air; a second part flows down the slopes to the streams and is called the
run-off. The third part soaks into the soil and subsoil, and thence into
underlying rocks, perhaps to reappear in springs or seepage into streams.
This is called ground water. The fourth part is absorbed by organisms,
chiefly by trees, grasses and crop plants, either directly through the
tissues or indirectly through the roots penetrating the moistened soil.
Erosion is due to the run-off, and its quantity is dependent on the
slope of the farm and also the nature of the soil and its products. Any
reasonable slope, and any full cover of forest or grass with an abundant
mulch, or a close crop on a deeply broken soil, or a friable furrow-slice
kept loose by suitable cultivation, will absorb rain and curtail the
run-off, or even reduce it to slow seepage through the surface soil
which is the ideal condition. Now the ground water is the most essential
constituent of the soil, because solution, circulation and organic
assimilation are dependent on water. All the organisms and tissues are
made up of this solvent of water, and it constitutes a large percentage
of the bodies and food of men and animals. The question of the amount or
ratio of ground water in the soil is a vital one. If it is excessive it
makes a sodden mass, sticky when wet, but baked when dry, so that there
is no possible absorption further into it, and it sends on the water that
falls on it to erode easy slopes.
The erosion begins on the farm and should be remedied there. Deep
cultivation tends to absorb the product of each rainfall and to reduce
the run-off. Deep cultivation brings up fresh earth salts to the shorter
rootlets, but carries down the humus and mulch to thicken the soil and
feed the deepest roots. In flat lying fields and tenacious soils, tile
drainage is the best method of relieving the farm from the danger of too
great run-off. Deep drainage permits both soil and subsoil to crumble
and disintegrate and through mechanical and chemical changes to become
friable and capable of taking on and holding the right amount of moisture
for plant growth, while the water which runs out through the drain is
clear without carrying the soil with it, and therefore without erosion.
Of course different farms require different treatments. Certain farms
require what is called contour cultivation, by which each furrow is to
be run in such a way as to level and to hold the water. On hilly lands,
strips of grass land are grown, called balks or breaks, separating zones
of plow land, and they should curve with the slopes, and the soil being
carried by the water will be caught by them and constitute them a kind of
terrace without effort. The use of forests, of course, in foothills and
deeply broken country is essential and should be combined with grazing.
They will prevent the formation of torrents by making the mulch and soil
deep and spongy. Of course over all mountain divides, the retention of
forests greatly helps to prevent the carrying off of the good soil to
the valleys below. The proper selection of crops has much to do with the
stopping of erosion.
I gather these facts from the reports of the Secretary of Agriculture
as to the best method of preventing erosion. They are simple and easily
understood, but they need to be impressed upon the farmers by education
and by reiteration. Then the productivity of the soils might very well
be increased by more careful use of commercial fertilizers. In 1907
$100,000,000 was expended in fertilizers, but the Agricultural Department
is of opinion that one-third of this was wasted for lack of knowledge as
to how to use it.
Careful crop rotation is essential because it has been found that the
remains of one crop has a poisonous effect upon the next crop if it is
of the same plant, but such remains do not interfere with the normal
production of a different plant. Then a kind of crop should be selected
to follow which will renew that element in the soil which the first crop
exhausted.
FARM ORGANIZATION.
Then there is the organization of the farm on plain business principles
by which the buildings and the machinery are so arranged as to make
the movement of crops and food and animals as easy and economical as
possible. A study as to the character of the soil and the crops best
adapted to the soil; the crops to be used in rotation for the purpose of
strengthening the soil—all these are questions that address themselves
to a scientific and professional agriculturist, and which all farmers
are bound to know if the product per acre is to be properly increased.
We have every reason to hope, from the forces now making toward the
education and information of the farmer, as to the latest results in
scientific agriculture, that the country will have the advantage of
improvement in our farming along the proper lines. Further agricultural
development is to be found in the breeding of proper plants for the
making of the best crops, while the growth of live stock is made much
more profitable both to the owner and to the public by improving the
breed and the infusion of the blood of the best stock.
