S. 46. 5. cDEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. Report INO Hee. BAHAUSTIUN AND ABANDONMENT OF SOILS, 4 TESTIMON Y OF Mt TON WAITeUN BY, 2 Chief of Division of Soits, BEFORE THE INDUSTRIAL: COMMISSION. a) WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. ? £90 1, hAerate iF Ud eh Hess DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. Eteport INS. 70. Cg EXHAUSTION AMD ABANDONMENT OF SOILS TESTIMONY OF vi ie EOIN, WV EE ING a ys, Chief of a of Soils, BEFORE THE INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. LPO LE LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, Division OF PUBLICATIONS, Washington, D. C., July 25, 1901. Str: By invitation of the United States Industrial Commission, Prof. Milton Whitney, chief of the Division of Soils, appeared before that body on March 12, 1901, as a witness in regard to the causes of the exhaustion and abandonment of soils. Professor Whitney, in his testimony, gives in considerable detail the causes leading to the abandonment of large areas of land in the New England and Southern States particularly, and in the far West incidentally, together with many valuable suggestions for the reclamation of these deteriorated soils. The subject is of con- siderable general interest, and it is believed that the republication of the testimony, which also embraces statements relating to other matters allied to agriculture, will serve a useful purpose and enable the Department to meet demands for the informa- tion therein contained, upon which there is now no available publication. I have the honor, therefore, to recommend the publication of the testimony as Report No. 70 of the Department. ; Very respectfully, Gro. Wn. HI, Editor. Hon. JAMES WILSON, Secretary of Agriculture. CON Age NTS. Page. IUMHRACHONGO I 8 SS ose o bcp bancdelecdsh sens de edoSbecsee pandecodogesesosaacc 3 Gansesiot thembandonmentioisollgarees saeee esac ree ela = = ere eerie 4 Exhaustion -- ---- Bs Aa oan Sooper Sen eec oder Se ene esEs cobencaocos 4 Development of new areas and new industries. -...-.--.-..-------------- 6 Attempts to grow crops unsuited to particular soils ....--.--.----------- 6 Unfavorable*chimatic conditions 252 9s-6--..scee= = 426 = eo eee 8 Scarcity. Ole water, ine G@esentCOUNLM = 2c. = =a aaa 2 oe a ee 10 Alikalisan@: Seepage iwaler aie at enya crise saree ie alee) otal rete rete 10 Flooding and inundation by storms and tides ..------..---------------- 13 Labor and expense of maintaining proper physical condition -.-.....---- 15 Trans POLtAI ONG CO MCN OMS eget tee eee ee eae ee 15 Soeimlicom ditions = soe sete ee ee ete aici ote ast =: =e Siriaas cree ee ee aly) INew finelandit: 28. c = ae anette no eee oe See ee Mi Maryland amd) Ware iia fe sees tee eee = ee 25 Deterioration of soils of the:Southern States--.-2.---.----..--.--------- 29 IMethodsttomre clam sib) OM see opera are eee ete ee rea tee 30 Lanna Ree Romeo aue Boma SO aes eA es See ce = Se 31 RO LHIbLIOM OL COPS: seis ee eee ee aera claire Cleyele nee eee 82 Specialization Ol Crops)o: == See eee creer eles Sai ace a eae 33 Retorestation. protechiom fromilnes ele ereetie = ee eit 38 Ahi DUSIMeSS met OCS). Teen ee rete ale te ae etre ea 38 Drrication... 252-2252 2 seo an a eee ee ae oe nine So te sia =a ee 39 Drainage ye saese- east eee a ee ie eee er o=. = eee eee 42 IPrOtechlon:: oval CVCES cee see ae tae oe eae ae ee 43 2 EXHAUSTION AND ABANDONMENT OF SOILS. INTRODUCTION. At the meeting of the United States Industrial Commission on March 12, 1901, at Washington, D. C., Mr. Phillips presiding, Prof. Milton Whitney, chief of the Division of Soils, United States Department of Agriculture, was introduced as a witness, and, being first duly sworn, testified as follows: Q. (By Mr. Crarxke.) Will you please give your name and post-office address, and also state your official position?—A. Milton Whitney, Takoma Park, D. C. Iam chief of the Division of Soils, Department of Agriculture. Q. How long have you been in your present position’/—A. About SIx years. Q. Had you, before coming to that position, been engaged in studies like those-you now pursue?—A. Yes; I have been engaged in the study of soils for the past eighteen years. Q. In how many States?—A. I began in Connecticut at the Con- necticut Experiment Station, and was then in North Carolina as super- intendent at the experiment farm; then as professor of agriculture in the University of South Carolina; then as professor of soil physics in the Agricultural College of Maryland. Q. Of what State are you a native?—A. Maryland. Q. The commission will be pleased to have you proceed in your own way to describe the character of your work in the Department of Agri- culture, and especially as to how you gather the soils and how you make your experiments.—A. My understanding was that the main question which would come up would be the very important subject of the exhaustion of soils and abandonment of lands, particularly with reference to the New England States and the Southern States, and incidentally the abandonment of certain lands in the West; to see if cause or causes could be assigned, and if there were any-suggestions for remedial measures. (. Proceed, if you please, in your own way, then, to develop that particular subject.—A. It is doubtless well known to the commission that there are large areas of land in the New England States that 3 4 EXHAUSTION AND ABANDONMENT OF SOILS. have been abandoned; that there are large areas in the Southern States that have also been practically abandoned and given over to waste; furthermore, that there are large areas in the far West which have once been settled and which have since been abandoned or are now held in very low esteem. CAUSES OF THE ABANDONMENT OF SOILS. EXHAUSTION. The cause of the deterioration of the lands in the South has been commonly ascribed to the exhaustion of the soil, and this is the first consideration that I wish to take up. The exhaustion of the soil is due, in my opinion, to changes in the chemical and physical properties of the soil rather than to any actual extraction of plant food. A soil, to be productive, must render annually, as the crop needs it, a sufficient amount of food material in a form available to the plants. As a matter of fact soil is a difficultly soluble substance, composed mostly of silicates and aluminates, or difficultly soluble compounds of silica, alumina, potash, soda, and lime in various forms. Through atmospheric agencies, largely, these compounds are rendered more or less soluble and more or less readily available to plants. A fertile soil is one in which the weathering effects come in at such times and to such an extent as to render available to plants a sufficient amount of this plant food. If that weathering does not take place and the food material is not brought into a condition in which it is avail- able to the plants, the land is as poor as though it actually contained no plant food. I have never in my experience seen a case in which one could say with any degree of certainty or even of probability that exhaustion was due to the actual removal of plant food. It is perfectly safe to say that the condition of the so-called worn-out soils in the South is due, not to an actual extraction of plant food, but to the chemical con- dition in which it now is, in which it is unavailable to plants, and that the restoration of the fertility of that land must be, not neces- sarily in the addition of plant food to the soil, but in bringing about such changes in the physical conditions or in the chemical combina- tions as will encourage that natural weathering of the soil which brings the plant food into a condition in which the plant can get its support. To emphasize this statement, which may appear at variance with the general ideas concerning the exhaustion of soils, I would call the com- mission’s attention to the many cases in which soils have been culti- vated for hundreds and thousands of years. So far as we know, within historic times they have been constantly cultivated, and cultivated in the same crops. We have the case of the soils of India, which tradi- EXHAUSTION AND ABANDONMENT OF SOILS. 