Omaha daily bee., 1911-01-22
MELLOR MAKES HIS REPORT
Secretary Of State Board Of Agrioul-
ture Tells o. Advance.
WEALTH OF TAI FARMERS BIG
Decade OF Increasing Prices Has
Placed AgricuituristS in Most
EnviabIe POsition-TcIls of
the state Fair.

cultural interests of Nebraska daring the
last decade and especially during the last
years is shown in the annual report Of w.
r. MeIlor. secretary of the State Board of
Agriculture
Mr. Mellor says that a decade of con-
stantly increasing prices with good crops
covering the entire period has placed agri-
culture in Nebraska on an enviabe founda-
ton and resulted in a per capita wealth
for its citizenship. that he calls the marvel
Of the age.
Mr. NIellor also warns the people Of Ne
braska interested I'm its agricultural ad-
vancement against resting upon their
laurels
In such security which lulls to sleep"
says the secretary. 1T is of great import
ance that we should do all within our
power to arouse our people from their
self-sausfaction and hold before them the
necessity % effort for future advance
ment TO rest ON our laurels is but the
advance stages of future decay.
Not only must the interests Of agr1-
culture be advanced, but the important
problems confronting the animal industry
of our state be carefully considered"
Mr.. Mellor declares in his report that the
number of consumers is rapidly increasing
while the ranks OF producers is becoming
deplorably depleted.
Many Of the agricultural districts are
losing population. This means fewer
hands to supply constantly increasing
needs. But II the country keeps up it's
prosperous course, If labor continues in
its present employment the correspond
ingly restricted and proportionately de-
creased number of agriculturists must fur
nish the necessary food and at prices
which will eventually cause the mad rush
cityward to cease and demand attention
from agrculture's financial returns, in
spite Of the lure and the glamour Of the
cities.
To Increase the Animals.
What can be done to increase the num-
Der of cattle and hogs? is a serious ques-
ton. The worlds supply Of cattle and
hogs is contracting at alarmngly in
creased proportions. That the serum
treatment for hogs will materially assist
in solving the difficulty, so far as pork
production is concerned, is assured, but it
takes time to breed up cattle TO attain an
age fit for beef production"
Mr.. Mellor calls attention to the growth
of the school Of agriculture and it's spread
ing influence upon the agriculture of the
state
The enrolment at the College Of Agri-
culture this year is % per cent greater
than last year. The registration this year
is about 2S5 students. Many students in
the arts college are taking special courses
in agriculture and home economics. About
| 800 young women are taking home eco
nomic courses at the agriculture farm.
The growth of agricultural education in
Nebraska and the accumulation of the re-
| suits of the experiment station, is em-
phasizing more and more the necessity for
an adequate means of distributing this
knowledge among all the people. The
Farmers Institute department of the col
! lege has done great work for years along
| this line, but fits resources have become
inadequate to the task
| Agricultural knowledge has accumulated
rapidly during the last fifteen years, and
there is now a great fund of knowledge,
well understood by the best farmers and
by students. of agricultural methods which
should be distributed among all the people
| living upon the land. The agricultural
college offers instruction to not more than
500 young men and women annually, and it
sends out to the farms less than one-third
of this number. Some method of organiza-
ton should be planned and financed which
would permit us to carry the best agri-
cultural methods to the people.
Work of Experimental station.
In telling of the work at the experiment
station Mr.. Mellor says: THE work in the
production of serum for the prevention of
hog cholera has reached stage where It
can be positively stated that the use of
the serum in herds which are exposed TO
cholera and have not yet sickened from
the disease will protect at least 80 per cent
of the herd against cholera. This is a great
advancement in agricultural knowledge,
and II the facilities are furnished by the
state for the production of serum upon a
sufficient scale to supply all the demands,
it will not be long before this most dreaded
scourge is entirely within the control of
the intelligent breeders of this state.
The educational work of preceding
years of the pure food commission has
borne fruit in the gradual decrease of mis-
branding and the more intelligent efforts OF
retail dealers TO obey the law and to under
stand and apply it more generally.
while the limited force that the law
allows for inspection has not been able to
make inspections with the frequency de-
sirable the state has been practically COW
cred and the foundation laid for more
thorough future work.
About 1900 creameries, cream stations
and diaries have been inspected and the
1000 places where other foods were manu-,
featured and sold.
1.-THE records Of the enforcement of the
sanitary law show a desire TO comply will
its requirements on the part of those in
spected and a generally cheerful and
, hearty cooperation on the part Of county
, officials.
r The number of permits for cream testers
/ has increased during the last biennun
) from less than 500 to about 1900 Abou
14OO samples of food drugs and oils hav,
been analysed in the laboratory of tn,
commission during the last biennium.
3 Card Inspection system,
THE system of score card inspection fo
p sanitary conditions and the filing of then
for public inspection meets with very gen
eral approval and will result, with a sufn
p cient inspecting force, In a complete recor,
, OF the sanitary conditions OF every plac
In the state where foods are manufacture,
I or offered for sale"
{ In concluding his report Secretary Mello
Of ha ID an % NTaF L.