The Hawaiian gazette., 1917-05-08

Uncle San, Gro,oiina wise


"A S showing the importance Of good roads in
a the development Of agriculture, recent recla.
nation service bulletins describing various irriga.
ton and drainage projects" in the West 90 into
detail as to the percentage OF the total area re-
quired for roads, as well as outlining the proper
ton Of irrSable land. The area to be used for
highway construction must be drained but not irri-
gated. The government engineers look ON good
roads just as important an item to be provided,
as that the land shall be adequately watered. II
the government errs in providing for either, the
project may prove a bad investment -.
Uncle Sam has given up the old haphazard
method of homesteading improved government
lands, and the frank acquiescence OF the farming
public in the new order of things should be taken
to heart by demonstrating and smalI-farming ad-
vocates in these Islands. Esq.,
Our Uncle, now that he has himself become
landboomer and irrigation promoter takes good
not to give his potentially fat acres to settlers
unless they can satisfy the government that they
are both bona fde farmers and capable of develop
ing the property to get the most out OF it, Many
apply but few chosen. for unless the farmer is
of the right stuff to make good he will be unable
to pay for the land and its improvements. These
reclamation projects are operated out of revov
ing fund so that the opening up of new land, and
the building Of new dams, canals and drainage
bitches, depends on the success of the projects
where the land is already in crop. d"
AS preliminary to the opening Of any reclama-
tion project to entry, the government experts
make an exhaustive study of the cropping capaci,
ty of the land II these experts decide that the
land is best suited to apple orchards they tell the
prospective settler what he ought to try to grow.
There is no compulsion about it, but the average
shrewd American has enough faith in the federal
department Of agriculture to be grateful for tip.
OF this sort. .5 tt1
4 If the experts think the new land viii grow
wheat better than any other crop and are also con-
WINGED that ten inches OF water during the grow
ing season is enough fora grain crop the settlers
who take the land will mostly want to grow
wheat. The homesteader who takes up land with
the thirty inches Of water needed for successful
irrigated fruit farm, but still sticks to wheat, will
probably be laughed out Of the county by his
neighbors even if he is not sold out by the sheriff
This is the new order of things on the mainland,
so when non-agricultural politicians go on to
Washington and plead for the breaking up Of the
plantations into small holdings they will be sub
jected to much sceptical criticism. Uncle Sam is
pretty we'll converted TO scientific farming and it
will take more than the stock political arguments
of generation ago to make our lawmakers be-
eve that it is better for to half cultivate
an acre of cane land than for corporation com
posed of thousand shareholders to grow thou
sand dollars worth OF sugar on the same land
The old ideas and the old order of things are
passing. The people of our great cities want to
be fed, and only ask that agricultural land be uti-
lied to its fullest advantage with that end in
view. Hence it is that the government employs
the best experts obtanable to advise farmers as to
the best potential money making crops to grow
on giydn area. Hence it is, also, that where the
United States government is itself the landlord it
is solicitous TO provide good roads and adequate
facilities for marketing the farmers crops before
opening new irrigation project to settlement.