5 tions say have been cultivated for two thousand years, under primi- tive methods, without artificial fertilizing, and which still give fair returns of the common crops of the country. We have the case also in Egypt of lands which have been cultivated since history began and where the soils are as fertile as ever. We have all through the southern countries of Europe, and still later in the countries in the north of Europe, in Holland, in Denmark, in France, in England, records of the continuous and profitable cultivation of soils for five hundred years—away back to the time when history first opens up our knowledge of these countries. There is one phase, however, that it would be well to dilate upon here, namely, that with our increase in density of population and with the competition that has been going on, we- are no longer satisfied with the yields that are naturally obtained from many of our soils, and we have resorted to the practice of fertilization in order to force plants to produce far beyond what the natural fertility of the soil will give. There are historic experiments that have been going on in England for the past fifty years in which a crop of wheat has been grown con- tinuously without fertilization, and the yield has steadily fallen from what it was at first (I forget the figure) until it now produces about 12 or 13 bushels per acre. For the past twenty years there has been lit- tle or no difference in the yield, except slight fluctuations due to sea- sonal conditions, and it is believed that the yield that is now obtained measures approximately the power of the soil to produce a crop under perfectly natural conditions. It will produce annually, so far as we know, for hundreds of years 12 or 13 bushels per acre. Q. Are you able to state whether the kernel is as full and well devel- oped now as it was in the earlier conditions/—A. So far as we know, the grain is of the same value, pound for pound, but not being satis- fied with a yield of 12 or 13 bushels per acre they have, by the use of fertilizers and manures, increased the yield on adjacent plots to an average of about 30 bushels per acre. In this forcing of the crop they have found that they could economically increase the production from that soil. The first we would call the natural fertility and the second the acquired fertility. One is perfectly justified in recognizing these two characteristics in the production of the soil: What it will naturally produce through a course of years under the natural weathering of the material, and what it can be made to produce by the artificial appli- cation of more food material than the plant can secure through the natural weathering. If the natural yield from a soil becomes so low as to make it unprofitable, it may often be necessary to fertilize in order to make the soil productive. 6 EXHAUSTION AND ABANDONMENT OF SOILS. DEVELOPMENT OF NEW AREAS AND NEW INDUSTRIES. The second cause of the abandonment of soils arises from the devel- opment of new areas and new industries. There is no question that the opening up of the western country, the great corn and wheat pro- ducing States of the central West, the wheat lands of California and of the Red River Valley of Minnesota and Dakota, has had a great influence upon the agriculture of New England and all our Eastern States and has done much toward bringing about the conditions that are now prevalent. This will be taken up more in detail later. In the line of the introduction of new industries I would cite the case of tobacco: Before the war tobacco was grown very generally in the State of Maryland, and since the war it has been grown extensively in the southern counties only; but with the introduction of the White Burley tobacco in Ohio and Kentucky—which produces a large yield and which can be produced with profit at a comparatively low price— the tobacco industry in Maryland has been largely given up, and the effect of this change on the farmers of Maryland has been very disas- trous, because tobacco has been one of the staple products of that por- tion of the State. Another instance that I should cite is the development of the truck industry. Fifteen or twenty years ago the truck industry was ina very flourishing condition in Maryland. Truck was grown very extensively on certain classes of soil which were not adapted to other lines, and there were certain localities in which the people were extremely prosperous. But with the development of transportation facilities, with the opening up of truck areas in the South, in South Carolina and in Florida, and with the production of those early vege- tables which could be rushed up to the Northern markets in the winter and early spring, the industry has languished in certain localities to such an extent that it has been given up. That is the cause of the abandonment of farms in certain sections of the Atlantic coast States. Q. (By Mr. Kennepy.) Are you going to discuss the question of irri- gation—whether it will have astill further effect to cause abandonment of poorer lands?—A. I will speak later of the West, but I will bring this in at this time, though I was going to speak of that particularly in connection with the New England States. Q. You had better take your own order probably.—A. I will be glad to answer any particular question as we go along, though. ATTEMPTS TO GROW CROPS UNSUITED TO PARTICULAR SOILS. Another very important contributing cause to the abandonment of lands has been in the unfortunate ventures that have been made in bringing a people from a distance to settle a region with which they are unfamiliar, and to grow crops with which they are themselves EXHAUSTION AND ABANDONMENT OF SOILS. re acquainted in the localities from which they come, but which they have no appreciation of as adapted to the localities into which they are going. The Department of Agriculture is constantly in receipt of requests for information as to where certain settlements of people could be made—people who are to be brought in to grow alfalfa, to grow stock, to grow tobacco, or other crops. And very frequently the utmost ignorance is shown as to the localities which are to be selected and as to the conditions into which they are going. There have been many instances of failure from these causes alone in the States of Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and in fact through- out the country. One instance I would speak of particularly that has come to my per- sonal attention is a settlement in one of the Western States. A large area of land was taken up and put under irrigation. Agents were sent from this country abroad to attract immigration. People were brought from Switzerland, from France, from Germany, and an extensive plan of development was outlined. They were to introduce the European grapes; they were to introduce and develop the sugar-beet industry; they were to take up all kinds of fruits that had been successful in their own districts; they were to grow truck crops, and they were to develop large grain and cattle interests. But the plans completely failed, as their soils and their water and their climate were not fit for the industries that they started. After a most disastrous and expensive experience they have lost their crops; they have found that fruit will not grow; that the grape is not suited to the conditions there. They have lost their money, and they have come to a realization of the fact that the country and the conditions are adapted simply to grazing; that if they grow alfalfa and stock they can do well, but they can not do well with their fruits and with their sugar beets, because the con- ditions there are not adapted to those crops. Q. Would you state what the location is?