1920] EDITORIAL. 605 



can sufjfar beet seed, and the utilization of by-products for feed. At 

 the conchision of his term tiiere were sixty-six factories operatin«jj in 

 seventeen States, which handled over five million tons of beets and 

 j)roduced close to seven hundred thousand tons of su<rar. The in- 

 (histry had thus become firmly established as a branch of ajjjriculture 

 and one of the chief supports of farming under irrigation. 



Texas fever had long l)een a heavy handicap to cattle raising in 

 the South, resulting in an estimated annual loss of from sixty to a 

 hundred million dollars. The Department undertook to rid the 

 country of this disease by the eradiction of the tick known to be the 

 carrier and disseminator of it. While at first regarded by many as 

 an impossibility, and admittedly an enormous task, it soon proved to 

 be both possible and practicable, and has resulted in freeing a large 

 portion of the South from quarantine, enabling the introduction of 

 improved stock and proving a great stimulus to the cattle industry. 



An extensive campaign for the eradication of bovine tuberculosis 

 from dairy herds was also inaugarated, which has resulted in a 

 marked reduction in the prevalence of this disease in cattle main- 

 tained under Department supervision, and has contributed greatly 

 to the safety of city milk supplies. The vigor and dispatch with 

 which two outbreaks of foot and mouth disease of foreign origin 

 were stamped out demonstrated the ability to successfully meet an 

 unusual emergency. Attempts to bring the scourge of hog cholera 

 under control had the Secretary's active interest, and when the efforts 

 of the Bureau of Animal Industry culminated in the discovery of the 

 direct cause and the production of a protective serum, he felt that a 

 great step had been taken in safeguarding that important branch of 

 agi-iculture. 



The Adams Act, supplementing the original Inderal appropriation 

 to the State experiment stations, had the cordial support of the 

 Department, and following its passage and the decision that it did 

 not carry any appropriation, the Secretary's success in securing an 

 addition to the agricultural appropriation bill construing the act 

 enabled it to be put into effect Avithout delay. 



The interest of the Department was likewise extended to the agri- 

 culture of Alaska and the insular possessions, and plans matured 

 for supplying aid to them similar to that afforded by the State 

 experiment stations. The year following Secretary Wilson's appoint- 

 ment authority was secured for agricultural explorations in Alaska 

 which resulted in the establishment of stations there, and this was 

 followed successively by the provision of stations in Hawaii, Porto 

 Rico, and Guam, to be conducted under the direct management of 

 the Department. This step was significant not only in the importance 

 it had for the agriculture of those localities, but because of the new 

 attitude it marked toward those possessions. 



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