The improvement in agricultural education goes on apace. All the states
are engaged in spending money to educate the coming farmer, and this
system is being extended so that now we have the consolidated rural
school, the farmers’ high school, and the agricultural college, and one
who intends to become a farmer is introduced to his profession soon after
he learns to read and write, and he continues his study of it until he
graduates from his college and applies for a place upon the farm.
The land-grant colleges established by the Federal Government have
vindicated the policy in making the grant. Now the department employs
eleven thousand persons, many of whom are engaged in conducting
experiment stations and spreading information all over the country. The
coöperation between the state agricultural school system and the Federal
Government’s publicity bureau and experimental work is as close and fine
as we could ask. It is difficult to justify the expenditure of money for
agricultural purposes in the Agricultural Department with a view to its
publication for use of the farmers, or to make grants to schools for
farmers on any constitutional theory that will not justify the Government
in spending money for any kind of education the country over; but the
welfare of the people is so dependent on improved agricultural conditions
that it seems wise to use the welfare clause of the Constitution to
authorize the expenditure of money for the improvement in agricultural
education, and leave to the states and to private enterprise general and
other vocational education. The attitude of the Government in all this
matter must be merely advisory. It owns no land of sufficient importance
to justify its maintenance of so large a department or of its sending
into all states agents to carry the news of recent discoveries in the
science of agriculture. The $50,000,000 which has been spent in the
department, however, has come back many fold to the people of the United
States, and all parties unite in the necessity for maintaining those
appropriations and increasing them as the demand shall increase.
EXPERIMENTS FOR EACH COUNTY.
It is now proposed to organize a force of 3,000 men, one to every county
in the United States, who shall conduct experiments within the county for
the edification and education of the present farmers and of the young
embryo farmers who are being educated. It is proposed that these men
shall be paid partly by the county, partly by the state, and partly by
the Federal Government, and it is hoped that the actual demonstration on
farms in the county—not at agricultural stations or schools somewhere
in the state, but in the county itself—will bring home to the farmers
what it is possible to do with the very soil that they themselves are
cultivating. I understand this to be the object of an association
organized for the improvement of agriculture in the country, and I do not
think we could have a more practical method than this. It is ordinarily
not wise to unite administration between the county and state and federal
governments, but this subject is one so all-compelling, it is one in
which all people are so much interested, that coöperation seems easy and
the expenditure of money to good purpose so free from difficulty that
we may properly welcome the plan and try it. On the whole, therefore, I
think our agricultural future is hopeful. I do not share the pessimistic
views of many gentlemen whose statistics differ somewhat from mine, and
who look forward to a strong probability of failure of self-support in
food within the lives of persons now living. It is true that we shall
have to continue the improvement in agriculture so as to make our
addition to the product per acre one per cent of the crop each year, or
ten per cent each decade; but considering what is done in Europe, this
is not either impossible or improbable. The addition to the acreage in
drainage and in irrigable lands will go on—must go on. The profit to
the state or to the enterprise which irrigates or drains these lands
will become sufficient to make it not only probable but necessary to
carry through the project, and we may look forward to the middle of this
century when 200,000,000 of people will swear fealty to the starry flag
as a time when America will still continue to feed her millions and feed
them well out of her own soil.
At the conclusion of the President’s address, President Wallace declared
the Congress adjourned until tomorrow morning, 9:30 o’clock.
_FOURTH SESSION._
President WALLACE—The Congress will come to order and be opened with
prayer by the Rt. Rev. Dr. E. R. Hendrix, of Kansas City, Bishop of the
Methodist Episcopal Church (South).
INVOCATION.
