The gazette-times., November 12, 1914, HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION, Page 7, Image 13

HOME AND VAHM MAOAZTNE SECTION"
7
What the Government is Doing for the Farmer
An Address by Secretary of Agriculture Houston, Delivered Before the National Dairy Show
Association, Chicago, on Monday, October 26th.
I AM not here today to discuss the
technical problems of dairying
or the live stock situation spe
cifically, and especially not to dis
cuss either of these topics in their
technical bearings. Others much
more expert in such matters will
deal with these problems. I am
here to consider with you certain
broad aspects of agriculture and cf
rural ltfe in this nation; to indi
cate the Interest of the Federal gov
ernment in their betterment, and to
tell you as fully as time will permit
what the Government is doing to
help the farmer and, therefore, to
make the nation prosperous.
It is a truism that the advance
ment of farming and the betterment
of rural life lie at the very root of
our prosperity and strength as a na
tion. Today, all the people, urban
and rural alike, are keenly inter
ested in the supply of the necessar
ies of life, and recognize the su
preme importance of making agricul
ture efficient and profitable and
rural life comfortable, healthful,
pleasurable, and attractive. More
attpntion and more intelligent think
ing have been directed to the study
of the fundamental problems in
j ur;il economics in the last few years
than in any preceding decade, and
it may be safely asserted that In
the last two years more significant
legislative measures have been en
acted or pushed farther to the stage
of completion than in any similar
period in the history of the na
tion. It is vastly significant that atten
tion is no longer exclusively directed
merely to the primary problems of
production. The center of interest
as a matter of fact, has tended to
shift, and the rural life problem
has begun to be conceived, as it
should be as a very broad and
complex one.
larger Aspects of Rural Life.
Up to the last two or three years,
unquestionably attention was direct
ed too exclusively merely to the pro
duction side of rural life. The slo
gan was "make two blades of grass
grow where only one grew before,"
and individualism characterized
thinking and acting. Obviously,
there is more to rural life than the
mere increase of crops and animals,
Important as this is; more even than
Increase in production and the find
ing of markets; more than a matter
of profits and even of Justice in
distribution; and to limit the attack
on the rural life problem merely to
these phases of It Is inadequate and
wasteful. It is necessary to look at
this side of our national economy in
Its larger aspects as well, and while
not neglecting the older forms of
activity to do all In our power to
organize rural life, to develop the
moral, the Intellectual, and the
broader economic, governmental, and
social Interests. For, in the rural
district, no less than In the urban
district, It is life and that more
abundantly which we are Interested
In, and to which all the material
things must minister, and certainly
the time has come to bring it about
that all the fruits of modern civili
sation shall not accrue to the towns
and cities.
The neglect of rural life by the
nation has not been conscious or
willful. We have been so bent on
building up great Industrial centers,
In rivalling nations ot the world
not so fortunately circumstanced
agriculturally, In manufacturing,
fostering it by every natural and
artificial device we could think of
go busy trying to make each city
larger by a half million or more
people for the next census, that we
have overlooked the very founda
in
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tions of our Industrial existence. It
has been assumed that we have had
a natural monopoly in agriculture,
that it could take care of itself, and
for the most part we have cheer
fully left It to do so; and, too, reck
nessness and waste have been inci
dent to our breathless conquest of
a continent. And so, as the Presi
dent recently said: "It has, singu
larly enough, come to pass that we
have allowed the industry of our
farms to lag behind the other activ
ities of the country in Its develop
ment Our thoughts
may ordinarily be concentrated upon
the cities and the hives of industry,
upon the cries of the crowded mar
ket place and the clangor of the
factory, but it is from the quiet
interspaces of the open valleys and
the free hillsides that we draw the
sources of life and of prosperity,
from the farm and the ranch, from
the forest and mine. Without these
every street would be silent, every
office deserted, every factory fallen
into disrepair."
Peace and Prosperity.
