disposed of. Thus have
developed the great problems connected
general handling of perishable products,
such as fruits, vegetables, etc.
"On the Pacific coast 10000 carloads
of oranges are produced every year, and
most of these must be sent across the
continent to be distributed in our
eastern markets. Hundreds and thou
sands of carloads of these fruits are
destroyed through improper handling,
and hundreds and thousands of car
loads of other perisha BILE fruits, such as
peaches and apples, are similarly lost
through bad methods of handling. The
department is studying these questions
and pointing QUITO the grower how ne
may so improve his methods as to pre-
vent his losses, pointing out to the
packer how he may handle the fruit
and perishable products so as to help
the grower, and pointing out to the
transportation companies how they may
conduct their business to the end Of
placing the goods in the hands of the
consumer in good condition.
Besides this, the department is push
ing investigations with the view of
placing these choice fruits across the
water In the markets Of our European
neighbors. Special methods must be
devised for handling and shipping these
long distances. We have shown how
peaches may be shipped from the
southern states and placed on theI
Liverpool and London markets as fresh
as when they were taken from the
trees. Such fruits have yielded hand
some profits and open the way for the
clearing of our markets in times OF
overproduction.
Agriculture Creative Force
Agriculture is a creative force
among our industries. The result of
the farmers work of 1906 was $6,794,-
100000, an increase of "A per cent over
the last census year. He exported in
1906 $1,71S, 100000 worth OF goods of ali
kinds, and OF this 70 per cent was
grown from farms and forests. Ami
mails and their products yielded $685.
100000, or 10 per cent, for export after
supplying the home demand. Cotton
and cotton prodNcts exported were
t4Sl, 100000 or 2S per cent; grain ana
products sold abroad were $l97, 900, 900. |
or lilo per cent? and sllSOoo.OO0. or 6.5l