_Let us pray. Oh, God, our Heavenly Father, we bless Thee
that Thou hast been made known unto us as a God that works,
and that Thy Son coming into the world, declared, “My Father
worketh even until now, and I work.” We know that the gods of
the heathen do not work. They idle, they quarrel, they dishonor
the very name of a god, and a decent man is better than any
of the false gods. But our God is revealed to us as one ever
employed, active mind, best and highest motives, noblest, most
wide-reaching plans, and honors man greatly by making him a
fellow worker. Grant unto us the wisdom to work together with
God. Give breadth of view, give clearness of perception of what
needs to be done. Give responsibility to the best motives, and
give plans that are as wide-reaching as the great plans of God.
Upon this Congress, upon all its methods and its plans, grant
Thy richest blessing, our Father. We ask in the name of Christ
our Savior. Amen._
Recording Secretary GIPE—A great number of states have not yet reported
their members to the committee on resolutions. I ask for the names of the
various states now, and let the chairman of the delegation kindly rise,
and give me the name, as I call the state in order that the chairman of
that committee may immediately assemble these gentlemen to get to work
at once. Alabama; Arizona; Arkansas; Delaware; Florida——this is for the
committee on resolutions. There is a delegate here from Florida. Georgia;
Idaho; Indiana——
H. E. BARNARD of Lafayette—I have not the report from Kansas.
Delegate POTTER—Kansas is here in force, but her officers are out on
committees. As they come in we will see that you have the names.
Recording Secretary GIPE—Do you know who was elected as a member of the
resolution committee from Kansas?
Delegate POTTER—I was—Thos. W. Potter from Peabody.
Recording Secretary GIPE—Kentucky is here. Louisiana; Maine; Maryland;
Massachusetts.
A DELEGATE—William P. Wharton, of Massachusetts.
Recording Secretary GIPE—Michigan—Is Michigan here? This is the committee
on resolutions; we want your member from Michigan, please.
A DELEGATE—He has not turned up yet.
Recording Secretary GIPE—Will you not kindly see that the Michigan
delegation meets at once and names its member for the committee on
resolutions? The next is Minnesota.
A. W. Guthridge, Minnesota.
Recording Secretary GIPE—Missouri; Montana; Nevada; New Hampshire;
New Jersey—New Jersey is represented. New Mexico; New York; North
Carolina—they are represented. North Dakota; Oregon.
F. J. Kinney, Oregon.
Pennsylvania—Dr. Henry S. Drinker, president of the University of
Pennsylvania, and delegate from Pennsylvania.
Recording Secretary GIPE—Rhode Island; South Carolina; South Dakota;
Tennessee; Texas—J. B. Smith, of Texas. Utah; Vermont; Virginia;
Washington—Everitt Gregg. West Virginia; Wisconsin; Wyoming.
President WALLACE—Mr. Fowler, the chairman of the committee on
resolutions, would like to make an announcement.
Mr. FOWLER—Mr. President and Delegates: I hope you all realize what
the work of the committee on resolutions may be. Many states have been
called here this morning and no names have been given and no one has
responded. This is a conservation congress. There are representatives
here from these states, from every state I trust in the Union, and there
is not a state in the Union that is not interested in the question of
conservation. I hope then that the delegates from every state will
see to it that a good man is upon this committee on resolutions. The
committee is not near full. Many states are not represented, and you must
remember, my friends, that the work of the committee on resolutions is
the crystallization of the work of this Congress, and the resolutions
speak for the Congress, and speak for all the states of this great Union;
hence, we must have some one represent every state. I have had some
experience with resolution committees in other congresses, and many of
you have had the same, and you know that it is a working committee. It is
the committee that is compelled to sacrifice about everything else after
the work of the committee begins. Consequently, we want working men upon
this committee on resolutions, men who are willing to give their time and
make a few sacrifices of their own pleasures and own enjoyment during the
rest of the sessions of the Congress until the work of the committee is
done and the resolutions presented to the Congress. (Applause)
Recording Secretary GIPE—Is Prof. Condra of Nebraska here? If so, he will
kindly come to the platform.