We rejoice over the prosperity
and the progress of American agri
culture, which on the whole are
marked. We witness a vast expendi
ture of money to foster agriculture
through all sorts of scientific and
practical measures on the part of
the States and of the federal gov
ernment. We are grateful for the
fact that while the leading civilized
nations of the world are in the
throes of a deadly and destructive
war, this nation is at peace and the
American farmer is receiving in
creasing compensation for his effort
and is permitted to enjoy his work
and the fruits of It free from the
burden of militarism, and without
threat of wholesale destruction of
life and of property. No thoughtful
man can fail to be optimistic over
the situation and the prospects, but
optimism should not blind us to the
seriousness of certain problems.
With all our efforts, while we
witness an Increasing diversification
of agriculture and both a relative
and absolute Increase In many of
our important lines of production,
such as wheat, forage crops, fruits
dairy products, and poultry, we still
note not only a relative but also an
absolute decrease in a number of
our Important staple food products,
such as corn and meats. In the
former, In the last 15 years, there
has been no substantial advance.
In cattle, sheep, and hogs, there has
been an absolute decline In cattle
from the census year 1899-1909 of
from 50 million head to 41 million;
in sheep of from 61 million to 62
million; of hogs from 63 million
to 58 million, while population has
increased 16 million.
Remember that this situation ap
pears not In a crowded country but
in one which is still In a measure
being. pioneered; in one in which,
with 935 million acres of arable
land, not over 400 million or 45 per
cent is under cultivation; in one in
which the population per square mile
does not exceed 31 and ranges from
.7 of one per cent in Nevada to 508
in Rhode Island. What is the trou
ble? Is it that the American farmer
has not as much Intelligence or as
high a degree of efficiency as those
of other nations? I would resent on
behalf of the American farmer Buch
an imputation and the facts contra
dict it. It is true, be does not pro
duce as much per acre as the farmer
in a number of civilized nations
but production per acre is not our
standard.
It Is production per person en
gaged In agriculture and by this
test he is from two to six times as
immmmmmmmk
efficient as most of his competitors.
And I have not the slightest doubt
that the ensuing years will make it
clearer that the American farmers
can hold their own in free competi
tion with those of the rest of the
world and not only retain in large
measure a monopoly of his own
rapidly growing home market but
also supply a considerable part of
the foodstuffs consumed by the
world. Relatively speaking, exten
sive farming is still economically
the sound program for the American
farmer, but it is becoming decreas
lngly so; and the aim must be, while
maintaining supremacy in produc
tion per man, to assert supremacy
in production per acre. The contin
ued solution of the problem here
suggested is one which now seri
ously engages the attention of the
federal government as well as the
governments of the States.
Decrease in Staples.
Through every promising ap
proach the government Is studying
and attacking the problem of in
creasing production. Through cul
tural methods and the control of
plant diseases and plant insects the
experts of Plant Industry are lend
ing their assistance. They are sug
gesting improved varieties of sta
ple crops, introducing new ones, en
couraging standardization and point
ing out methods of protection from
plant diseases and plant insects;
and the requisite quarantine mea
sures are being enforced. They
have introduced drought resisting
plants, vastly stimulated the citrus
fruit industry, established rice in
California, cotton in Arizona, point
ed the way to the continued suc
cessful growing of cotton in boll
weevil districts, introduced the cul
ture of figs in California, protected j
the farmer against seed adultera-i
tion, taken effective steps to safe
guard the great potato industry of
the nation, and have done many
other things the mere mention of
which time will not permit.
Just what factors have brought
about the serious situation con
fronting the nation In its meat sup
ply no one can with certainty de
fine; and so to ascertain them I
have appointed a commission con
sisting of the best authorities 1
could discover. It will make a sur
vey of the whole field and report
at the earliest possible moment
This study will embrace an investi
gation of production and consump
tion, of the methods of producing,
finishing, and marketing, and when
a conclusion is Reached, such mea
sures as may be helpful will be
adopted and any further requisite
measures for Increasing production
and bettering distribution will un
questionably be supported by the
authorities.
