The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1914-12-18
SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE
RECOMMENDS CHANGE IN
METHODS OF ADMINS
TERING FORESTS.
DAlRYlNG HAS BECOME
AN IMPORTANT BRANCH
Progress of Agriculture Reveals Itself
More Particularly in Diversified
ton, in the Rise of Minor
Crops, Than in Increased
Production of Staples.

Washington, Dec. IL. David F
Houston, secretary of agriculture, il
his report for the fiscal year ended
June 80, 1914, recommends a change
in the methods of administering the
national forests in undeyeloped sec
tions, so that they will yield at once
revenue that can be applied to 10
cal development which will further
assist communities and aid in the set
Element of the territory. Under this
| plan the department instead of wait.
/ ing until timber is actually sold before
the unsettled counties gain any rev
enue from this form of public domain,
Will, if congress grants the necessary
authority, underwrite its proportion
of expenditure for local improvement,
especially for road construction, and
charge this against the counties
shares of timber sales when the tim
Der is opened for commercial cutting.
The theory underlying the depart
ments proposal in this matter is that
the forests in these sections consti.
tute a large part of the lands and
prospective public income of the ter.
ritory, and that the forests, therefore
should bear their share of the pioneer.
ing expense.
In the present report the secretary
of agriculture has confined his discus.
sion almost exclusively to the press.
ing problems of increasing the food
supply of the nation and of lettering
rural life.
Crop Production.
Dealing with the general crop pro
duction of the country, the report
finds:
1.-THE progress of agriculture re-
veals itself more particularly in its
diversification, in the rise of minor
crops TO large proportions, than in
the increased production of stable
products. For example, dairying in
the last generation has become an
exceptionally important branch of the
agricultural economy, the annual pro.
duction including more than one and |
a half billion pounds of butter, hall |
billion pounds of condensed milk, and |
billion pounds of cheese, having |
value of approximately $500, 100000 |
The production of orchard fruits ex.
ceeds 216,000,000 bushels a year, with !
a value of more than S140,000,000. The /
value of the annual production of veg. /
etables is in excess of s400,000,000,
The production OF hay and forage APP.
proximates 100,000,000 tons, with a
value in excess of sS00,000,O0O; the
poultry products of the nation have
reached point where their annual
value is about one-half that of the
cotton crop at normal valuations, and
marked increases are noted in the
quantity and value of the cereals"
Products Show Marked Increase.
The secretary's report includes a
table giving the census figures for
1899 and 1909, showing that in all
products except corn and meat ami.
mails there has been a marked in.
;rease in production during the ten
year period. Continuing, the report
lays:
I'VE know that the wheat crop OF
914 of approximately S92,000,00e !
bushels is the greatest ever produced
n our history, and that the crops OF
'ats, barley, rye, potatoes, tobacco
nd hay are unusually large. The cot
on crop, forecast in October at Is,
$1,000 bales, is the second largest
The apple crop, estimated at 259,000,,
90 bushels, is the greatest ever har
ested. The total production of siz
eading cereals is estimated to have
cen nearly 100000 bushels, OF
bout 42S,000000 bushels in excess OF
he crop of 1913. For the country as a
Thole the crop yield per acre was 90
er cent better than the average fol-
be last ten years. The average yield !
er acre of all staple crops was "a
er cent greater than 1913, and except s
Dr. corn, oats, and fiaxseed, greater !
han the ten-year average"