Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 35, Number 141, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 December 1903 — SECRETARY WILSON REPORTS. [ARTICLE]

SECRETARY WILSON REPORTS.

Tells of Tasks Performed by Agricultural Department. Secretary Wilson of the Department of Agriculture has submitted his seventh annual report to the President. Secretary Wilson emphasizes the requirements of the department for research work and says it is not possible to -secure -enough graduates from the agricultural -colleges to .supply the demand for education in the various branches of the department Since 1897 thCre have been admitted- to the department 490 students and other scientists have been secured wherever possible. ■ ' Mr. Wilson gives the total agricultural products not fed to live stock at $3,742,000,000 and the balance of foreign trade in favor of the farmers of this country during the last fourteen years, $4,80G,Q00,000. He says "it is the farmer who has paid the foreign bondholder.” The Secretary recites the Inspection work of, the Bureau of Animal Industry in cattle and meat exports, an inspection which included cattle, sheep, calves, hogs and horses; total a'nte-mortem inspections aggregated 37,261,629.. There was'one shipment of horse flesh. Mr. Wilson says the department has made a strong effort to improve the quality of seeds for distribution to fnrmers, but regrets that the work does not accomplish the ends for which the law was originally framed. /He believes., that no practical benefit is derived from the distribution of seeds on congressional orders, and recommends that the distribution be confined to new and rare sorts. Macaroni 'wheats, he says, should uOT~ 'be grown where tfie fainfnll is sufficient for the varieties of spring and winter whents. The value of j nitrogen-fixing bacteria in leguminous crops lias been well established, and good crops of clover, alfalfa and other crops have been grown on soils that have been 4Qkres witEant this bacteria. The department is striving to secure the general adoption of more accurate and systematic methods of grading grains. The Secretary recommends a thorough study of our principal crops to determine the best locality for seed production, nnd the advantage or disadvantage of changing seed from one locality to another. Secretary Wilson reports n satisfactory development of the beet sugar industry. In 1890 29,220 tons of sugar were made, and a year ago 220,000 tons. Careful estimates put the present crop at about 260,000 tons. The growing of seed in the United States*of a superior quality is assured. He concludes that the industry is now well established. The area surveyed and mapped during the present year exceeded 23,000 square miles, or nearly 15,000,000 acres—as much as the total area previously surveyed since the work was begun. Parties are now kept in the field all the year, moving into southern areas in winter. The work of the year covered sixty-three .ureas in thirty-four.. Statca. nod, tgrritp. ries. the total soil survey to date covering nearly 80,000,000 acres. The cost of the survey for the year amounted to $03,313.51, of which $1,748.35 was paid by State organizations. The Secretary reports a great demand for men experienced in this work from colleges and experiment stations and in private enterprises.