Sergeant-at-arms—Ladies and Gentlemen: President Wallace desires me to
make this announcement: “Cincinnati, Ohio, September 26, 1911. President
Conservation Congress, Kansas City, Missouri. Will arrive on Alton, 7:45
tomorrow morning.—W. J. Bryan.” (Applause)
President WALLACE—I would like to make one suggestion. We are going to
be very short of time. We are now coming to the call of states. We want
every state to be heard from, but we want you to confine yourselves to
five minutes, and to tell us, not what your resources are, not what you
are going to do (applause), but tell us what you actually are doing in
the way of conservation. If you have a conservation association, as you
ought to have in every state, tell us about it, or anything that bears
upon it. Boil it down to five minutes. We will ring the bell on you if
you don’t stop at the end of five minutes.
Recording Secretary GIPE—I understand that some of the states reported
last night while you were at the dinner given to the President, and
I hope, that since I do not have the names of those states, that the
gentlemen will advise me when I call the roll. We do not want any
duplicates. The next state is Maine. The next is Mississippi. Is Dr. Lowe
in the room to respond for Mississippi? Missouri?
President WALLACE—I now introduce to you Mr. George B. Logan, secretary
of the Missouri Waterways Commission, who will speak for Missouri. We
will hear from him for five minutes.
Mr. LOGAN—The Missouri Waterways Commission was created by an act of the
General Assembly in 1909. This act provided for a commission of five
members, who were to investigate “the various problems associated with
the navigable waterways of the state and the reclamation of land subject
to overflow; the construction of levees; the benefits to be derived from
proposed navigable waterways, and the reclamation of lands subject to
overflow or inundation.” The result of these investigations, together
with all obtainable statistics, was to be reported to the succeeding
General Assembly. The commission was allowed $5,000 as expenses. None of
the members were to be compensated for their services.
At the time the Missouri Waterways Commission presented its statement
to the Second Annual Conservation Congress, the report which was last
January submitted to our legislature had been prepared. The commission
was very successful in obtaining information of a detailed nature
pertaining to conservation of the state’s resources, and from this
information extremely valuable statistics have been compiled and were
included in the report transmitted to the General Assembly.
Because of the small amount of funds, the commission was forced to do
almost all of its investigating by correspondence, inasmuch as original
research was not possible, and they were gratified to find a widespread
interest in the state which caused its correspondents to answer promptly
and fully. The investigations were conducted under four heads into which
the subject of water conservation in this state seems to be naturally
divided. The uses of the water being in the order of importance: First,
water supply in which the water is consumed in maintaining life; second,
agriculture in which the water is consumed in the growing of the crops
yielding food and other necessaries of life; third, power in which the
water is employed in aid of, or as a substitute for, human labor, and
is not consumed; and fourth, navigation in which the water is used for
commerce and is not consumed.
[Illustration: HON. HERBERT S. HADLEY, Governor of Missouri
Strauss Studio, St. Louis. Mo.]
WATER SUPPLY.
Under the first head the commission delved deeply into the sources of the
state’s water supply, consisting of rainfall and watershed drainage. From
this point of beginning, the commission went into the question of water
supply of the various municipalities, considering the character of the
water used, the state in which it was used, and the available quantity.
In the conservation of human life, which is the ultimate end of all
conservation, the commission felt that nothing was more important than
the securing of a permanent and proper water supply for the inhabitants
of the state. Sixty-five communities in the state have been investigated,
and from the findings presented to the General Assembly the commission
hopes that much needed and beneficial legislation will result. As was to
be expected, the investigations of these communities showed conclusively
that the community water supply is nearly everywhere closely involved
with community sewage disposal. The legislature will be asked to pass
such laws as will encourage or compel municipalities to dispose of their
sewage as not to endanger the lives of their own inhabitants, or of those
who by geographical location are forced to have the same source of water
supply.
AGRICULTURE.
