The Colorado statesman., 1917-02-03
Uncle Sam Strives to Secure
Adequate Use of Resources
of Nation.
MANY PROBLEMS ARE SOLVED
Experts of Department of Agriculture
Have Taken Lead in Campaign
That Is Being Waged by
Government.

~ lut tAlSleuCe VI WuSle III
agricultural products" said Secretary
of Agriculture Houston in a recent ad-
dress, "is to admit either an economic
decadence or u lack of inventive ge-
MUS"
In this sentence the secretary of ag-
riculture summed up the reasons lying
behind the great campaign now being
waged by Uncle Sam--the war on
waste.
In this great struggle for n proper
and adequate use of all the resources
of the nation, the department of ag-
riculture is in the front rank, for it
is here that a considerable number of
valuable discoveries and inventions
have been made within the past two
years which will do much to increase
the commercial output of the United
States and to enable every industry to
make the most of products which, in
the past, were considered worthless.
The great majority of persons are ia
miliar with the statement of the Chi
cago meat packer who boasted that his
factories utilized "every part of the
pig but the squeal." Possibly the time
will come when government scientists,
putting their minds seriously to the
problem, will be able to suggest some
economic use of this waste material.
Cider Makes Profit.
Consider, for example, the results of
experiments in connection with concen-
trated cider, one of the most important
of the departments investigations
within the past year.
AT one stroke, the government scien-
lists gained a sweeping victory over
the waste in apples, the high cost of
cider producing, the charges for ship
ping the product, the waste in the de-
terioration of the cider and the cost
of the product itself. AS result of
Uncle Sans work several cider mills
in Washington and Oregon have COM
menced to manufacture concentrat-
ed cider.
The elimination of seeds from the
majority of oranges has deprived Uncle
Sam of the opportunity of doing any
research work along this line, but there
recently arose considerable difficulty
in connection with the handling of this
fruit which the department of agricul
ture was able to solve and thus prevent
another considerable source of waste.
1t was found that proportion of the
Florida oranges, upon arrival in New
York or other comparatively distant
points, were practically worthless on
account of numerous bad spots" and
rotten places on the skins. The con-
sumer naturally declined to purchase
fruit so marked and the loss to the
shippers and retailers threatened to
mount into millions of dollars. The
government took the matter in hand,
however, and found that the blemishes
were due to lack of care in picking the
oranges and that wherever the skin
was damaged by the shears or even the
fingernails of the careless picker the
rotten spots would appear in a short
time.
Make $5,oOo,oo0 Living.
AS a result, an order went forth that
all orange pickers were to wear gloves
and use only blunt-pointed shears, thus
reducing the chances of blemiShes to
n minimum. At once the condition of
the fruit improved and there has been
no recurrence of this difficulty.
But the education of the farmer in
the avoiding of waste is not confined
only to the finished product or to its
handling. The government is continu-
ally working out new ideas for:
A more economic use of farm lands,
The better rotation of crops.
The use of more useful fertilizers.
The introduction of new plants or an
imals which will utilize the waste
spaces in different parts of the country.
The keeping of farm records which
will show the farmer how much he is
wasting and where this leak occurs.
Making the labor of housekeeping
easier and less wasteful.
Educating children In the raising of
pigs, corn, etc.
In short every foot of space and ev-
cry ounce of product should be utilized
to its fullest extent and absolutely
nothing allowed to go to waste.
Another place in which Uncle Sans
ingenuity in connection with waste
products came into play was in the sug
gestion made by the government that
paper manufacturers, who have been
complaining of the high price of print
paper for the past two years. make use
of broom corn, cereal stalks, 'zacaton,"
a wild grass that grows in New Mexico
and is now of no use at all, and hemp
hurds," by-product which remains af
ter the hemp is harvested.
In order practically to demonstrate
the value of the zacatonSnd the hemp
hurds for paper-making, the govern
ment published bulletins about these
two products and their possibilities,
utilizing paper manufactured from
these sources for the purpose.
The government has declared war on
waste in deadly earnest, and Uncle