The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-09-07

1
draw upon when exhaustion resulted
| from the robbing process and much of
the nations prosperity is the equival-
| ent of what the soil has lost. Our peo-
pie have been we'll fed and until re-
Gently they have been cheaply fed.
| This has been due in part no doubt
| to the occupancy of land easily OBJ
| tainable as soon as the older refused
to yield abundantly and is one of the
prime causes of farm desertion that
| is now attracting so much attention.
Food No Longer Cheap.
Manufactures increased and pros
pered greatly during the last half CEN
tury because food was cheaper in our
country than in any one with which
we competed. Food is cheaper no
longer. Population has increased fas-
ter than production from the soil. A
new soil given to all who desired, was
the basis of our past prosperity. The
soils of our older settlements were
robbed and neglected in the east and
in the south; they had little or no at
tention. Railways were pushed into
the Mississippi valley where the gla-
ciated soils were so rich, so easily Gull
tivated, and supposed to be inexhausti-
BILE. The government policy of giving
farms to the people has exhausted the
supply in the regions where rainfall
usually assures good crops. The noun
tain ranges hold the snow and some
valley lands are being irrigated which
WELD abundantly, but only small per
cent of land west of the one hun
dredth meridian is being irrigated. So
we have found our limitations. Bread
and meat are so dear that employers
of labor are under the necessity of in
creasing compensation that people may
live.
"Since the Civil war heavy exporta-
tions from the farm have paid foreign
debts and kept the balance of trade in
our favor. Expectations from the
/ 81
meats and breadstuffs. We grow
more crops every year but not enough
to feed our increasing population and
keep up our exports.
'"The federal government is expend-
! ing large sums to irrigate more land
which is wise but the amount of water
/ impounded is small compared with the
volume that flows to waste. In a re-
| cent visit to the mountain states 1 saw
| that the most advanced localities are
| everv year making more reservoirs to
hold water and spring flows of waters
| that go free of mans restraint to the
| ocean. The nation, the states and pri-
vate enterprises have ample fields in
which to work toward greater crop
production in this direction.
1.-THE lands of the mountain states
are with little exception very rich in
plant food. and while water continues
to escape in such large quantities it will
| pay to turn them on these lands and
reap the heavy crops that certainly fol-
low. After all the lands are irrigated
that can be, practically, immense areas
remain that lie above gravity irriga-
ton. Efforts are being made by the
federal government, the states, private
companies and individuals to grow
crops on the high lying lands that have
eighteen inches of annual rainfall and
less.
1.-THE department of agriculture, in
obedience to congressional require
| G -ir floT 1o1 Ie. hot
exist under similar conditions through
out the old world Some success is
being had. A wheat from Africa and
Asia gives us 60,00O,00O bushels a year
from the high lying light rainfall
states; grass and alfalfa from Tur
kestan; alfalfas, clovers and vetches
from Siberia; oats from northern
Sweden; millets from the Orient;
sorghum from Africa are samples of
what are being found by our explorers
that thrive on our highlands of the
west
AT thirteen stations in seven states
we have parties of scientists studying
methods of plant management on our
dry lands. If our growth in population
is to continue we must look to the soil
and conserve moisture which is the
transportation system of the plant.
Without adding water beyond what
falls from the clouds it is practical to
greatly increase crop fields by better
soil management and adding fertiliz-
ing material that we permit to go to
foreign countries. We furnish nitrog-
enous mill feeds to thrifty foreigners
VINO know their value to feed their cat
tie to make meats and dairy products
and keep up the fertility of their soils.
These should be fed on the farms that
grow the grain from which they are
made. New lands are not to be had
for the asking in the thirty-inch rain
fall districts of the country. If we are
to prosper as people we must give
close attention to our soils and con-
in our power.
To Conquer Drouth.
"Our lighter soils are affected by
drouths that extend over periods dur
ing the growing season so long that
maximum crops are not secured. We
viii in time find it necessary to follow
the example set by European countries
Of dense population, of building reser-
VolrS to lmpound overflow water to be
used during times of drouth These
reservoirs are built from the sources
Oh thelr river on down toward their
mouths. We can do this with great
proht in some of our states now.
The office of water in growing
plants is comprehended when we real
lze that from three hundred to five
hundred pounds of water are required
by the plant to enable it to make one
pound of dry matter and that a shock
OF corn standing in the field for weeks
: after it is cut has from 25 to 40 per
cent of moisture.
Something is being done to increase
> the volume of our crops in all sections
of our country. The cattle fever tick
of the south has prevented the profit
able production of beef in that section
of cur country. Congress has provided
for the determination of the pest
F which is being done; 100000 square
. miles is now free from it. This will
bring into active production within g
few years all of the southern states
) pastures will be prepared, the primt
element in a system of rotation 81
: crops, cotton seed meal will be fec
: where it is produced, and southern
fields will become much more produc-
+ tive helping to feed our growing popu-
, lation while more cotton will be grown
. on fewer acres