STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 19 



menting on different varieties of trees from all parts of the globe, 

 trying to relieve the monotony of our monotonous treeless plains and 

 bare hills, and clothe them with verdure. 



The same problem confronts the State of Nebraska, and, as you 

 whirl through the Valley of the Platte, you see there, as ycu may in 

 some parts of California, thousands of acres of artificial forest. On 

 the other hand, it is interesting to observe how in our own Slate the 

 young trees are spreading over the lower slopes of the Sierras and 

 the foothills since they have been protected from tires. How inter- 

 esting and valuable an investigation of this subject might be made. 



The absence of true feed grasses is another peculiarity of this 

 dry region. Professor Hilgard says that meadows and permanent 

 grass pastures, and even clover, are practically eliminated from the 

 agricultural system of this State. They are possible only where arti- 

 ficial or natural irrigation supplies moisture throughout the season. 

 "This absence of grass makes necessary the cutting of the ordinary 

 cereal crops for hay before the grain ripens," and "wheat hay and 

 barley hay are among the California oddities that first strike the 

 agricultural immigrant." Here the department might help us to 

 find substitutes — new forage plants, native or foreign, which will live 

 through our dry seasons. The thrifty economical Eastern farmer, 

 coming here in the Fall, is amazed to see the sky lighted at night by 

 fields of blazing stubble. His California friend justifies the practice 

 by telling him that the soil in many sections becomes so parched and 

 dry that stubble, and even manures, when turned in by the plow, will 

 not decay, but remain a hindrance, and not a help, to the farmer, and 

 his only method to get rid of the stubble and straw is to burn it. 



The same dry soil furnishes a comfortable home for those various 

 pests of the farmer which find their breeding place in the ground, 

 and they increase indefinitely, to his great annoyance. He w r ages 

 perpetual war against the insects and ground squirrels, while the 

 heavy rains and inclement Winters which in the East destroy such 

 pests and keep them within bounds, are wanting here, and but for 

 an exceptionally wet Winter once in awhile, nature gives him no help 

 in his warfare. On such points as these an intelligent research by 

 the Department of Agriculture would be of great assistance. 



I might add indefinitely to this list of differences, but it is not my 

 province. One more instance and I will close the catalogue. The 

 science and practice of irrigation are peculiar to this arid region. 

 While many parts of California do not require it, others can do 

 nothing without it, and almost everywhere it is helpful. Irrigation 

 almost reverses the natural conditions of agriculture. When the east- 

 ern farmer has bought his land, Providence supplies the blessed rain 

 from heaven " without cost," and his crops mature without future 

 expense. But here the water-right often costs more than the land — 

 indeed, gives it its chief value. On the other hand, the irrigating 

 farmer can gauge' the supply of water to suit his crops, and fears 

 neither droughts nor floods. But I must not enter on so vast and 

 attractive a subject as the science of irrigation. Its means and 

 methods will be a study for our farmers for generations to come, 

 and its possibilities are almost beyond conception. A scientific 

 study of its operations is one of our greatest needs. 



All these and kindred topics are to be investigated. Each subject 

 opens a world of inquiry and calls for most careful study. Nor will 

 this be the only good you will derive from this new departure. If 



