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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 1914)
pi, k' , The Commoner VOL. 14, NO. 8 12 i l ,5 ., Mi fe If IT I ' L l :v m ft: u Sk tjp k. to. .t The Work of the President's Cabinet DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE ARMY-WORM PEST ATTACKS GRAIN Lotters, telephone messages, and individual callers have been soliciting aid from the United States department of agriculturo to stop the advance of. tho hordes of army worms that threaten their fields of wheat, oats, corn, tim othy, blue grass, and other grasses. There seems to bo a general outbreak of this pest throughout tho north, east of thr Rocky moun tains. These worms are emerging from eggs laid by moths that apparently swarmed up from have been noticed in tho vicinity of Washington tho southwest. Great numbers of these moths during tho past month, hundreds of their broken wings have been seen near the union station. Lawns in the capital are being overrun" by this post. The department has issued the following advice to those whoso fields aro threatened by the worm : If tho worms have not yet attacked a field the most practical way to keep them out is to plow furrows in front of them, throwing tho furrow in tho direction toward which thoy are traveling. Tho worms will fall Into the furrow and when this is full they may be killed either by drag ging a log back and forth in the furrow or by destroying tho worms in holes previously dug at intervals of twenty feet in tho bottom of the furrow. Kerosene pourod on them in the holes will destroy them. If tho worms are already in the field, the fol lowing mixture which will attract the worms and destroy them should he spread about: One pdund of parte green (poisonous). Fifty pounds of wheat bran. Juice of ope-half dozen oranges. Bring this mixture to a stiff dough by the use of .dilute molasses, and scatter it amongst the worms. Care should bo taken to keep this dough from children or domestic animals. Prompt action to prevent the worms from in- fostlng a field is much better than later efforts to attempt to kill them in the grain. Once the caterpillars have infested a field tho measures necessary to destroy them may seriously hurt or oven destroy tho crop. Tho worms at first aro almost always localized in some definite breeding place in tho field, and immediate efforts should bo taken to eradicate them in those small areas before they have had ' time to spread. Tho normal breeding place of the army worm is in rank grass, such as is usu ally found along tho edges of swamps or in spots of pasture land that have been overfertil izod. Thoy aro practically never found in swamps, because the worm needs a reasonably dry place in which to breed. Glean cultivation, rotation of crops, cleaning up of fence comers, close pasturage, and the burnings over of waste grass land in the spring or fall aro good measures to prevent a recur rence of tho army worm. THR HESSIAN PLY Thore is every indication that another pest,' tho Hessian fly, will be unusually troublesome to tho wheat crop this Tall. Tho department has therefore been sending out questions to farmers as to wh other their wheat has yet been infested by tho post. Probably no other insect causes more damage . to tho wheat crop i;i tho United States than tho Hosslan fly, although there aro certain years when tho chinch bug exceeds tho fly in its devas tations. During tho seasons when the fly is es pecially abundant, hundreds of thousands of acres of wheat may be oithor totally destroyed or so badly injured as to reduce the yield 50 to 75 por cent. The monetary losses run far un into tho millions. A number of yoar.s ago thero was in Kansas general cooperation between grain dealers, mill ers, and farmers to restrict the ravages of this dangerous insect. According to their own es timate, over a million dollars were saved by prompt action and thorough measures. This year tho department hopes to secure general co operation throughout tho country in combating the pest. Thore are indication that its ravages may, bo severe. Already in Iowa and Oklahoma there have been threatening outbreaks of tho insect, Not only aro federal and state organizations of tho government cooperating in this campaign, but others, such as tho National Millers' Fed oration, aro working to secure better control over the Hessian fly. The individual wheat grower is asked to send samples of infested straw to the department before the middle of September, and sooner if possible, as after that tho fly will have hatched and have entered the wheat. Late sowing of tho seed and burning of the stubble when not seeded to grass or clover are tho only measures known to date that are effect ive in controlling the Hessian fly that is, for winter wheat