/—A. It is an area in New Mexico that Iam referring to. It is an experience in the Pecos Val- ley. The principal reason for the failure in that case is due to the condition of the irrigation water. It is very alkaline, which these people did not know when they went into that region. Their failure was also due to their unfamiliarity with the conditions in that locality, and their attempt to grow something that they had grown in Switzer- land or in Holland under conditions which were entirely different. In this arid region, where they have to use water to produce any crop, the only available water has been found to be unfit at times for irrigation. This is a cause of the abandonment of large areas of land, not only in New Mexico but in other portions of the West. 8 EXHAUSTION AND ABANDONMENT OF SOILS. UNFAVORABLE CLIMATIC CONDITIONS. Another contributing cause of the abandonment of lands has been in the selection of localities in which there are unfavorable climatic con- ditions. The commission is doubtless aware of the conditions in Kan- sas and in portions of Nebraska and of Colorado—how, during the boom times of fifteen or twenty years ago the country was settled, towns were established, and farms were obtained with the idea that fortunes could be made on the agricultural products of the country. Cotton mills were put up out in the semiarid regions, and are still stand- ing as monuments to the unfortunate schemes and ventures that were devised. Q. (By Mr. Ciarke.) Could you state what the cause of failure was in that section?—A. Yes; I will come to that. Q. (By Mr. Kennepy.) You do not mean cotton mills in Kansas and Nebraska?—A. Yes; there are abandoned cotton mills in Kansas and Nebraska. Mr. Tompxtns. There is one at Kearney, I think. The Wrrness. In explanation of the conditions just stated, it may be observed that the semiarid region of the country extends generally from the one hundredth meridian to the foot of the Rocky Mountains, and embraces in my definition such areas as have from 15 to 20 inches of rainfall per year, but so distributed that only occasionally are the seasonal conditions favorable for crops. When they have a favorable season, or two in succession, as they frequently do, they get fine yields and make good returns, but in three years out of five, when they have their disastrous droughts and get nothing, the profits of the two successful years are entirely used up. With less than 15 inches of annual rainfall lands are seldom or never successfully cultivated, so far as I know, except in certain areas in Washington and California. With 20 inches of rainfall (that is half what we have in the East), provided it is fairly well distributed, good crops can be grown in the semiarid regions; but it is the uncertainty of the seasons which renders farming unprofitable. It is the uncer- tain and unequal distribution of the rainfall that has caused so many disasters and has been the reason of the abandonment of so many farms. It is perhaps one of the most serious problems, that of the semiarid regions, that we have in the agriculture of this country at the present time. In the far West such conditions can be overcome where irriga- tion is practicable, but so far as known there is no bright future for irrigation in much of the semiarid regions of the country. In Kansas there were in 1889 only 20,000 acres of land under irrigation. In North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Texas there were only 67,000 acres of land under irrigation in that year, and the possi- bilities of getting water are small in comparison with the vast areas that would need to be watered to be permanently and safely productive. EXHAUSTION AND ABANDONMENT OF SOILS. 9 Another cause that has contributed to the abandonment of lands in the semiarid regions has been the deterioration of the ranges and the consequent injury to the cattle industry. A division of the Depart- ment of Agriculture is actually giving its attention to the investigation of the range problem and the possibilities of conserving and maintain- ing the ranges, and this being the case, it would hardly be proper for me to discuss this subject at greater length here. It seems to me, however, that it will be necessary and wise to adopt some legislation to protect the ranges in the West, and to prevent the terrible destruction of property which is going on through close grazing. against which there is no restriction in many of the areas of the West. It seems to me that this is a problem for legislation, as it is at present too difficult for the agriculturist to deal with and much of it occurs upon the pub- lic domain. Where range lands are rented for 5 cents an acre little expense can be put upon them for improvement. There is little chance at present to make any improvement in the agricultural conditions where land is so cheaply rented, so cheaply purchased, and so care- lessly used. Another example of unfavorable climatic conditions may be cited in the Connecticut Valiey, right here in our Eastern States. With a rainfall of about 40 or 50 inches, we have soils that have been abandoned from the same unfavorable climatic conditions—a defi- ciency of rainfall—as prevail in the semiarid regions of the West. I refer particularly to the Windsor sand, which occasionally produces -a very fine crop of tobacco, but the soil is so coarse and leachy that it is only about two years out of five that the conditions are favorable. In the favorable years they get good yields and the farmers are very prosperous and contented; in the other three years out of five, as in the West, the soils dry out and are subject to such disastrous droughts that they are entirely unproductive. The expectation of getting a crop even two years out of five has induced many farmers to hold on until finally there have been successive seasons of failure, and they have had to give up. Under conditions of well-distributed rainfall the soil produces, as does the semiarid land in the West, but it is a desert for three years out of five. Q. (By Mr. Puitires.) About how extensive is that area/—A. The area in the Connecticut Valley is not large, but along the Atlantic seaboard, in the aggregate, it covers a large area. These coarse, sandy soils are found from the New England States all the way along the Atlantic seaboard and around the Gulf, and many farms have been abandoned on these areas simply because of the unfavorable climatic conditions for these particular soils when other soils surrounding them are favored by the same conditions. I would cite also another instance to show the effect of unfavorable climatic conditions on the abandonment of soils, namely, the orange 10 EXHAUSTION AND ABANDONMENT OF SOILS. industry in Florida, where they have grown oranges with great success for years and where the industry has flourished in the most promising way until a season of frost and freezes that has thrown back the industry for years and has ruined a large number of people. This is a contributing cause to the abandonment of lands, which can not be overlooked in the consideration of the subject. SCARCITY OF WATER IN DESERT COUNTRY. Another cause for the abandonment of lands 1s found in the sesrcity of water in our desert countries. The public lands of the arid States amount to 560,000,000 aeres. Only 3,600,000 acres were irrigated in those States in 1889 and only 74,000,000 acres are capable of being irri- gated, according to the most careful estimates of the Geological Survey. We have, then, the difference between the possibilities of 74,000,000 acres and the actual extent of 560,000,000 acres, which are used to some extent for grazing lands, and upon which living is, at the most, extremely precarious. Many areas have been abandoned which have once been settled, simply because of the extreme scarcity of water and the impossibility of producing agricultural crops or promoting agri- cultural interests. ALKALI AND SEEPAGE WATER. Another important cause of the abandonment of lands is found in the alkali and seepage waters of the West. I would call the attention of the commission to some work the Department is doing in Salt Lake County, Utah. This was one of the earliest settlements where irrigation was tried in our modern civiliza- tion of this country. When the Mormons first settled the place they naturally took up the richest bottom soils along the Jordan River. The soils were naturally filled with salts, but with the drainage that was started and from the character of the soils themselves the salts were quickly removed and the lands were in splendid condition for agricultural use. . In the further settlement of the country, in the increase in the density of population, as the settlers moved up on the high lands and the water applied at higher elevations, the seepage of water from the canals accumulated in the low places and brought with it the salts, which accumulated to such an extent in the low places that the first lands, the most fertile lands of the valley, were rendered entirely unfit for cultivation. They were wet and swampy, and they were filed with alkali, and the history of this once prospefous commu- nity has been that the people are moving up onto the bench land, and are abandoning soils which were once the most productive in the State. In the area which we surveyed in Salt Lake County, between the Jordan River and the Great Salt Lake, about 50 square miles of land EXHAUSTION AND ABANDONMENT OF SOILS. 