The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1935-04-19
The DrOuth of 1885

The DrOuth of 1885
Now we come to the worst dis
aster the farmers have ever faced
the drouth of 1885.
For the second time in Ameri-
can history, the swirling dust has
sailed across the country and
clouded the sun for Wall Street
and Washington.
The United States Soil Erosion
Service is issuing official warning
of the disaster which these dust
clouds indicate. Bennett, the di-
rector of the service, states:
"Already five million acres of
once fertile farmland has been
completely destroyed by wind
enOsiOn-shOm of the productive
tOpsOil which is the very essence
of its fertility. At least so mil
lion acres are seriously menaced
and the danger is spreading with
amazing rapidity. Many fields
have lost as much as Is inches
of tOpsOil, in the intense storms
of the past three years; others
have been stripped down to pl9w
depth by. the wind"
The news should not be hidden
that the drouth of 1885 threatens
in wide areas to be as bad OF
worse than the drouth of 1884. The
proof that these facts are known
and accepted by the business lead
ers of the country is shown by the
comment of the National Cit!
Bank in it's March bulletin:
60. the drOuth has not been
broken in this vast western area
the deficiency of subsOil
moisture is greater than ever,
and exceptionally favorable
conditions will be necessary to
raise good crops this year in the
great wheat states"
The department of agriculture it
self has shown by a single notabl
action that it, too, accepts the fac
of a 1885 drouth. Last week Wal
lace lifted restrictions on tn
planting of spring wheat for thi
year provided that farmers agree
to reduce acreage in 1886. Tn
AAA has the jitters-they ko'
that if they go on with crop re
duction in the face of certai
drouth, the farmers of the drout
belt will rise up against then
They also know that merely lift
ing of planting restrictions wi
not help farmers in the drouth a,
ca. Wallace is not giving us an!
thing by this action. All he war;
to do is to avoid certain criticisl
later. The drouth of 1885 is &
accepted fact, by weather and Gre
experts, by big business, and
Secretary Wallace himself. o.
desperate need calls for immedia
emergency and radical action
this conference to force relief.
The strange thing about Anne
lea today is that we have the tee
meal knowledge and the wealth f
overcoming disasters of this so
We could have saved the Gait
We know how to prevent wind Ell
sion. Two months ago, the U.
weather bureau warned that VIII
the late February and early Mar
winds began to blow, dust storl
might be expected. The U. S. 5
Erosion Service points to the fe
elral soil erosion project in Nebr'
ka. where 100000 acres, lying
cross the path Of the wind stor
were not damaged. The methC
are simple-leaving in the stubt
planting sorghum, ridging at ms
: angles to the prevailing win
etc.
Whom Can We Trust7
+ Like all people caught in a d
: perate situation, the ruined fal
| ers and workers are struggi
wildly and reaching out for eve
thing and anything that looks
solution. Their calls for +
are being answered by stra'
figures arising overnight who
mise many things. In answer
: the rising tide of resentment
: gainst concentration of wea
Z Huey Long appears from Lousi
: with the popular cry, "Share
d Wealth." He is given the ra
e the press to talk to thousands
US directly, and plant the ide'
: our minds: Let's give him the ?
er and shake down the rich D
- then all will be well. Stranl
q it IS the rich boys who are
q operating in opening up to +
n. 1.-The expensive avenues of public