Omaha daily bee., 1909-12-12
OMAHA REFLECTS THE STATE
Greatness of Nebraska Shown by
Advancement of Its Metropolis.
SPEECH BY CHANCELLOR AVERY
Head of state University Tells of the
Agricultural Resources and that
Advanced Ideas VIII Best
Conserve Them.

THE future greatness of Nebraska will
be reflected in the greatness of the metrop-
oils" said Samuel Avery, chancellor of the
University of Nebraska, in his address at
the National Corn exposition on THE Eco
nomic Future of Nebraska; Services Which
the University May Render" With its
fertile soil, it's climate and Inhabited, as 1t
is, by people of the best of our native and
foreign stock, Nebraska cannot fail to be
great in population, great in wealth and
great in high ideals.
Nearly all cities have owed their great
ness to some advantage in location, and
Omaha, the recognized gateway TO much of
the western country and to the Platte val
ley in particular, is in a strategic position
continued the chancellor II refer to the
Platte valley advisedly. A few years ago
stood on the bluffs overlooking this val
ley near the town of Gibbon. Below me-
as far as the eye could reach, were fields
of wheat, corn and alfalfa. X have made q
similar survey of the Rhine valley from
the mountains of the Odenwald. l have
seen the best portions of the Columbia and
the Willamette from the bluffs on their
borders, but 1 have never seen an agri-
cultural paradise to compare with the val
ley of the Platte as l saw 1t on that July
day
This is a time when mankind is think
ing of the future in an altrulstic way; II
is q time when we wish to feel that our
prosperity is on permanent basis, and
that hundred years from now, perhaps a
thousand years hence the forces which We
have started in motion will continue to In
fluence the state for It's welfare Mos
Americans are optimistic, perhaps to
strongly optimistic, and I regard it as q
hopeful sign that warnings In regard
the future are now being heard and heede
Some of these warnings have been the rt
suit of American thought; others have ~
iginated on the other side Of the Atlantic
HiI's Note of Warming.
THAT practical man of affairs M
James ]. Hill, one of the worlds create
thinkers and doers, utters note OF wa
ing and this note Is particularly impTes
sive since it comes from a man whose pei
sonal work, and the development of who's
projects, have been in the same genera
territory which has most recently re
sponded to the demands Of the hungr!
, world for bread. 1t would be folly for any
one. except on the basis of a most exhaus
tive study, to try to contradict or Il
weaken the force of the warning which MI
Hill sounds.
TT is undoubtedly true that any Ian
farmed constantly must sooner or late
? reach a condition when the mineral con
stituents OF the plant food removed b
the crops must be returned in the form o
: fertilizers AS the result of some studie
made a number Of years ago, 1 stated tina
in the best Nebraska land Of the loes
[ region there was a potential supply @
plant food deposited in the first flftee
: feet of the soil which at current rates fo
= fertilizers would, II 1t could be extracted
bring about $4,000 per acre.
''The studies of Regent Coupland and D.
) Away have shown that the supply {
phosphorus and potash in some OF ou
t best soils is so great that, after nearl
thirty years of cultivation, the amount e'
hausted is relatively too small to be d.
2 tected by the ordinary chemical analyst
e If we could depend on the roots of alfalfa
s and It seems very probable that we cal
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