11 has been successfully cultivated under irrigation. Of this, 10 square miles, or nearly one-fifth of the whole area, has been ruined and has been abandoned as worthless and useless, and the injury is progress- ing. Lands are constantly being turned out which have been swamped with seepage waters and which have been filled with alkali. This is one of the most interesting and most important problems of the West, and one which I should like particularly to bring to the attention of the commission, because it seems to me that something will have to be done, through either State or national legislation, to stop the injury that is going on. Q. Have you any theory as to how to stop it?—A. I will go on to state that. The conditions may be briefly stated thus: The canal com- pany, whether organized by the farmers or organized with independent capital, constructs a canal and maintains a certain level or uniform grade, going through all kinds of soils which it may be necessary to go through in the construction of its canal. It happens in the Salt Lake Valley, as in many other localities that we have studied, that this canal goes for several miles through a gravelly soil, in which there is a great deal of seepage and loss of water. The water is plentiful and of good quality, so the canal companies are not concerned with the loss. They have a bounteous supply from the Utah lake, and they are getting good water, free from alkali. But the water in seeping out through this gravelly area is slowly filtering through the soil, carrying with it a relatively large quantity of salts, which are in all arid soils, and are concentrating the salts in the lower lands and are filling up the low- lands with water, until, as a matter of fact, there is a string of lakes out in what was once an arid, desert country—artificial lakes on what were later fertile and well-cultivated soils, and which are now aban- doned lands and tule swamps. It seems to me that the farmers situated on those lower levels should have recourse, through civil suits, to damages, and the canal companies maintaining canals under such conditions should either be compelled to protect their canals from seepage or to pay damages to the farmers whose lands are ruined. These conditions are exceedingly pernicious. If you have a soil under the most careful methods of cultivation, farmed with the most expensive varieties of fruit or other farm products, taking the utmost care, giving the greatest attention to all methods of growth so far as your experience and your skill or the knowledge of your experts will indicate, it is certainly most exasperating to have the land swamped and filled with alkali from a leaking ditch situated perhaps 3 or 4 miles away, and over which you have no possible control. It 1s an exceed- ingly pernicious thing, for which some recourse should be had in dam- ages. But, so far as I know, there 1s nothing to stop it. The lands are going to waste, and one-fifth of the irrigated lands of that district ty EXHAUSTION AND ABANDONMENT OF SOILS. alone have been abandoned from this cause—a cause which could have been provided against. ‘These lands could have been protected and these farms could have been saved. Another instance that I would cite in connection with this district is the extensive area that is situated just west of Salt Lake City and extending over to the Great Salt Lake. There is an area of about 90,000 acres, and it comes close up to the Jordan River and extends across to the Salt Lake. The land is filled with alkali, but it is not always apparent on the surface. Frequently the surface looks like a fertile, easily cultivated loam, and many attempts have been made to settle the country. Many farms have been laid out, canals have been constructed, water has been let onto the places, town sites have been located, railroads have been projected and built, and with the first application of water good crops have been produced; with the second, a failure. With the third application the land has become so salty that it is abandoned as a waste and desert land. Thousands of dollars have been invested in the settlement of that tract, and thousands and thousands of dollars have been lost in the fruitless effort to build up an agricultural industry in that area, and this is the cause of the abandonment of these soils—because of the occurrence of alkali not always seen from the surface, but always lying in the lower depths of the soil ready to come up at the first application of water. It will be interesting to state that the result of our soil survey convinced us that it was perfectly feasible to reclaim these lands. There is suffi- cient fall to put in a drainage system. The soils are naturally easily worked. The expense would be no greater than the drainage of lands in Ohio and Illinois. and the profit that would be realized from the reclamation of the 60,000 acres of land situated on that tract would amount, in our opinion, to about $3,000,000 in property valuation. Now, a very singular thing has arisen in regard to that section, that while the people seem to realize that drainage may reclaim the lands, yet they seem to be averse to having the drainage work done, and the people who have desired to follow our advice have been unable, in certain cases at any rate, to do so from the objection of their neigh- bors. There are no drainage laws, as there are in Illinois and others of our our Middle States, and the er ‘erprise is stopped right here by the inability to have any recourse to State laws, and by the unwilling- ness of the people to give access to the drainage canals through their places. This is a matter that I shall refer to later in my remarks upon drainage. Q. (By Mr. Kennepy.) Where does the water for irrigation come from—is it mountain drainage?—A. The water is from the mountain streams, fed in this case into Utah Lake, which is a fresh-water lake, and is taken out of the Jordan River. Q. (By Mr. Farquuar.) What is the elevation between the Great Salt Lake and the river?—A. Twelve feet between the level of the EXHAUSTION AND ABANDONMENT OF SOILS. 13 river at Salt Lake City and the lake, but there is a ridge going through the district that gives about 2 feet per mile of fall on either side, and in addition to that there are extensive washes that extend up through the land that would form natural outlets to the drainage system. They run up for 8 or 10 miles into the country. Q. (By Mr. Kennepy.) Is the recession of the waters of the Great Salt Lake having any effect on the soils and climate of Utah?—A. It is having a great effect upon the soils. The level of the Great Salt Lake has fallen 14 feet since 1865, and in our survey this year of the area around Ogden we mapped in 60,000 acres—about 10 square miles area—where the lake had receded, and we established the shore line of the lake in some places 9 miles beyond where the former survey had placed it. Q. (By Mr. Puiitres.) What is the cause of the fall of that lake, in your judgment?