The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1909-01-22

"There Is urgent need for Ereatei
safety to the miner The loss Of lift
through mine accidents Is appalling. ano
preventive measures cannot be taken toe
soon.
Lands.
1.-THE total land area OF continental
United States Is 1890. 600 acres. Oi
this but little more than two-ffths is II
farms, and less than One-half Of the farm
area Ia improved and made source OF
crop production. We have nearly
6.OoOOOO farms they average ll6 acres
each The value OF the farms is nearly
one fourth the wealth of the United
States. There are more than 300,0O0ON
acres Of public grazing land The mum
ber Of persons engaged In agricultural
pursuits Is more than 1O,0QO0OO.
I'VE grow one-hgth of the worlds
wheat crop. three-ffths of itB cotton CROP
and four ffths OF it's corn crop. We
plant nearly 5OOOO.OOO acres of wheat an
nually, with an average yield OF about
"a bushels per acre; lOO.OOO0OO acres Of
corn, yielding an average of about q
bushels per acre. and 3O,OOOOOO acres Of
cotton, yielding about l2,0OOOOO bales,
We had on January /, 1903, 1l,OO0lOW
cattle, worth 81, ,25O. 600 zoo; 5lO0O,0OO sheep,
worth S2li 600. 600. 56.00OO00 swine worth
$3.50 100000. The census Of 1900 showed
$4,000 coo worth OF poultry In this coun-
eoef'''fNNN
en- eggs.
The area OF cultivated land may pos.
sibly be doubled. In addition to the land
awaiting the plow. I5,000.0O0 acres OF
swamp land can be reclaimed, 100000
acres OF desert land irrigated, and mil
lions Of acres of brush and wooded land
cleared. our population will Increase con-
tinuously. but there is definite limit to
the increase OF our cultivated acreage.
Hence we must greatly Increase the Yield
per acre The average yield Of wheat In
the United States Is less than "A bushels
per acre, IN Germany 2S bushels, and In
England 22 bushels. We get 80 bushels
OF oats per acre, England nearly 45, and
Germany more than a. our soils are
fertile. but our mode Of farming neither
Conserves the soil nor secures fun crop
returns. Soil fertility need not be dimin-
lshed, but may be increased. The large
Yields now obtained from farms In Eu-
rope which have been cultivated for
thousand years prove this cOnclusively.
Proper management will double our aver
age yield per acre. The United States
can grow the farm products needed by a
population more than three times as
great as our country now contains.
''The greatest unnecessary loss OF our
soil ls preventable erosion Second only
to this Is the waste, nOn-use and misuse
~ fertilizer derived from animals and
men.
"The losses TO farm products due to in
furious mammals Is estimated at $780, OOO,-
900 annually: the loss through plant dis
eases reaches several hundred million dol
lars: and the loss through insects Is
rtckoned az 1859 O0O 600 The damage by
birds Is balanced by their benehcent work
in destroying noNious Insects. Losses due
to the elements are large but no estimate
has been made Of them. Losses to live
stock from these causes are diminishing
because Of protection and feeding during
winter. The annual losses from disease
among domestic animals are: Horses,
is per cent. cattle, . per cent: sheep,
g2 per cent swine. 81 per cent. Most OF
these farm losses are preventable.
Each citizen OF the United States owns
an equal undivided interest In about S16,-
600 COO acres of public lands, exclusive of
Alaska and the insuar possessions. Be
sides this there are about 235, 100000 acres
OF national forests, national parks and
| other lands devoted to public use.
Good business sense demands that a
definite land policy be formulated. The
4 National Conservation commission be-
/ lieves that the following will serve as a
| basis therefor:
a. Every part OF the public lands
should be devoted to the use which will
best subserve the interests OF the whole
| people
80 The classification Of all public lands
! IL necessary for their administration In
! the interests OF the people.
''3 The timber minerals and the sur
! face Of public lands should be disposed Of
| separately,
= pubic lands more valuable for con
/ serving water supply, timber and natural
| beauties or wonders than for agriculture
! should be held for the use OF the people
| from all except mineral entry.
IS. Title to the surface OF the remaining
non-mineral public lands should be
| granted only 70 actual home-makers.
| "B Pending the transfer OF title to ths
remaining public lands they should be
administered by the government ant
| their use should be allowed In a way tC
| prevent or control waste and monopoly.
The present public land laws as 9
/ whole do not subserye the best interests
| OF the nation. They should be modified
so far az may be required TO bring then
into conformity with the foregoing out
line OF policy.
Forests,
Next to our need of food and watel
comes our need OF timber.
"Our Industries which subsst wholly ol
mainly upon wood pay the wages Of
more than 100000 men and women.
Forests not only grow timber, but they
hold the soil and they conserve th'
streams. They abate the wind and give
protection from excessive heat and cold
Woodlands make the fiber. health an,
happiness OF the citizen and the nation.
"Our forests now cover 550OOO,OO0 acres
or about one fourth OF the United States
The original forests covered not less thar
$40 0OO, 600 acres.
I'VE have 10000 900 acres Of mature,
forests. in which yearly growth IL bal
anced by decay, 100000 900 acres partl!
cut over or burned over, but restocking
} naturally with enough young growth &
produce a merchantable crop and 100 900.
100 acres cut over and burned over, upol
which young growth Is lacking or tO
scanty TO make merchandise timber.
1--WE take from our forests yearly. In
Guiding waste In logging and in manu-
facttre. 1900 600 cubic feet OF wood
, We use each year 100. 100000 cords OF fire
, wood: 10000, 100000 feet OF lumber; NOR
, than / 900 900 posts. poles and fenc
rails; us 900, 000 heWn ties; 1900 900, 90
slaves: over l33O0O,OOO sets OF heading
nearly OOOOOOOO barrel hoops; 100000
, ,ords Of native pulp wood; l65OOO,0OO cubi
feet Of round mine tiInbers, and 1880, 10
/ ,ords Of wood for distillatiOn.
! "Slnce 1870 forest fires have destroyed
YEARLY average Of 90 lives and tOO0O,O ,OG
. worth of timber Not less than $1,000 M
Z acres Of forest is burned over yeaTlS
: The young growth destroyed by fire
! worth far more than the merchantabl
r timber burned
'To protect our farms from wind an