Not Only Big Ranches.
Certain things, however, are now
clear and definite measures for In
creasing the meat supply are being
taken and can be taken with cer
tainty. It is clear that we have been con
sidering the meat supply of the na
tion too exclusively in terms of the
big ranch and of the large ani
mals. Obviously it is important
that we should continue to help the
cattleman and to develop the ranch,
and no pains will be spared to do
this. The Government Is now
spending money to develop the live
stock industry in connection with
the reclamation projects, and the
Department is asking for more. It
Is attacking the problem of over
stocking and overgrazing on the
range and in the national forests
which furnish pasture for over one
million six hundred thousand cattle
and horses and over seven million
six hundred thousand sheep and
goats. It is demonstrating that un
der systematic management the
grazing value of land can be re
stored and increased and can pro
duce heavier animals even with an
increased number, and that under
proper management the range can
be improved faster in use than in
idleness.
But unquestionably the largest
hope for a considerable increase in
our meat supply lies in three other
directions: First, in systematic at
tention to the production of larger
animals in the settled farming areas
of the country, especially in the
South. Second, In increasing atten
tion to the smaller animals, such as
swine and poultry, and Third, in the
control and eradication of cattle
ticks and hog cholera.
Animals and the Average Farmer.
There is no question that the
average farmer in the settled areas
of the nation generally can produce
a greater number of the larger ani
mals, principally as by-products, to
the betterment of his farm economy,
and without great increase in ex
pense, and that the farmer in the
South in this respect enjoys unusual
opportunities. And it is farther
apparent that the farmers every
where in the existing state ot know
ledge can largely Increase the sup
ply ot swine and poultry products
which constitute a large and increas
ing part of the consumption of the
average family, the annual value of
the latter alone aggregating half
a billion dollars, or 50 per cent of
the aggregate value of the cotton
produced in the nation. The last
census shows a lamentable neglect
of live stock in the South.
While the average Iowa farm has
six milk cows, in North Carolina
and Alabama It has less than two,
and In South Carolina one. While
the average Iowa farm has 85 hogs,
in North Carolina and Alabama, It
has less than 5, South Carolina less
than 4.
And while the average farm la
Iowa has more than 108 poultry, ta
North Carolina and Alabama, it has
less than 20, and in South Carolina
less than IT. A well trained in
vestigator has recently said that the
average farm home in Georgia pro
duces less than 2 eggs a week, less
than 2-1 of an ounce of butter, and
2-3 of a pint of mUk a day, and
1-3 of a hog, 1-12 of a beef, and
1-100 of a sheep per year per per
son, and that the cotton crop of the
State does not even approximately
pay its food and feed bill. No
southern State is giving the requi
site attention either to the produc
tion of foodstuffs for human beings
or for live stock.
A conservative estimate indicates
that Texas imports from other
States annually more than 350,000,
000 worth of wheat, corn and oats:
Georgia more than 124,000,000;
South Carolina more than 320,000,
000; and 12 southern States more
than 3175,000,000 and 348,000,000
worth of meats, dairy and poultry
products. It may be admitted that
most of these States should not un
dertake the production of these
commodities for foreign or inter
state shipment in competition with
the great States of the Middle West,
but every student must recognize the
unwisdom of their failure to pro
duce enough of these things for the
consumption of their people and for
the laying ot the foundation of a
prosperous live stock development.
Single Crop Evil.
Too exclusive devotion to a single
crop anywhere is unwise in normal
times, and is a peril In times of dis
turbance. It is bound to produce
Just such a catastrophe as has be
fallen the South in the present
emergency. It prevents the full
Utilization of land and labor, fails
to fill the gaps In the work sched
ules, and furnishes no reserve.
(0m tinned on P?9 Eight)
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