—A. There is an annual fluctuation that has never been explained, and there are periodical fluctuations that have never been explained. The level has been known to vary from period to period for reasons that are not at present known, but in addition to that the withdrawal of a large amount of water that is being used now for the irrigation of the surrounding lands, which does not go into the lake as formerly, is certainly a very large contributing cause to the lower- ing of the present surface. Q. You spoke in regard to canals through the sandy soil portion, saying there ought to be something done to remedy the evil. Have you any theory? Could the water be carried through pipes and thus pre- vent seeping through the soil?—A. I would state that in California, where water is more valuable, where the companies themselves are financially interested in how much water they sell, it is very common to protect canals from loss by seepage by running through wooden troughs or through wooden pipes, or as is frequently done where the water is carried through sandy areas, by cementing the sides and the bottoms of ditches. We have photographs (I wish I had brought them with me) of large-sized canals and laterals, constructed in California, with the sides and bottoms cemented. Q. That would be entirely practicable—to prevent seepage and thus prevent the destruction of lands below?—A. It is entirely practicable. In many cases simply the puddling of the canal would be sufficient, but where seepage causes injury by alkaline deposits, in my opinion, it should be stopped, and the companies should be required to protect _ their canals from undue loss. FLOODING AND INUNDATION BY STORMS AND TIDES. Another cause of the abandonment of land is flooding and occasional inundations by storms and tides. The commission, of course, is well aware of the enormous losses from floods in the Mississippi Valley, and 14 EXHAUSTION AND ABANDONMENT OF SOILS. from the recent floods in Texas. This is a matter of such common knowledge that it hardly seems necessary for me to dwell upon it as one of the important causes of the abandonment of soils, where the conditions are so unsafe that settlers can no longer risk their lives or their crops. But I would call your attention also to the vast extent of the tide marshes and inland swamps of the United States. This ques- tion of the tide marshes has recently been brought to the attention of the Department of Agriculture from its economic importance in the New England States. It is estimated there are 168,000 acres of tide marshes along the Atlantic and the Gulf coast; and on the Pacific coast it 1s estimated that there are several million acres of tide marshes. These lands, if protected from the tide and drained, would be of value in agriculture. Some of the inland swamps of Illinois which were selling originally at $1 to $5 an acre have a value now from $60 to $100 an acre. It is estimated that one-fifth of the area of Michigan is swamp land, which, if drained and reclaimed, would be of great value for celery and corn and potato crops. The tide marshes have also an indirect effect upon the values of adjacent lands, because of the preva- lence of disease and the prevalence of mosquitoes. I would not say tide marshes only, but all marshes. The commission, of course, is aware of the commonly accepted views now that malaria is conveyed by mosquitoes, and the Department of Agriculture has been applied to recently from many sources to suggest means of reclaiming the tide marshes and the inland swamps of the United States, partly for their agricultural value and partly for the increase of the healthfulness of the surrounding land. There are many cases where areas and indus- tries have been abandoned from the unhealthfulness of the neighbor- ing marsh lands. I do not know that there is any cause that has con- tributed so much to the discomfort of many of the Atlantic coast States immediately upon the water, which would otherwise be a delightful location and a fine farming land, as the prevalence of malaria and simi- lar diseases. That these causes have prevented to a large extent the settlement of some of our Southern States and have been the cause of abandonment of some others of our lands is unquestionably true. The prevalence of malaria and these malignant fevers near swamp lands of the South, the unhealthfulness which almost prevents the residence of white persons, is a matter that calls for very great and grave consid- eration, and it is one that the States, at least, it seems to me, might well consider. An instance that I would cite as to the effect of inundation and floods as a cause of the abandonment of soils is in the rice lands of South Carolina. These lands before the war were protected by substantial levees that were built through cooperation between the individual and the State and maintained as a protection against the flooding of the fertile swamp lands by floods or by tides. During the period of the EXHAUSTION AND ABANDONMENT OF SOILS. 15 civil war these levees were destroyed, the lands were for a time aban- doned, and since that time it has been impossible to get labor to work in the canals, and it has been expensive to construct the levees, and large areas of this once fertile and extremely productive soil have been abandoned from this cause. Q. (By Mr. CrarKe.) Why has it been impossible to get labor to reclaim this land—on account of unhealthfulness of the climate?—A. On account of unhealthfulness and the unwillingness of labor to work under conditions they have to in the swamp lands. In a way it would seem that machinery could be introduced, dredges; but so far as I know this has not been done on any extensive scale. Q. Have you given attention to the development of rice growing in southwestern Louisiana/—A. Yes. The conditions there are that these lands, which were semiswamps, have been drained where necessary, and they are not subject to overflow, as the rice lands of South Caro- lina are. The Louisiana lands are higher, but still they are swamp lands. and the irrigation that is given to these lands is done by pump- ing or by artesian flow, usually by pumping, whereas the irrigation of the rice lands of South Carolina is from the rivers, and is without any pumping or artificial means, either for irrigation or for drainage. Q. It is in evidence before the commission that the Louisiana rice region is very healthful.—A. That region is much more healthful than the Soutb Carolina rice lands. LABOR AND EXPENSE OF MAINTAINING PROPER PHYSICAL CONDITION. Another cause of the abandonment of lands, at least a contributing cause, is the expense of maintaining the proper physical conditions. The trouble and expense of clearing the stones off the New England fields have been so great and so laborious that they have had some- thing, at least, to do with the abandonment of lands in that locality. The simple expense and labor involved in getting the fields into con- dition and maintaining them in condition to cultivate in competition with the large areas of the fertile Western plains have been so great that they have unquestionably been a contributing cause to the aban- donment of the soils. And the labor and expense and risk in main- taining the proper conditions of the rice lands of South Carolina, which I will refer to again, have been so great that there also these factors have operated against the continuance of the culture of the lands, and have been an insurmountable obstacle to the reclamation of what were once fertile and well-cultivated soils. TRANSPORTATION CONDITIONS. I would mention also the effect of transportation facilities. While cheap transportation has opened up new and important markets, it has also been the cause of the development of extensive areas of new and 16 EXHAUSTION AND ABANDONMENT OF SOILS. exceedingly fertile country. The effect of this cause alone in the New England States and in the South has been very great, and will be referred to in a later place. Another cause has been unquestionably the discrimination in rates and the high freight charges which have prevailed in certain localities. It is not my purpose to go fully into this question, as the commission has had in evidence before