Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-27
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT is DOING

| question looms up big at the beginning
of a new presidential administration.
Assailed first by a congressional COM
mittee. muckraked in popular magazines
criticised by numerous congressman from
the west, condemned by officers of severa
settlers associations on the projects the
! reclamation service seems to have fallen
| upon evil days. No direct charges oil
| graft or misrepresentation of money have
| been made. Investigators will be com.
PEELED to look for other reasons behind
the assault upon a bureau whose en-.
cheering work and whose businesslike
administration have become models in
this country as well as abroad 1t is hard
| for government officials to determine
what has happened so suddenly to change
the standing of the service.
| Uncle Sam has loaned without interest
about S90.OOo.O00 to approximately 10000
families in the west on the irrigation
projects. The first installment Of this
debt is now due. and the reclamation
service by law is in duty bound to col.
lect the money. On some of the projects
there are men who have started a move
ment which threatens a reputation Of the
debt owed the government for building
the irrigation works and putting water
this movement declare. 1t is said, that
the farmers should never pay back the
cost of the irrigation.
The men who are Directing to paying
the government for the cost Of irrigating
land are few in num-
Loud Complaints Der. but they have
Wa, made loud complaints
0ie oI'Stcu' to the Department of
the Interior. of which the reclamation
service is a part. and by charges Of ex-
travagance, mismanagement and inefh-
cheney they may attempt to secure from
Congress a release from payment
number OF other objections have been
made to the work of the reclamation
service, but friends of the bureau point
out that there are 10000 families who
compose the settlers on government prof.
ects, that these people come from all
parts OF the country. that few have any
experience in irrigation farming. and
kind of farming. Friends of the service
ask If. in consideration Of these condi
tons, 1t Is strange that there is some dis
cord and strife among the many thou
sand settlers.
Another hammer in the anvil chorus
directed against the reclamation service
is Welded by the men who think the
federal government cannot enter the field
or construction in competition with pri-
waite enterprises. notwithstanding the
anna and by engineers of the reclama-
ton service on large irrigation works
throughout the west The bureau has
demonstrated. according to competent en-
gineers, that in comparison with private
enterprises engaged in, similar work dur
ing the past ten years, the government
has built better works and furnished
cheaper water rights. Large areas Of land
have been reclaimed from the desert, and
l. 100000 acres are now ready for water
70 1i,.s-
the irrigation projects and on the land
ready for water crops valued at more
than $1OOO0.OOO were produced last year
After ten or more years Of experimental
ton government plant experts at last
have succeeded in
BAN DOCS FROM growing a m b o o
Small Cuttings. from, from s small ao,,s cut
ment which is considered by scientists to
be one Of the most important develop
ments made since the Introduction Of this
useful Japanese plant immigrant in the
United States.
Although possessing most of the char
acteristics of tree, bamboo belongs to
the family of grasses. A prominent plant
explorer has coined for it the name '.tim-
Der grass" Heretofore when the govern
ment sent out bamboo plants to private
experimenters, it was necessary to pack
seedlings in more than a peck of earth
and wrap them In parcels weighing at
least TWENTY-FIVE. pounds for each tree.
. Two of , the government's plant propa-
working at the plant introduction field
station at Chico, Cal. have developed
method of growing bamboo from small
cuttings. Wide and economical distribu-
IN Of hnr boo al v1A,
ment is now made possible for the first
time. as four or five cuttings can now
be mailed in four-pound package, a
small fraction of the weight Of the boxes
formerly required to pack a single seed
ling.
Bamboo culture in America is believed
to have greater possibilities than the
average person would imagine, according
to experts of the Department Of Agricul-
ture. The tough. clean wood of the
bamboo has hundreds of uses in Japan
and China. where 1t takes as important
place as any Of the native forest trees
In this country The gulf coast in the
southern states and parts of California
plant experts say. and now that the dis
cOyery has been made Of propagating the
tree from cuttings, it will be possible for
thousands of farmers to experiment with
the Japanese bamboos during the next
five or ten years.
X
Will bamboo culture pay? On a salts
factory answer to this question the
American farmers interest
Fronts OF in this oriental timber
pomhoo. grass will largely depend.
"Doo0. In Japan the growing of
bamboo is considered one of the best
paying plant cultures in the country. with
annual net profits running from $40 to $50
an acre, and sometimes much more, the
price Of the product depending upon the
varying demands for the various kinds
Of bamboo. Bamboo culture is better pay
it requires less attention. running less
risk from bad weather. and because suit
able land is much cheaper than rice land.
Little will be known about the profits in
the United States until Americans have
had q better introduction to the very
many uses OF bamboo and when there are
groves enough to provide constant
supply for the market.
Most persons who have visited Japan
have been introduced to the use Of bam-
boo which is little known in this coun-
In both China and japan kind of bam-
boo called ''moso' is commonly grown
for food. The young shoots OF this edi-
BILE bamboo are cut when about a foot
from the ground. soaked in cold water
after the outside sheaths are removed
and then boiled and served with a sauce
or dressing in a style similar to that in
which asparagus is eaten in this country.
RAYMOND w. PULLMAN.