The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1912-10-08
encourage the home production of ar

encourage the home production Of ar
ticles we have been importing from
foreign countries. During the last four
teen years there has been an increase
in the production of sugar from beets
which makes the product Of 1910,
amounting to $4,000 tons, over twelve
times that of 1896, and its value about
thirteen timess Fifteen years ago we
produced only one-fourth of the rice
consumed In the United States. The
fostering work of the federal govern
ment has enabled the rice growers to
produce more than the equivalent of
our home consumption, and foreign
markets are being sought for the sur
plus. There was an increase in the
production of rice from 97O0O,000
pounds in 1896 to an average of $685.
100000 pounds during the last four
years.
Scientific research by the bureau Of
soils demonstrates the fact that we
can product at home the fine tobaccos
for which we have been paying over
$20,O00,O00 year to foreign countries.
Our explorers have searched foreign
lands for grains, legumes, fiber plants,
teas, etc, for introduction into Sec
tons of the United States suitable for
their production. The producing area
for grains has been extended westward
into the dry regions of our country
through the introduction of plants that
are at home, where the rainfall is light
Nearly fifty million bushels Of wheat
are being grown in regions that have
heretofore been unproductive.
The federal government is studying
the diseases of domestic animals with
a view to their complete eradication
Our animals and their products go to
foreign countries with bills Of health,
fitness. The American meats are the
most wholesome in the world, as the
world knows. An imported disease Of
domestic animals was promptly stamp
ed out within year of an expenditure
of 100000 to prevent it from spreading
throughout the country among our
herds and fiocks. Rigid inspection
against foreign countries having ami
NAL diseases is maintained at our ports
of entry, in order to protect the health
of our domestic animals.
Within the last fifteen years the gov
eminent has become thoroughly
equipped to deal with plant diseases.
The loss Of 100000 annually was
stopped by pathological examination Of
our sea island cottons. New varieties
OF fruits, cereals, cottons, ETC., are be-
ing created by hybridizing to meet the
demands of producers Of these crops
in the north and in the south.
Our forests have been mostly de-
stroyed and our mountains, the natural
reservoirs for water, have been rem
dered incapable Of retaining moisture.
Efforts are being made to reforest the
country, to prevent fires, to regulate
grazing in our forests, and to study
numbering and forest products.
The federal government is making
inquiry into road material, and a be-
ginning has been made in the educa-
ton of young men toward road build
ing. A laboratory has been estab-
lished in the department of agricul-
ture for the study of materials with
which to construct roads, and rocks,
gravels, clays, thing, cement, concrete
| pavements, stone, brick, wood and as
phaltum are being studied.
The Central American boil weevil.
now the greatest menace to the cotton
crop Of the United States, is being ac-
| lively studied as it increases in range,
and means of control have been de-
vised which make the growth of cot
ton nearly as profitable as ever. The
| insect enemies of other great staple
crops are being Investigated through
out the country, and the gypsy and
| browntail moths, which are threaten
| ing the forest areas of New England.
are being checked and brought into
measurable control by the agency of
the federal government in cooperation
with state authorities. The losses oc-
casioned by insect pests in general
amount to hundreds of millions an
nually, and much of this loss may
| gradually be prevented by the kind Of
work done by the department of agri-
culture
The practieability Of growing tea in
| the United States is being demonstrat-
ed, and extensive experimentation is
being made in the production of silk.
The atmosphere in its relations to
] agriculture and commerce is being
carefully studied, and trained meteor
ologists for the first time in our histo-
ry are being detailed from the depart
ment of agriculture to give lectures in
institutions of learning in order that
we may have scholars in the land
along this line of inquiry to the end
that the farmer and the mariner may
have all the protection that intelligent
forecastlng can give them.
An aim of the department is to make
the American Independent with regard
to everything that can be produced In
our ATTITUDES. Corps of scientists have
been placed in each of the new island
groups that have lately come under
our Jurisdiction for the purpose of
helping them to produce what cannot
De grown III lHe coAtlnentdl OAileu
States.
The department of agriculture is fur
hishing information regarding the re-
quirements and possibilities of irriga-
ton both in the arid regions of the
United States and as an aid to agricul-
ture in the humid east This inquiry
determines the amount of water need
ed to give the best results.
The Lightning Bug.
In Miss Helen Varick Boswell's ad-
dress to the New York Republican
| \ 49,.