questions touching this important subject, but in my experience the commercial value of farm lands is often con- trolled to a considerable extent by the rates of freight which are locally applicable to these areas. It may be that the lands are situated at such a distance that cheap transportation can not be offered; it may be that there are conditions of expense in the marketing of the products, but certain it is that the possibilities of building up industries, agricul- tural industries, on certain soils and under certain climatic conditions which in themselves would be favorable is prevented by the imprac- ticability of marketing the products with any profit under the prevail- ing conditions. Q. (By Mr. Purtures.) What section of the country is that most applicable to/—A. I would cite, in the case of Florida, the marketing of the bulky and tender products from the truck fields. These products have to be marketed under peculiar conditions. They have to be rushed to the Northern markets on the fast freight or passenger schedule. They have to be provided with proper refrigerating and ventilation cars, and they must be placed upon the market in the shortest possible time in order to be in fresh eatable condition, and to reach the market at the earliest possible date. Now, it is the common experience in Florida that the possibilities of marketing the crop with any profit to the farmer is a pretty close thing to figure on, and that it requires very nice and very close calculation in many cases to deter- mine whether it is possible to send a crop to the Northern markets with any profit. I do not mean to say that there is discrimination, but I do want to show the commission that the possibilities of marketing the crop, the possibilities of transportation, have necessarily some- thing and in many cases much to do with the possibilities of the devel- opment of any particular agricultural district, and that that is one of the important factors in the abandonment of many enterprises that have been started—in the abandonment of lands. Another cause of this same kind which could be cited is in the mar- keting of the truck crops of southern Maryland. The development of the truck industry there a few years ago was very great, and the prod- uct had to be sent by river steamers to the railroad centers, or to the Northern market, and they were picked up by these steamers on their regular runs. The amount of product was large, the distance from the market was great, and the time that was consumed in getting the crop loaded and delivered in the Baltimore or Washington or Phila- EXHAUSTION AND ABANDONMENT OF SOILS. ilar delphia markets became so great, and the transportation service was so irregular, that the industry on large areas has been given up for that one cause, namely, the inability to market the products in the proper way and in the quick time that is made necessary by our pres- ent transportation facilities. Q. (By Mr. Criarke.) You do not think that the difficulty of getting suitable farm labor for this truck farming was a potent factor in caus- ing the abandonment of it?—A. Decidedly. I shall speak of the con- dition of labor in the South later on. This is an important contributing cause. SOCIAL CONDITIONS. To come now to one of the most important problems—the social conditions and growth in manufactures, and the increase in wages. New England.—In treating this I shall take up specific cases, first, of the cause of the deterioration and abandonment of lands in New England, about which so much has lately been said. So far as I am aware, there is no evidence to show that the New England soils have any less plant food than they had when first cultivated. That is to say, that so far as the chemical analysis would show, they have all of the essential ingredients for crop proauction. I do not mean to say, however, that the soils are in as high a state of cultivation as they were, because I do not think that is universally the case; but the exhaustion of soils as it is usually considered has not contributed to any great.extent to the present condition of the agricultural lands of New England in the two hundred years in which they have been culti- vated. It would be impossible, with the record we have of Eastern countries, to conceive that in two hundred years these soils could be so impoverished by the actual withdrawal of plant food by the crops that have been marketed as to make them markedly deficient in plant food. We must remember that the country throughout the New England States has generally a rough, hilly, and frequently a stony soil, with rocks and bowlders and gravel, left from the Glacial period. The expense of clearing and cultivating these rough and rocky soils is considerable. With the development of the fertile lands in the West, with the ease of cultivation and the methods that can be employed, the cost of production has been reduced. The New England farmer can no longer afford to grow the staple farm products. When wheat was bringing $1.25 and $1.50 a bushel, as it was a few years ago, and when hay was correspondingly valuable and cattle a correspondingly important industry, the products from the New England farms were profitable. There is no question that the New England farmers made a comfortable living; but with wheat as low as it is at present, with cattle as cheaply raised as they are in the West, and with hay and 4685—No. T0—01——2 18 EXHAUSTION AND ABANDONMENT OF SOILS. grain as abundant, they have been unable to compete. The contribu- ting cause of this condition has been the small areas which they could devote to any particular crop, and the labor and expense of cultivating and caring for their land. The development of transportation facili- ties, the lowering of freight rates in the rail and Jake and canal trans- portation, has made it possible to bring products from the West at such a low price that it has been impossible on the rough and rocky New England soils to compete. Another very important contributing cause has been in the increase in the number and size of factories. It is unquestionable that the social conditions of New England have changed in the past few years— that the growth of the factory system, that the increase in wages, that the lesser cost of the products of the mills, the increase in the number and variety of articles that are considered necessary for comfort and health, the general increase in the cost of living, the general feeling of discontent, and the unwillingness to remain in the quiet and labo- rious life of the farm have all had their influence. It seems to me that of all the causes that have contributed to the abandonment of the lands in New England there is no other factor that has been more potent, more important than this one, of the sue- cess of individuals in the commercial and industrial lines, and the apparent ease and comfort and luxury of their lives as compared with the laborious and simple life of even the successful farmer. Q. (By Mr. Kennepy.) I read in the public press a short time since that the abandoned farms of New England were being taken up again ata very low price; that those who had abandoned them and gone to the West in many cases were returning and trying to get the old homesteads, and that if they could not do that they were buying abandoned farms in the neighborhood, and in one of the New England States, in Massachusetts or Connecticut, there was not now a single abandoned farm.—A. I think there is a reaction going on, but Ishould think that statement rather overdrawn. Unquestionably, however, I think there will be a reaction, and that the lands will be taken up. Q. (By Mr. Pururips.) Have not a considerable portion of those lands been taken up by French Canadians in recent years/—A. Yes; they have. One other point I wish to convey to the commission is that the lands in themselves are not worn out; they are in no worse con- dition. It is other conditions, and not the actual exhaustion of plant food, by which they are affected. Q. (By Mr. Ciarke.) Is it nota fact thatthe products of agriculture in the manufacturing sections of New England are worth more to-day than they ever were before?