4 Journal of Agriculture, Victoria. [10 Jan., 1919. 



diminishes from the Atlantic Coast to the Rocky Mountains. The 

 eastern half of the United States is humid, the western half dry. 



There is a slightly larger percentage of humid country in the United 

 States than in Australia. With Australia the rainfall diminishes as 

 one proceeds from the coast to the interior. A striking difference 

 between the United States and Australia is that of the middle areas. 

 The middle west — the centre of the United States — enjoys a good 

 rainfall, has magnificent river systems, such as the Mississippi and 

 Missouri, is the centre of a thriving agricultural region, and has nume- 

 rous large and prosperous towns. The centre of Australia, however, is 

 arid, and has no great river and lake systems. 



The western half of the United States is very dry, and over much 

 of it the rainfall is insufficient for crop production. Moreover, in 

 Southern California, Utah, Colorado, and Arizona there are deserts 

 as barren and inhospitable as any on the globe. 



On the whole the soils of the United States are fertile. In the 

 middle west the wide valley of the Mississippi includes one of the 

 largest areas of fertile soil in the world. This is the region of the 

 prairies — almost treeless plains — situated in an area of good rainfall. 



One may travel for a thousand miles from St. Louis to the Canadian 

 border, and see on either side dark fertile soils. The soils are net unlike 

 those of our Horsham plains. As, however, the greater part of the 

 rain falls in the summer months, maize is the dominant crop. 



Over much of the arid west the rainfall is too small to permit of 

 profitable crop production without irrigation. This is the region where 

 irrigation has made tremendous strides. 



Droughts often occur in the western half of the United States. At 

 the time of my visit Southern California had just experienced one of 

 the worst droughts on record. In the Eocky Mountain States the 

 Government has advanced a million dollars for supplying distressed 

 farmers with seed wheat this year. 



Texas suffered from a two years' drought. In Southern Alberta and 

 Saskatchewan the wheat was suffering in 1918 in the same way as our 

 wheat crops were in 1914. Yet there were no references in bold type 

 in the press to advertise these untoward events. 



I asked a Canadian pressman why no reference has been made in the 

 press to the drought in the Southern prairies. He remarked that 2,600 

 settlers trekked across the border from the United States every month, 

 and they did not wish to interfere with that precious flow of immigration 

 by advertising their droughts far and wide, and thus injuring their 

 credit abroad. Droughts, both in Canada and the United States, are 

 rightly regarded as local incidents in a series of good seasons, and the 

 people endeavour to mitigate their effects by making provision for con- 

 servation of fodder and water so as to avoid losses of stock, which are the 

 most serious results of drought. 



The agricultural regions of the United States and Canada cannot 

 be compared with Australia in regard to climatic advantages. In the 

 prairies, the Middle "West and the Atlantic States, the winters are in- 

 tensely cold, the temperatures falling below freezing for several months 

 of the year, and this involves hardships both on man and beast. Growth 

 is completely at a standstill, and live stock over the greater part of the 



