The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-11-14

plant distribution. and in his annual reports constantly urged the govern ment to take up this and similar work in behalf of the farmer. After much effort he secured fpom Congress in 1889 the first appropriation made in this country for the benefit of agri- culture. It was the magnificent sum of $1.000 and Commissioner Ellsworth was specifically directed to use 1t for the purpose of collecting and distrib- uting seeds. prosecuting agricultural investigations and procuring agricuit- ural statistics. Seventy years later. in the current year 1909. Secretary James Wilson obtained from Congress for the Department of Agriculture an appro- priation of s12.ss5.ooo and had in his employ over 10000 persons.
 Much concern was expressed regard ing what Commissioner Ellsworth would do with his $1,000. It is doubt full If like sum has ever been used to better purpose by any government official. In his report for the year 1S40. he stated that s0.000 packages of seeds had been distributed during the year and that agricultural statistics gathered by the census of 1s40. at his solicitation, were being prepared for publication. These statistics. together with survey of crop conditions and prospects and review of the progress in agricultural science prepared by Commissioner Ellsworth. were pub
 The first publication of farm cen- sus figures opened the eyes of Con gress and the public at large to the vast importance of agriculture among our national industries. Congress doubled the appropriation for agricul- turaI purposes. and a little later when the bill providing for the census of 1850 came up for considerations. pro- vision was made for gathering data regarding every branch of the farm ing industry. A separate data re- garding every branch of the farming industry. A separate schedule was prepared for the farm inquiry and the results were published in full, not on- ly by States and territories but by counties as well. Following their publication, Congress increased the appropriation for agricultural research from $10,000 to $50,000 and made pro- vision for an adequate clerical force. It is significant to note that from 1S40 to the present time the publica tion of the results of each decenniaI farm census has been followed by a substantial increase in the Federal appropriation for agricultural pur- poses. With each succeeding census, the scope of the farm inquiry has been extended until today 1t is more, de- tailed and comprehensive than any other Investigation conducted by the Census Bureau.
 Interest in Agriculture.
 Never before in the history of the country has agriculture claimed the attention that is given it today. The official utterances and public address es of the President, the deliberations and enactments of Congress, the stud ies and reports of scientists and sta tisticians. the editorial pages Of the public press, all bear witness to a keen popular interest in everything pertaining to this greatest of all our productive industries. The twelfth census. taken ten years ago. showed the pre-eminence of the American farmer in our industrial system. Pos sessing fixed capital of nearly twen- ty and one-half billions of dollars he outrank ed the American manufacturer two-to-one. The value of the farm products of 1899 was over s4.700. .00O.- GOO, or approximately $56 for every man, woman and child in the coun- try.
 Agriculture has made wonderful strides since 1900. The past ten years have been unusually fruitful. New crops. improved live stock. and bet ter farm methods, introduced by the Department of Agriculture and our agricultural colleges have undoubted-' ly affected production to a mark ed degree. The steady advance in prices of nearly all articles of farm pro- duce will naturally be reflected in higher land values.
 What effect have these conditions had on the number and average size of farms? Have they tended to pro- mote more intensive farming, or to develop special branches of the in- dustry, as dairying and poultry rais- ing, at the expense of general farm ing? Are there more or fewer own CTS in proportion to the number of tenants than there were in 1900? How much, if anything. has the average farmer added to the value of his buildings and his implements and ma chinery? Has the live stock indus try kept pace with the growth in population?
 These and many other questions of vital interest will be answered by the farm census to be taken next. April. The enumerators who will visit every farmer in the country next spring are going to ask great many questions more than at any preceding census. The man who keeps no record of his farm operations. and who has only a guess work" Knowledge of the ex- tent of his farm possessions. will na- turally be unable, in many instances.