Department of Agriculture

“ In the past eight years more constructive legislation of direct benefit to agriculture has been adopted than during any other period. The Department of Agriculture has been broadened and reorganized to insure greater efficiency. The department is laying greater stress on the economic and business phases of agriculture. It is lending every possible assistance to cooperative marketing associations. Regulatory and research work have been segregated in order that each field may be served more effectively. ”

“ To encourage and promote agricultural development, a separate Department of Agriculture was created, and has been organized, and is at this time actively promoting, with the facilities at hand, our agricultural interests. ”

“ The Department of Agriculture has steadily extended its scope. Better methods of cultivation, lessons in soil chemistry, and experiments with new and special crops have helped conserve the resources of the land. ”

“ Often the department is organized in numerous branches with specialists at the head of each. Thus, there are dairy commissioners, horticultural boards, livestock sanitary boards, foresters, entomologists (specialists in insect life in its relation to agriculture) , and others, to look after every aspect of farming. In a constantly decreasing number of states the powers of the agricultural officers are slight and their work ineffectual; but in others the organization is thorough and the work efficiently done and of the greatest value to the state. ”

“ In this they are receiving help from the Government. The Department of Agriculture should be strengthened in this facility, in order to be able to respond when these marketing associations want help. While it ought not to undertake undue regulation, it should be equipped to give prompt information on crop prospects, supply, demand, current receipts, imports, exports, and prices. ”

“ Farmers are invited to visit these experimental farms, and a large correspondence is conducted with those interested in agriculture in all parts of the Dominion, who are encouraged to ask advice and information from the officers of the farms.
The governments of the several provinces each have a department of agriculture. Among other provincial agencies for imparting information there are farmers’ institutes, travelling dairies, live-stock associations, farmers’, Agricultural organizations and education. ”

“ The Department of Agriculture has given facilities for post-graduate work to five hundred young men during the last seven years, preparing them for advanced lines of work in the Department and in the State institutions. ”

“ The Department of Agriculture and other agencies are actively assisting the farmers to locate, safeguard, and secure at cost an adequate supply of sound seed.
The farmers of this country are as efficient as any other farmers in the world. They do not produce more per acre than the farmers in Europe. ”

“ The dairying industry is increasing. The Afrikander cattle, powerful draught animals, large horned, bony and giving little milk, are being crossed with other stock. A government Department of Agriculture, created in 1904, affords help to the farmers in various ways, notably in combatting insect plagues, in experimental farms, and in improving the breed of horses, sheep and cattle. ”

“ Transfer of Functions For transfer of functions of other officers, employees, and agencies of Department of Agriculture, with certain exceptions, to Secretary of Agriculture, with power to delegate, see Reorg. ”

“ The Agricultural Department is performing a splendid work in soil Conservation. It assists in the preservation and protection of trees and in planting work, as well as the fostering of farm crops and the husbandry of meat products. The College of Agriculture is devoted to the cultivation of intelligent and scientific methods in all branches of crop production. Fertilization of the soil, destruction of injurious agents, and new methods of intensive farming, are all taken up in the various branches of the Department. ”

“ As agriculture is the groundwork of our prosperity, too much importance can not be attached to the labors of this Department. It is in the hands of an able head, with able assistants, all zealously devoted to introducing into the agricultural productions of the nation all useful products adapted to any of the various climates and soils of our vast territory, and to giving all useful information as to the method of cultivation, the plants, cereals, and other products adapted to particular localities. ”

“ From supporting the farmers that produce the food that we eat, to managing the school meal programs that give students the energy and the nutrition they need to get through the day, to providing greater access to fresh fruits and vegetables, to giving struggling families the assistance they need to put food on their table, and to protecting our food supply, the work of this department touches the lives of all Americans on a daily basis in ways that sometimes we can't even imagine. ”

“ The department very naturally took up first the work of aiding the development and introducing improvements in agriculture, horticulture, forestry, dairying, the breeding of horses, cattle, sheep, swine, poultry, and bees; the protection of game and fish, the cultivation of flax, home and cottage industries, such as spinning, weaving, lace-making, and similar household arts; the improvement of cooking and household economy, nursing, and various other occupations and industries pertaining to the common people and of the utmost importance for their health, happiness, and prosperity. ”