Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1916-03-17

the fertility of the soil had been
maintained or increased. Where
transportation facilities provided a
market for wheat, there was a ten
dency to concentrate on the single
crop with the result that the farms
along the Atlantic seaboard had
gradually decreased in productive ca
pacity until in many places they
failed to produce enough to pay for
the labor involved in planting and
harvesting the crop.
A like condition existed in the val
leys and on the tablelands of the
Middle states. In many of the older
settled portions the farms had been
abandoned, their owners moving west
to the fertile prairies of the Missis-
sippi valley, where with Improved
machinery they were extracting the
soil fertility much more rapidly than
their fathers had been able to do
with their cruder implements and
more diversified methods.
The Morrill, bill provided for a
large grant of land to the various
states for the establishment of col
leges where students were to be
taught thes Science of Agriculture
and Mechanic Arts" 1t was unfor-
tunate that the popular ideas regard.
ing education had not progressed as
rapidly as industrial development,
and logically the first attempts at
agricultural education were as crude
as the implements of our great
grandfathers.
Students of economic conditions
realized the danger and folly of sys-
tenn of farming that made no provi-
sion for maintaining the fertility of
the soil. Many of their suggestions
were scoffed at as theories" Book
farming" became a by-word. The
whole country was money mad"
Our forests, mines and the fertility
of the fields were coined into dollars
that rapidly found their way to the
cities. The men on the land would
heed warning only when they were
in trouble. The beef to feed the
steadily increasing population was
being grown on the western ranges,
some times going direct from the
range to the slaughter house, some
times being distributed through the
corn states and being finished for
market on cheap corn. Cold storage
and refrigerator cars enabled the
large packing houses to place this
meat in the markets of the country
at price that put the small grower
and local butcher out of business.
Future Beef Supply. "a
The range stock business has come
and gone. The future beef supply of
the country must come from fenced
fields and cultivated crops. This
means radical readjustment OF the
business. Increasing land values ne
cessitate more intensive methods and
larger returns per acre. The main
tenancr or increasing of the product
i've capacity is recognized today as
one of the most important factors in
successful farming.
This evolution Of agriculture has
Influenced the moral, social and re-
ligious, as well as the material con-
ditions Of the people. The CONNER
of the business of farming
1as largely obliterated its beneflcent
influence on the home life of the
people. The concentration Of that
effort and ambition to mere money
getting has left an evil impress on
he social, moral and religious life of
he people. 1t has been truly said
hat
The fault of the age is mad en-
deavor
To leap to heights that were made
to climb;
BY burst of strength, by a thought
most clever,
We plan to forestall and outwit
Time"
Ito Be Continued Next Week.)