The independent-reporter., 1909-12-23
THE j. s. GEOLOG-
|CAL SURVEY
What it is Doing For
The Farmer
DIR. Geo. Otis Smith Addresses SkOw.
hegan Grange.

The illustrated lecture given by Dr.
George Otis Smith before the Grange
last evening, was we'll attended. The
speaker was fittingly introduced by
the lecturer, Roland T. Patten, and
gave an interesting address OF prac-
tical value to the farmers. Tie fol-
lowing is an abstract of the address:
To the farmer, the name United
States Geological Survey may not
carry any special significance. might
tell you that it stands for a federal
organization in which science and
practice cooperate; but to you it
doubtless suggests rather the study
of rocks and minerals, of probably
more use to the mining industry than
to anyone else. Yet the work of the
Survey is to very large extent di-
rected in the interest of American
agriculture and the agriculturist.
OF the present day work of the
Survey which is of the greatest i'm
portance to the farmer may be men
toned the classification of dry farm
ing lands, under the enlarged or
800 acre homestead act, and work
among the phosphate lands of the
West. Other lines in which Survey
work figures prominently and which
have an agricultural relationship and
interest are surveys of swamp lands
for drainage purposes; the survey of
desert lands and the investigation of
their water supplies to enable re-
clamation through irrigation; investi-
CATION of underground water supplies
not only in the West but in all parts
of the country; the study of floods
with relation to their inundation and
sitting of bottom lands and erosion
of farm lands and the topographic
mapping of the entire United States,
thus furnishing a physical map upon
which all engineering developments
can be based ranging from the cut
ting of a new road or the drainage
of the farm corner to the construc-
ton of million dollar irrigation en-
terprise in the West or the conyer-
sion into farm homes of the greatest
swamp areas in the East.
Mr.. Smith laid special stress
perhaps of the most interest to East
ern farmers, on the work of the
Survey In connection with the phos-
phate supply of the country. He show
ed that of the three plant food ele-
ments, essential to every crop, the
supply of PHOSPHORUS is by far the
smallest, in fact, that it is entirely
inadequate to make good the eX-
heustion which is. constantly occur
ring on almost every farm, through
the shipping off of the farm all crops
which have drawn large supplies of
phosphates from the soil and most
of which is returned to the soil The
probable natural supply of phosphor-
GUS for fertiliZing material is the
phosphate rock found in the Southern
states and also deposits recently in
yestigated by the Geological Survey
in the public land states. The East
ern supply is extremely limited and
at the present rate of mining will last
only about one generation. The
Western deposits are extensive and
the speakers plea was that none of
this phosphate should be exported.
Appropriate action by Congress, he
said, would provide that every pound
of phosphate rock mined from these
public land deposits should be util
lied on American farms.
The broad question, the study OF
conserving farm production is the
most important one which the Am
erican nation has to consider; it
transcends all others, economical or
political, and in this connection he
showed a vital relation between the
maintenance of American soil fertil-
ity and the consequent continuance
of farm prosperity. and the supply of
PHOSPHORUS. He quoted figures from
Illinois and Ohio experiments show
ing that in 81 years Of ordinary crop
ping. land originally rich in phos-
phorous had lost 1864 pounds per
acre. or more than one-thrd of its
original phosphate content.