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THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



THE SECRETARY k OF AGRICULTURE. 



In a chat between Secretary of 

 Agriculture Wilson and the editor of 

 THE IRRIGATION AGE recently, the 

 subject of irrigation laws was touched 

 upon, and the Secretary stated that he 

 had been an advocate of these laws be- 

 cause it would give homes to a class 

 of young western farmers who have 

 been crossing the border into British 

 Secretary Wilson, possessions'. He said that this class 

 of fanners know everything to be known about settling 

 up a new country and are ready to take advantage of 

 all natural and artificial facilities; that they under- 

 stood sub-district, township, county and state govern- 

 ment and would become leaders and directors of the 

 neighborhood fortunate enough to secure them, and 

 that such young men and women are necessary in all 

 settlements of immigrants coming into the United 

 States. The idea of Secretary Wilson apparently is 

 that the young, progressive American farmers among 

 distinct foreign settlements, such as have been estab- 

 lished in recent years in our western States, would 

 have a tendency to inculcate in the minds of these 

 immigrants some conception of- American government 

 and interests and would gradually wean them away 

 from their foreign methods, thereby making them bet- 

 ter citizens at an earlier date than would be possible 

 were they left by themselves, to develop, oftentimes, 

 along wrong lines. 



Continuing further, the Secretary stated that the 

 moment you put water on lands in arid sections you 

 can grow the finest beets in the world, containing a 

 higher percentage of sugar in the beet than the Euro- 

 peans have ever developed. He stated that his de- 

 partment had sent out men to superintend the grow- 

 ing of beet seed in Washington, where there is 19 per 

 cent of sugar in the beet. Continuing along the line 

 of thought, which is apparently deeply imbedded in 

 the mind of Secretary Wilson, he said that the young 

 men, of whom he spoke earlier in the conversation, 

 understand live stock, dairying, etc. They are the sons 

 of farmers in the Mississippi valley and they can utilize 

 all the products of beets. That is why he wants to 

 see them out in the West, where beet culture is develop- 

 ing into so large an industry. 



Secretary Wilson said that his department had 

 sent out to the Upper Volga Eiver, Russia and Algeria 

 in Africa, for seed wheat to introduce into States where 

 the rainfall is only ten inches, with the idea of de- 

 veloping macaroni wheat interest in those territories, 

 and that last year 10,000,000 bushels of this wheat were 

 grown and next year the crop will probably reach 25,- 

 000,000 bushels. Continuing, he said that where seed 

 of this kind was introduced, it was first sent to the 

 experiment stations in the different western States, 

 where its cultivation was brought to perfection, in 

 given localities, after which it is given to the progres- 

 sive farmer and whenever its culture is fully under- 

 stood the department defer further experiments along 

 that line in that district; the Government continues, 

 however, to experiment and demonstrate what can be 

 done until a sufficient number of farmers in any local- 

 ity are so thoroughly posted they can go on and develop 

 crops along the lines suggested by the stations. 



SENATOR HANSBROUGH'S VIEWS ON REPEAL 

 BILL. 



A representative of THE AGE recently requested 

 Senator Hansbrough, who is the author of the national 

 irrigation bill and is now endeavoring to put through 

 Congress some very important measures bearing on 

 public land questions, to give this publication his views 

 with respect to the bill which he passed through the 

 Senate a few weeks ago repealing the Timber and 

 Stone Act. The Senator's reply to our request is as 

 follows : 



"Eesponding to your request that I furnish you 

 with my views on the bill to repeal the Timber and 

 Stone Act and to provide for the disposal .of timber 

 on public lands outside of forest reserves, permit me 

 to say that the existing law is unsuited to present con- 

 ditions; that it has been the instrument through which 

 much valuable timber land has passed into private 

 hands at a price far below its real value, and there 

 is no reason why the Government should part with 

 its property at figures admittedly below what it is 

 worth. 



"To repeal the law, however, without substituting 

 in its stead a statute authorizing the disposal of tim- 

 ber would not be in accord with good business prin- 

 ciples. The effect would be to force the ultimate sus- 

 pension of many small sawmill enterprises, and further 

 to create a scarcity of lumber, thus contributing toward 

 those larger manufacturers who own extensive bodies 

 of timber. It was for this reason that those who fav- 

 ored the bill which has passed the Senate agreed to 

 the repeal of the law and the insertion of the provision 

 authorizing the sale of the right to cut government 

 timber in such quantities and under such restrictions 

 as the Secretary of the Interior should prescribe. 



"If the bill becomes a law the Secretary may dis- 

 pose of the right to cut in such manner as will meet 

 the demands of the mill men and the public. He will 

 doubtless restrict the cutting to the matured trees, 

 leaving the younger ones for future disposition. In 

 this way perpetual forests will be preserved, which 

 will be of lasting advantage to all. Had such a policy 

 been entered upon twenty-five years ago the Govern- 

 ment would be richer by a hundred million dollars, and 

 many river beds now almost dry would be filled with 

 water. The law as it now stands is a constant temp- 

 tation to evasion and a most convenient vehicle for 

 rapacity." 



W. H. KILLBN. 



We are showing herewith a snap- 

 shot of Mr. W. H. Killen, land com- 

 missioner of the Wisconsin Central 

 railway, as he appeared at the Wis- 

 consin State Fair, where he had on 

 exhibition a new idea in wind mills 

 for pumping and power work. An 

 illustrated article will appear in a 

 future issue of this journal concern- 

 ing this mill. 



If you wish to sell or trade land or if you want to 

 buy or sell machinery of any kind, send in to Irrigation 

 Age for sale and want columns. Our price for this 

 space is $(.00 for each ten words. 