While the quantity of rainfall remains approximately the same from year
to year, the effects on the soil, and the subsequent benefits resulting
to the soil from the rainfall, change materially. By improper methods
of agriculture, hillsides and slopes have been denuded of trees and
pasturage with the result that the soil on the hillsides is no longer
absorptive, and the rain falling thereon is lost to it. This is
especially true in this climate where a very large percentage of the
annual rainfall comes in hard or excessive rains, taxing the absorptive
capacity of any soil to its fullest extent. By proper education and
agitation it is hoped that this natural fact will be borne in mind by the
agriculturists of the state who have it in their power to be leaders in
this work of conservation.
The converse of the problem of too little water is found in Southeast
Missouri, where a very great area is burdened with an excess of
water. The solution of this problem has been drainage which is being
accomplished by drainage districts organized either in the county or
circuit courts. Already 1,271,470 acres have been thoroughly drained
and will be valuable agricultural land as soon as the heavy timber is
cleared off. The average cost of drainage has been approximately $5.00
per acre, which is paid in small annual installments. The increase of
the value of the land thus drained has been many hundred per cent, while
the benefit to the health conditions has been great. Drainage is being
fostered and encouraged by the state authorities, and as fast as the
necessity for working laws is shown, these laws are forthcoming from the
General Assembly. There is need for further drainage, but the energy
and enterprise of the people in the communities where it is needed will
probably suffice for the solving of this problem in the future as it has
in the past.
NAVIGATION.
Missouri is blessed with magnificent opportunities for vast conservation
of transportation cost, by reason of the presence on and within her
borders, of the two greatest rivers of this country. Accepting the
figures of unofficial investigators, the commission has estimated that
the demand for water traffic indicates that the through freight movements
between St. Louis and Kansas City alone would amount to four hundred and
sixty-eight thousand tons annually, while that through the Mississippi
in and out of St. Louis would reach a million or more tons. The surplus
products of the soil and mines of this state aggregate fully ten million
tons. If even forty per cent of these products could be moved by water
at the large water cost of one-quarter that of rail transportation, the
aggregate saving to the producers would amount to $11,250,000.00. This
saving, or the adding to the wealth of the state, is too important to be
disregarded.
The commission feels that the sentiment among this state’s law-makers is
already strongly in favor of coöperating with the National Government in
any systematic effort to permanently improve our waterways.
WATER POWER.
From the investigations conducted under this head the commission
believes that herein lies one of the greatest and least understood
of the state’s natural resources. Only ninety-nine water power sites
are in use, and one hundred and twenty-three formerly in use have been
abandoned. The abandonment is due chiefly to two causes: First, economic
conditions in agriculture have so changed that there is no longer need
of a manufacturing or consuming point at the place of production. It is
more profitable to ship the products of the soil and buy whatever flour,
meal and sugar is necessary than to have these small quantities ground at
local mills. Hence, grist mills and sugar cane mills have disappeared.
The second cause for abandonment of water power sites is the failure of
the streams, due, as mentioned above, to the changed soil conditions.
However, the advance in electro-mechanical appliances has created new
uses and put a new value on water power sites. The point of application
of the power may now be many miles from its point of generation. Sites
abandoned years ago have “come back” and have greatly enhanced in value.
Properly exploited, the value of resources in this state is incalculable.
One of the chiefest aims of the commission in its present work is to
sufficiently impress upon the people and upon the General Assembly the
great value of this natural resource. While more expensive to produce,
undoubtedly the greatest latent power in the state is in the Missouri
River. The commission has planned to investigate in detail some site on
the river which has the most natural advantages and using this as an
illustration to demonstrate what can be done in this state.
At the recent session of our Legislature the report of the commission
covering these topics, giving in detail the information meagerly outlined
above, was presented to the General Assembly and copies of this report
were widely distributed throughout the state. The $5,000 appropriation
for four years has increased to $17,000 for two years. The resignation of
members and political differences arising outside of the commission have
temporarily impaired and hindered the work of the commission.