—A. Do you mean of wheat and grain and fruit? Q. I mean all crops grown by farmers, including of course, truck farming.—A. Well, I should say not, so far as the general farming EXHAUSTION AND ABANDONMENT OF SOILS. 19 goes. Special industries are exceedingly important in the New Eng- land States, and I had aimed to speak of that fact in my suggestions for the amelioration of the conditions. Q. Instead of manufacturing having the effect of depopulating the farms and of rendering agriculture unpopular, is it not true that manufacturing affords so good a market to the farmer near his farm that by changing his agriculture somewhat he finds it more profitable than ever before?—A. Have you not really given the key to the whole situation, namely, that they have not changed their method; they have persisted—farmers are a conservative class—in attempting to compete with the West, when they should have specialized and have met the changed conditions that have confronted them? Q. My observation, as a New England man, reared upon a Vermont farm and an annual visitor to that State, and somewhat familiar with conditions in Massachusetts, where more manufacturing is carried on, is the reverse of that, and it is that they do conform to existing con- ditions and are making more money than they ever made before. Now, if Lam wrong about that I hope that you or somebody else in the Department of Agriculture can enlighten the country on that sub- ject. A few years ago a Professor Perry, of Williams College, made the statement that one-third of the farm lands from the summit of the Green Mountains in Vermont eastward to the Connecticut River had been abandoned. I contradicted it at the time from personal knowl- edge. That is one of the most favorable regions in this country. There is scarcely an abandoned farm to be found there, and agricul- ture near that region, while it has undergone some changes, is more profitable than ever before, and I would like to know why it is. As you say, the soils continue to be fertile and productive, and the mar- kets have improved, and transportation facilities have improved; why is it, then, that the people will persist in claiming that there is a large abandonment of profitable agriculture in that region of the country? IT undertake to say that it is not true, but that the exact reverse is true. Q. (By Mr. Puiiiies.) Is it or is it not the fact that the price of lands both in New England and the Central States, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio, are not nearly as valuable and would not bring as much per acre to-day as they would twenty-five or thirty years ago, or even before the war/—A. Generally, the land values have fallen, but in specific cases they have risen or have maintained their level. And in many cases in the New England States it is unquestionable that very important industries have been created there, notably the tobacco interests of the Connecticut Valley, which we have lately had under consideration, the area of which we have recently mapped; also the truck interests along the Sound, around Providence, around Bos- ton, are very important, and the fruit interests of the Lower Connecti- 20 EXHAUSTION AND ABANDONMENT OF SOILS. cut Valley, particularly the peaches, have all been exceedingly profit- able, and I hope I did not convey the impression that I believed myself that there was any such general abandonment of lands as has been frequently stated in the press, because 1 think myself that there are many industries in the New England States now that are very impor- tant. It is certainly our most important tobacco section—the most important for wrapper tobacco—the finest we get in this country. Q. Is it not a fact that throughout New England when a farm has been abandoned as a home it has been annexed to some neighboring farm and still carried on as a farm! Is not that almost universally the case?—A. I would not say universal, but it is generally the case; yes. There can be no question, however, that, particularly in the last ten years, twelve years, there has been a period in New England in which agriculture has been at a low stage, and that there have been many abandoned tracts, and many people who have moved away. I have tried to show that these conditions are due to causes other than the poverty of the soil, which I do not believe in at all, and that there is no reason why they should not build up the industry of that country and make it as profitable as, and far more profitable by adjusting it to these new conditions, than it ever was. Q. Now, I would like your estimate of the proportion, the relative importance of the causes which you have named which have con- tributed to this soil abandonment. Is it not, in your opinion, mainly due to the competition of the more fertile lands of the West—that ts, the more easily tilled lands?—A. I should give that as the first cause, and I should give as the second cause, the increase in the factories, and the demoralizing effect of the factory life and of the factory wages upon the farm people. There is a demoralization; it is more a panic than anything else; they have not the mature sense of perspective, the vision of what can be accomplished if they take new opportunities which have come to them. It is common through our Eastern States. It is a restless feeling that their old conditions have been changed, and a lack of that business planning and management that will enable them to fit their agriculture to new conditions. Q. Do you think that the young men leave the farms in New Eng- land for the factories/—A. I think so. Q. Have you any information on that subject?—A. I speak from my experience in New England. I lived in New England for many summers when I was a youth, and I have frequently visited there, as it is the home of my father. I spent two years at the Connecticut experiment station when these matters were under consideration, and have also done work since in the Connecticut Valley and in the truck areas of Boston and Providence. Q. It may be true so far as the machine shops are concerned, and a few other skilled manufacturing industries. Is not the reverse true EXHAUSTION AND ABANDONMENT OF SOILS. 2 so far as the textile industries are concerned?—A. I should say that there is a general feeling among the farm boys in New England that they want the higher education. They want to get into and take up the professions. There is a great ambition on the part of the young men to go to an institute and to get into electrical works at the present time, because the young fellows that they may have been acquainted with are now getting high wages; and there is a desire among the young people of New England, so far as I have seen, to get into these commercial and industrial lines rather than remain on the farms, except where they are situated in communities in which special crops and special agricultural interests are being developed. Q. Is it your opinion, then, that the system of education in New England is defective—that it tends to work against the best interests of agriculture /—A. That is a very difficult question to answer. It is a notable thing that few of the young men who go to the colleges for their so-called higher education attempt in any way to fit themselves for the farm, and a very striking case of that is found in the small number of students who have attended the agricultural courses at Yale University, which has had a permanent endowment for the purpose of agricultural education, and who have gone out from there as farmer boys. Harvard University maintains an agricultural school and a sci- entific or technical school, but there is by far a greater attendance at the technical school, as there is at the classical college, than there is at the agricultural courses. This is a question, of course, of the effect of education-on farm life, which is widespread; it is found in all schools of the country. My own belief is that the education we are giving our boys is not calculated to make the best farmers, and that we are rather leading them away