Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-10-14

70 branch of the executive serv-
Ice Of the United States has
contributed more TO the well
4 fare Of the people of the coun-
try than the Department OF
Agriculture. Under the influence OF the
| gospel of progressive farming the yield
OF wheat has increased from ten bushels
per acre In 1865 to an average OF fifteen
bushels under present farming conditions
Corn now yields about thirty bushels to
the acre during an average year, as COM
pared with twenty-five bushels hair
century ago. Throughout all the list OF
plant and meat crops the same ratio OF
expansion has taken place.
But great as has been the growth IN
the past fifty years, it is believed by the
experts of the Department of Agriculture
that this expansion will be much more
than duplicated during the coming fifty
years A good farmer today is able to
produce an average of twenty-five BUSH
els of wheat to the acre, sixty bushels OF
corn and bale and a quarter of cotton.
Ii the average farm crop of half CEN
fury hence is no better than that pro-
duced by the good farmer Of today the
total value of the crops at that date Will
be many billions of dollars greater than
it is today.
lie Increased value OI COtlOH vi INC
basis Of a bale. and quarter to the acre
as compared with the present yield of
two-fifths of a bale would show an in
crease in value in the cotton crop alone
Secretary James Wilson thinks there will
be little difficulty in increasing by half
the yield of every staple crop grown in
the United States, and that the remarka-
BILE progress in educational work among
the farmers of the country made during
the past decade will grow in amazing
proportions during the coming quarter OF
a century.
While the Department of Agriculture is
developing thes farms and vegetable crops.
it is not overlooking the Importance of
expanding the livestock industry. The
livestock interests of the nation are
looked after by the bureau of animal in
dustry This bureau has charge of meat
inspection, national quarantine regula-
tons for livestock, the study OF animal
diseases and their relation to the human
race and investigations in stock raising
and dairying. q.
One-fourth of the dairy cows of the
United States do not pay market price
for their feed. If the average COW in the
United States can be induced to furnish
just five pounds of butter more year
it will add $50, 100000 annually to the
productive capacity of the American
farm. If the hens of the country each
can be induced to lay one dozen eggs
more a year they will increase the an
nual value of of the egg supply to the ex-
tent Of $59,O0O000.
The government expends about S3,O00,OO0
year on meat inspection, inspectors
being maintained at about thousand
establishments in 237 cities and towns.
Each year about 5O000,GG0 live animals
are examined before slaughter and APP
proximately 1909, 100000 pounds OF meat
are inspected after slaughter. Nearly
million animals are condemned annually.
either in whole or in part. tuberculosis
is the cause of about 46 per cent of the
concentrations of cattle products and
So per- cent of the concentrations of hog
products.
The bureau of animal industry also
maintains an experiment station at
Bethesda, Md, for Investigations in AMI
NAL diseases and has an experiment
farm at Beltsvile Nd, where work in
dairying and the breeding and feeding
of livestock and poultry is carried on.
This bureau also has charge of the
work of eradicating animal diseases. 1t
has been fighting the Texas fever tick
for years, and is gradually succeeding in
discriminating this dangerous foe of the
beef industry. The bureau recently
found that over IS per cent of the cattle
in the District of Columbia were affect
ed with tuberculosis. quarantine was
established, after the elimination OF the
affected cattle. with the result that in a
year or two dairy stock in the District
has been practically free from the raw
ages of this disease. The bureau has also
produced a highly effective serum treat
ment for the prevention of hog cholera,
by means of which it is believed that the
tremendous losses from this disease may
be greatly reduced and in time entirely
prevented. lin one experiment there was