Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1908-05-14
soIL EXHArsr1oN.


able area, have been SO injured that
them.
SOIL EXHAUSTION
Far more ruinous he said, be
cause universal ana continuing In III
effects. Is the process OF soil exhaus-
ton. II Is creeping over the land from
east to west The abandoned farms
that are now the playthlngs of The
cities rich or the game preserves of pat
rons OF sport bear witness to the mel
ancholy change"
Mr.. HUI said that the fact OF soil
waste becomes startlingly evident when
the record of some states where single
cropping and other agricultural abuses
have been prevalent is considered n
no other Important country IN the
world, with the exception OF Russia,
Is the industry that must be the foun-
dalton OF every state, at so low an cbb
as in our own.
we are robbing the soil" said Mr..
Hill, lin an effort TO get the largest
cash returns from each acre of ground
I'm the shortest possible time and with
the least possible labor
He said that our agricultural land
had been abused In two principal ways,
first by single cropping and second by
ncglecting fertilization. The two reno
dies arc rotation OF crops and the use
OF fertilizers. We might, he declared,
expand our resources and add billions
of dollars to our national wealth by
conserving soil resources, instead OF
exhausting them as we have the for.
ests and the contents OF the mines,
Nh. Hill said that 80 per cent Of our
people are engaged directly In agri-
culeure and that all the rest depends
upon IT, He estimated that in 1925 the
population of the United states would
reach a total Of about 1870 600 900 people
and by the middle OF the century at
least 200 900. 900 people. He continues:
Where are they to GO how are they
to he employed. how fed, how enabled
to earn a living wage. We are APP
preaching the point where all out wheat
product viii be needed for our own
people, whose mineral resources VIII by
that time have greatly diminished.
must find themselves thrown back upon
the soil for living. If continued abuse
of the land should mark the next so
years as IL has the last. what must be
the outlook"
Mr.. Hill said that not only the econo-
mic but the political future is Involved,
and added
EVERY NATIONS PERIL.
Every nation finds it's hour of peril
when there II no longer free access to
the land or when the land will no
longer support the people. Disturbances
within are more to be feared than at
tacks from without. 1t would not be
strange If they should in their desire
fer change attempt to pull down the
pillars of their national temples, Far
may this day be from us, But since the
unnecessary destruction of our land
will bring new conditions of danger,
Its preservation. its Improvement to the
highest point of productivity promises
by scientific intelligence and practical
experiment, appears TO be first conf
mand or any political economy worthy
the name"
Mr. Hill, in conclusion. said: RE-
viving the spirit of the days that Gre
ated our Constitution, the days that
carried us through civil conflict. the
spirit by which all our enduring work
in the world has been wrought. taxi
ing thought as Washington and Lin
coin took thought. only for the high
est good of all the people. we may, as
result of the deliberations held and
the conclusions reached here today,
give new meaning TO our future new
luster to the ideal of n republic Of
living federated states; shape anew
the fortunes of this country. and en-
large the borders of hope for all man
kind"
Mr.. IIill talked Tor nearly an hour
and at the conclusion of his address.
was warmly congratulated by the
members of the convention, including
w. j. Bryan, who shook hands with
him.
Prof. Chamberlain of the University
of Chicago and president of the AM
erican Association for the Advance
ment of Science followed.
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Cl,tsn tfx.. 10 So