from the farm. I think there is a tendency the other way now, because we are showing that there are possibilities in agriculture that have never before been realized. We are showing them that there are possibilities of making money, for one thing—of earning salaries that are commensurate in every way with salaries paid to professional men. If we get a tobacco expert now we have to pay $3,000 or $4,000. Six thousand dollars is paid to some of the managers of tobacco estates in the South. The practical growers will willingly pay $3,000 or $4,000 to a man who can manage their estates and make them productive; and the same may be said in other lines of agricul- ture. In fruit and in dairy interests they think little now of paying $4,000 to $5,000 for experts in different lines—men who can make them successful. These possibilities now are opening up to young men, and they see opportunities for remunerative work. We have recently tried to get tobacco experts in the Department of Agriculture, and it has been necessary for us to pay $4,000 to get a man who is qualified for the work. The Secretary has been desirous of having men trained, and I have presented the matter to several young men, and they have oo EXHAUSTION AND ABANDONMENT OF SOILS. agreed to come at low salaries, $40 a month—young men from colleges, and they are going to put themselves under the direction of this tobacco expert. They are going into the tobacco sheds and are going to learn how to handle the tobacco, and after they have acquired a practical knowledge they are going to have some training in our lab- oratories in the principles underlying the handling and manipulation of tobacco. The Secretary says, ‘‘ Train young men for our own use.” If we train them to make good tobacco experts they will go out from us at salaries of $3,000, $4,000, and $5,000, just as we have lost men we have already trained. It is the training, it is the ability of these men to produce products wanted now in this highly specialized indus-. try of tobacco that counts. The young men are seeing these opportunities, and we are able to get them now readily. They are readily coming to the Department because they acquire in our work an intimate knowledge of the opera- tions on the farm, of the judging and classification of soils, of the treat- ment of alkali and seepage of waters and underdrainage, and of the production and managemant of tobacco, and we are having no difficulty in getting men who have been trained to some extent. Men are leaving positions in which they were getting $1,000 or $1,200 and coming to us for $40 a month for the experience they will get and the value it will be to them. Some of our young men-have had offers at $2,500 or $3,000 to go out and protect some of these Western lands from alkali, because they know how to handle the question. We have shown our ability to handle these questions, which are of so much importance to the people. There is one case which I wish to mention later of a sugar factory in California, that we found was situated on a delta plain. The owners have invested something like $3,000,000 or $4,000,000 in this plant, an immense sum, but their lands are underlain by alkali to such an extent that when they begin to irrigate, as they are planning to do now, there is no question in our minds that they will lose their crops and their lands also. Two factories have been shut up within the last two or three years from this same cause. They know that there is danger, and they offered one of our men a salary of $3,000 just because he knew what the trouble was and could handle that matter for them. A short while ago Japan took one of our tobacco experts from my own Division and gave him 6,000 to go over there to investigate the possibilities of raising and manipulating tobacco. They came again for another of our tobacco experts and offered him $5,000 to go over and develop the interests on the island of Formosa. These things are having an effect on the people. They are seeing the possibilities in these special industries, and in my opinion the young men are turning more to the farm than they have ever done before, simply because there is something definite, there is a purpose, and they are willingly taking positions in the Department of Agriculture and the experiment EXHAUSTION AND ABANDONMENT OF SOILS. 23 stations, because they are getting into practical knowledge of these affairs. They are acquiring the practical methods and manipulations which give them control of these agricultural methods, and they are finding that they themselves can handle these industries now in a way in which they can make good money, or can get positions of trust and responsibility at salaries commensurate with what are being paid in commercial and industrial lines. Q. (By Mr. Crarke.) Are many of these branches of agricultural science capable of being taught in the public schools, say, of the grade of high schools and grammar schools/—A. I think so; and yet it is rather difficult to lay out a course or suggest lines of work and of teaching. But it seems to me, as you have asked me my opinion on this question of education, that we want more agricultural schools, and we want, to say the least, no more agricultural colleges. That is, we want the schools right out on the farm lands where the boys work— where they are taught to care for products and for crops. When I want a tobacco expert I can not go to the agricultural colleges and get a young man who has any knowledge of tobacco. I must go to Florida or I must go to Pennsylvania, and I must pick up an otherwise unedu- vated man, and yet that man will command a salary of $2,000, $3,000, or $4,000. He is not a college-bred man, but yet he is familiar with the manipulation and the details of that work. Now, if I should want to educate a young man in tobacco lines, to be a tobacco expert or to know how to raise tobacco in the Connecticut Valley, for example, I would take him and send him right to Florida, where they have the highest type of skill and industry in tobacco, so far as tobacco is concerned, of any place in this country. They have developed the industry along really scientific lines by their practical men. Q. Now, most of the high schools of this country, even in the agri- cultural regions, have a curriculum chiefly devoted to preparation for entering classical colleges. Almost nothing is taught concerning prac- tical farming in any line. Is it your opinion that the curriculum might be changed to the advantage of the farmer?—A. I think in certain cases it could be, and we would be extremely desirous of seeing in certain centers farming schools for the education of farming boys. If such a school were established in Lancaster County, Pa., under the splendid agricultural conditions prevailing there; if the boys could see the methods pursued there; if they could go out and actually learn how to handle stock, how to handle the soil, and how to handle the crops, they would acquire information in this individual locality that would be admirable in fitting them to take charge of estates and of farm lands of their own in other localities. Q. Boys reared upon farms become familiar with practical methods, but what opportunity is offered to them in the neighboring schools to become familiar with scientific agriculture?) How much chemistry are they taught?—A. There is very little. 24 EXHAUSTION AND ABANDONMENT OF SOILS. Q. What do they know about soiling crops and about the various plant foods and animal foods? Is any of that information taught in any of the high schools in this country that you know of (—A. Very little or none in any that I am familiar with, even in the agricultural districts. Q. Then, when the system of education leaves the leading industry of a region to the work of ignorance and teaches the youth something else, are they not rather compelled to go out, and are not their ambitions led out into other pursuits/—A. Yes. Q. (By Mr. Potties.) At present it would be very difficult to have teachers qualified in these various rural districts to teach this. They would have to be educated for that purpose/—