The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-12-07
SECRETARY WILSON SAYS MIDDLEMAN GETS ALL PROFIT Consumer Pays Dollar for Food; FarmeEs Get Less
 Than 50 Cents" EXPLAINS RESULT
 OF INVESTIGATION Food Remains in Cold Storage Less Than Ten Months-Long Stor-
 age Is the Exception, the
 Secretary States

1 Washington. December 6-'rhe con-
 suiner pays dollar for food; the farmer gets less than 90 cents of it. Who gets | the rest?'
 That is a question which Secretary Will son of the Department of Agriculture
 asked today in his annual report. The
 secretary does not attempt to answer it.
 He does explain in some detail the re- suits of an investigation his department
 has just concluded into the effect of cold storage on the wholesomeness and cost
 of food His investigation leads him to
 recommend publicity for the amount of | food in cold storage just as the depart-
 nent now gives publicity to the oondi-
 ton of crops from month to month. Instead of food remaining in storage
 for longer than a year or two years as
 rule, the secretary declares that his l investigation showed that receipts into cold storage ere entirely or very nearly exhausted by the deliveries out of cold
 storage within 10 months"
 Long Storage Exceptional l Long storage is the exception, the sec retary asserts Warehousemen explained
 Ito the department that excessively long
 storage was due to lawsuits and other l circumstances of an uncommercial na-
 ture The cost of storage. including stor-
 age charge, interest and insurance, Is
 considered as a barrier to very long
 storage
 1 Cold storage. the secretary reports, has | raised the cost of living by increasing
 the annual price level for butter and 1 eggs
 ! The secretary says that an examination
 of the record of prices gives a ''suspicion' 1 that there has been much speculation in | some years by the men who keep com
 modlties in cold storage
 High Priced Eggs | He refers tt 'an apparent mistake' or the storage men in overestimating the consumption z eggs by the public at
 exorbitaslt ,prtces last winter with fhk
 result that in the spring the storHg6 I uien had to sell eggs at remarkably low prices and send abroad the largest amount of eggs ever exported in order to get
 rid of the supply. The secretary declares 1 that the warehousemen ought to be re- 1 dtiired to send to Washington each month
 the amount of commodities placed In i storage so that the public may be able l to judge of the future trend of prices. great variety of subjects are dealt | with by the secretary in his report. He | says that the day is not far distant when | the United States will cease to import | potash. Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee | and Idaho are mentioned as depositorles. | Recommendation is made that all gov l ernment agencies that conserve public l health should be grouped together in one | bureau
 | The success of the department in the l southern states through object lessons in the fields is pronounced to have been l such as to justify the extension of the | work to all the states. 1 The department announces that the | corn crop is moving northward by seed | selection
 The American systems of renting land are declared to be faulty and result in soil robbing It is suggested that do- mestic animals be kept farms even if the land owner must furnish them, and that there be rotation of crops. After years of experimentation, the de- partment says that Egyptian cotton can
 be grown in southern California and
 bulbs in the state of Washington The crayfish is pronounced 10 be se- rious pest in the south Carbon bisulphide is said to be sure remedy. The finest dates from the Sahara desert succeed In the southwestern states. Poultry products for the past year ara estimated to have been worth SI5oooo,W0. l The foresters of the forestry bureau are learning by experiments how to re7 l forest 30O00 acres in a year. The secre- | tary says that ten times this much must | be planted annually to cover all the bare acres in a generation. We are sending explorers to the ends | of the earth for new plants-and getting them,' says Secretary Wilson. Wants Conservation The secretary warns the irrigation faiTn- l CTS that they must conserve their soil; l that irrigation will bring maximum crops while the land is new and full of plant | food But where they are sold year by year. irrigation of itself will not of itself assure good results. The fifteenth annual report of the Sec retary of Agriculture. made public today. begins with series of short paragraphs | of much national importance. They are reprinted below:
 Brief Comments When the cattle fever tick is destroyed in the southern states tho country wilt get 1nuch more meat from that section, and the producing of it will build up the farms there.
 The hog cholera serum developed in this department is successful where 1t Is properly made and applied. Would it be asking too much of our universities to have them educate more plant pathoogists and road engineers. Every country in the world that has
 diseased plants that cannot be sold at
 home ship them to us. This results In great loss The chestnut disease here is an Illustration.
 After years of experimentation we find that we can grow Egyptian cotton Tn south ern California and bulbs in the state of Washington
 l The finest dates from the Sahara desert succeed in our southwest. No seed Is sent out from this depart ment without being tested for germination condition.
 The schools want more of our publica- tions than we have to give them. Seven hundred and fifty million dol- lars is the best estimate for poultry prod- ucts this year.
 1 The day is not far distant when We will cease to import potash. | A serious pest in the south is the craw- fish: carbon bisulphid is sure remedy. We are sending explorers to the ends of the earth for new plants-snd getting them The phosphates are abundant in our country for all possible uses. Florida. Kentucky. Tennessee and Idaho may he mentioned as Repositories. If good roads from the producer to the