The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-09-17
BUILD is PROGRAM
Santa Fe VIII Develop the
Southwest on a Big Scale.
COmpany's New Department
Taken Over by F. P. Cruice.

F P. Cruice, manager of the Santa
Fe railroads new department of agri-
cultural and industrial development,
will have offices on the tenth floor of
the company's new building, next to
those occupied by the publicity depart
ment. They will be ready for him in
about ten days. Meanwhile Cruice
editor of The Earth.
An important feature of the COM
pany's, new work in agricultural sec
tons, according to Cruice, will be to
help improve marketing conditions.
This will be done by collecting infor-
nation about where and when farm
products will be ready for sale and
where and when there will be a need
of such products. and disseminating it.
thus enabling the farmer to send his
stuff to markets which are not glutted,
and to obtain for it a price that means
a profit rather than a loss. OrganiZa-
ton Of farmers will be encouraged in
order that they may be in position to
utilize the Information available. Thru
local shipping associations, farmers
will be able to handle their produc-
ton IN carloads, which will be to their
advantage
The company will carry on a cam
paign the year around in cooperation
with government and state authorities
with the view of increasing the live
stock output, not only because It gen.
orally is a profitable feature of the
farming business, but also for the pur-
pose of building up the soil. The
small farmers will be urged to i'm
prove their herds by combining their
resources in the purchase of full-bIood
sires- The danger of soil deterioration
will be constantly kept before'the pub
lie Bulletins about fertilization will
be frequently distributed.
Cooperate With Colleges.
In cooperation with state agricul-
turaI colleges, the company will bring
to public attention many vital agricuI-
turaI facts Big messages from high
authority will be carried to the farm
er's door. Perhaps the best results of
Santa Fe agricultural publicity in the
past came from advising the farmers
in various parts of the wheat growing
districts about when to plant in order
to avoid the dreaded Hessian fly;
about the value of grain sorghums;
about the value of siIos, especially the
underground silo in the dry sections;
and about the value of dairy COWS and
poultry for the small farmer.
To help homeseekers find satisfac-
tory locations will be an aim of the
Santa Fe, Cruice says. The company
will keep books on the farmers
brought into its territory thru the eff
forts OF its colonization department,
and Information regarding methods of
soil preparation. seeding, cultivation.
etc, will be furnished to them with
the view of helping them get started
properly; in other words, for instance.
to keep the farmer from Vermont who
moves into Southwest Kansas from
trying to carry on his farm operations
according to the Vermont system. He
must learn the Kansas way. As bust
ness proposition the railroad wants
the newcomer to be an asset to the
community. He will be an, asset Il he
succeed; if he fail. he becomes a liza
bility-, In an agricultural country the
railroad and the community prosper
or fail together
Industrial Revival Ahead
: The new department viii undertake
to help localities in need Of new in
dustries work out their problems IN
that respect Few new industries have
been esta blished slice the war, but
there are signs Of an industrial re-
vival all over the southwest, Cruice
finds A moSt important feature of
this lire of endeavor will be to help
! the industries already established to
expand
/ Since the Santa Fe returned from
| federal control nineteen months ago,
Z It has received more than $4,000 in
/ quiries about opportunities in Kansas
( and other states in its territory. More
1 than half these inquiries are from in
dustriaf centers from men and women
who formerly lived on the farm and
who saved some Of their wartime
wages for investment in rural homes
] now