DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.
I visited several experimental farms under the management of the
Department of Agriculture and was informed by the superintendent of the
farm that the Government had a small farm of six hundred and forty
acres in every district in which was situated the District High School
where boys and girls were taught how to farm and to raise stock and
poultry to the best advantage, and also large farms at every military
reservation where persons convicted of crime were taught how to become
useful members of society. The Government raised only thoroughbred
stock and poultry on the farms, and the service of the males was given
free to every farmer that desired to improve his stock.
As Eurasia covered a vast extent of country, enjoying every variety of
climate, the Department of Agriculture had all almost unlimited field
to work in and was yearly producing some new variety of plants that
enriched the labors of the husbandman as well as discovering remedies
to successfully combat parasites and other enemies of the fruitraiser
and horticulturist as well as the farmer. District fairs were held once
a year in every district at which prizes were given to the best butter
and cheese makers and to the best breeder of every kind of live stock
and poultry raised in the district, but no stock or poultry imported
into the district could receive a prize. The owner of anything
exhibited at the fair had to make an affidavit that he or she had
raised it on his or her farm. Prizes were given to the owner of the
best cereals and vegetables of all kinds as well as for hemp, flax,
cotton and silk, and for the best manufactured articles of every
description. The Government exhibited at every district fair the most
improved machinery in use for bettering the means of production with
skilled mechanics to operate it and any person desiring to purchase a
machine could buy it from the Government at the actual cost of
manufacture with twenty per cent. added. The Government prizes at the
district fairs excited and aroused a growing interest in the people to
improve their condition and by bringing them together in great
gatherings made them more friendly to one another with a broader and
deeper feeling for humanity.