360 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



studying the latest methods in agriculture. We 

 can learn something new every day and something 

 worth while. Get your farm machinery into first- 

 class shape. 



See to it that your seed-beds are most care- 

 fully prepared. Make up your mind to cultivate 

 your growing crops so thoroughly next year that 

 the possibility of crop curtailment or failure will 

 be reduced to a minimum. 



Help make 1915 the greatest year for crop pro- 

 duction in the history of the nation. 



The widespread impression that the 

 Plenty population of this country is increas- 



of Food ing faster than the food supply is 

 Being erroneous. This is proven by a report 



Produced issued by the committee on statistics 

 and standards of the Chamber of Com- 

 merce of the United States, located at Washington, 

 D. C. It shows that comparisons of the first and 

 last years of a decade may lead to unwarranted con- 

 clusions. It shows that in the decade from 1899 

 to 1909, the population in the United States in- 

 creased 21 per cent, while the yield of cereals in 

 1909 was on the whole only 1.7 per cent greater 

 than in 1899. The report points out that 1909 was 

 a poor year for corn, while other cereal yields in 

 1909 showed increases as follows : Buckwheat, 32 

 per cent; rye, 15 per cent; edible beans, 122 per 

 cent; rice, 142 per cent; but as corn was much the 

 largest factor, it pulled down the whole statement 

 of percentages so as to show only a small net in- 

 crease. The report draws proper attention to the 

 great development of sorghum grains throughout 

 the West and Southwest, and then shows that if 

 1899 and 1912 are compared, corn, wheat, oats and 

 rye show greater percentages of increase than the 

 increase of population. 



The report then takes up the increasing acre- 

 age devoted to vegetables and to the growth of 

 fruits and nuts, showing that, as all of these are 

 human food, they are of vast importance in the 

 study of the future of the nation's food supply. The 

 report also shows by a diagram that the ratio exist- 

 ing between grain exported and the total crop has 

 shown very little variation, and scarcely any de- 

 cline, between 1900 and 1913. 



The report in conclusion makes a number of 

 optimistic statements as to the improving methods 

 applied to the cultivation of lands in the United 

 States, and ends with the following words : 



"The steadily broadening work of the Federal 

 Department of Agriculture and the State Agricul- 

 tural Colleges throughout the country gives assur- 

 ance that we may expect a steady increase in pro- 



duction per acre in the coming years. If, therefore, 

 we survey the field in sober thought rather than 

 the Cassandra-like spirit of prophecy, the outlook 

 seems to be for a greater variety, increasing abun- 

 dance, and a more reasonable price of food for the 

 people." 



We have little use for the man who 

 Newell will accept a salary from one concern 



Again and then go forth and sing the praises 



Boosts for of his employer's rival. 

 Canada But where in the dictionary are 



there proper words to describe a man 

 who will accept pay from his government to help 

 develop and settle up its desert lands, and then go 

 forth and boost for the lands of an alien nation? 



Such a man is Frederick Haynes Newell, Di- 

 rector of the United States Reclamation Service. 



Newell's name appears above an article in a 

 recent issue of Power Farming, of St. Joseph, Mich. 

 The article describes a Canadian project in most 

 glowing, Newellistic terms, and is printed, without 

 doubt, for the purpose of inducing American farm- 

 ers and other American citizens to cross the border. 



This is not Newell's first offense of this nature. 



It should be his last at least as an employe 

 of the government. 



Secretary Lane should eliminate this Canadian 

 publicity booster from the payrolls of the United 

 States government. He won't violate any neu- 

 trality by swinging his axe on Newell, and he will 

 win the plaudits of thousands upon thousands of 

 patriotic men who disapprove absolutely of the 

 Newell type of man, and of thousands of settlers 

 on the Federal projects who know Newell far too 

 well. 



The "Interstate Irrigation Commission" began 

 work on the first day of this month at Helena, 

 Mont. This commission was organized at the sug- 

 gestion of Secretary of the Interior Lane and con- 

 sists of three delegates from each of the arid states. 

 The commission is to work for more uniformity of 

 state laws on irrigation and for a solution of various 

 irrigation project problems, through federal and 

 state co-operation. It is a big job, but there are 

 some very able men among the members of this 

 body, and THE IRRIGATION AGE hopes to see it ac- 

 complish some real results. 



Citizens of all political faiths in the Western 

 part of South Dakota are working diligently to 

 obtain a favorable vote at the November election 

 for an irrigation amendment to the state constitu- 

 tion. 