growing sections. In the spring wheat sections late seeding will not apply. On the contrary, the earlier it is sown In the spring the less it seems to suffer from this pest. nOG CHOLERA CAMPAIGN Under the recently passed act of Congress, which grants $500,000 to combat hog cholera, department agents will cooperate closely with the state authorities to prevent and eradicate tho disease by the use of antihog-cholera serum and quarantine methods. Approximately $20, 000 will be spent during the coming year in each experimental area selected. Thirteen of the counties, where the work is to be carried on, have been picked out, and in twelve of these work has already been started. Two other counties are to bo selected within a short time. The twelve counties selected for the present cam paign, where the work has actually begun, are as follows: Stato County Idaho Twin Falls District. Indiana Montogomery. Iowa Dallas. , Kansas Marshall. Kentucky Henderson Michigan Branch. - : - '" Minnesota Renville. - Missouri Pettis. Nebraska Gage and Johnson (part of each) Ohio Allen and adjacent townships. Tennessee Maury. The thirteenth county, where the work .will soon be Inaugurated, is Decatur county, Georgia. Appropriations will be spent in making sur veys, using serum on hogs on infected and ex posed farms, in sanitation and quarantine work and in organizing farmers to cooperate with the state and federal authorities. In addition funds will be used for the produotion by the depart ment of antihog-cholera serum and for the in spection and proper control of serum prepared by private and other agencies. NEW REGULATION FOR MEAT INSPECTION The meat inspection regulations governing the slaughtering of cattle, sheep, swine and goats and the preparation of meat food products in inspected establishments, were signed by the secretary of agriculturo on July IB 1914 i oi?6 reguJa"ons become effective November 1, 1914, except those governing imported meats which go into effect January 1, 1915 The department is limited by law to i. diction over the slaughtering and packing, tablishments which sell their products in inter state or foreign commerce. These establish ments slaughter GO per cent of the meat used in the United States. The slaughtering 2 S SS5EZ2 are beyon1 The new regulations, which occunv lt seven printed pages, codify the Sy ? ments and rulings made since the adoption 0? the old regulations on April -1 lQOR ii Vof add to the requirement? a number Vfeatu suggested by eight years' experience in SS S2aBd COnf0minS ?& scieXc- DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR INDIAN AFFAIRS Cato Sells, commissioner .of Indian affal made the following statement concerning the Indian appropriation bill just passed by con! gress, which carries appropriations amounting to about $11,800,000, $1,600,000 of this amount being appropriated from Indian funds: Commissioner Sells says the bill is the result of very careful consideration, by the Benate and house Indian affairs committees. Altogether, it is considered one of the best, if not the best Indian appropriation bills enacted for a number of yearn The Indian committees of congress with the co-operation of the Indian bureau have in this bill worked out constructive legislation for the Indians of the country along progressive lines. For example, for the first time in the hlBtory of the government there has been appropriated a large amount of money for improvement in the health conditions of the Indians and providing hospital facilities for them. $3 00,000 is ap propriated for this purpose. $100,000 of which will be used for constructing hospitals at a cost not to exceed $15,000 each. In addition to this the Indian bureau is now constructing three hospitals for the Sioux Indians to cost approx imately $25,000 each on the Rosebud, Pine Ridge and Cheyenne reservations. An appropriation is also made in the Indian bill for a hospital in the Chippewa country in Minnesota and $50,- 000 appropriated therefor out of Chippewa Indian funds. The health conditions of the Indians have been found to be deplorable, and little attention has heretofore beeh given to cor recting this condition. The appropriation in the current Indian bill will be a long step for ward in solving this important problem. The appropriation for educational purposes for tho Indians is considerably increased, and special provision made for the education of the deaf, dumb and blind children, who have here tofore been unprovided for. There is also a specific, appropriation for educational purposes among the Papago and Navajo Indians. These Indians heretofore have been neglected and sev eral thousand Indian children among these In dians are without school facilities. On the recommendation of the Indian bureau large reimbursable appropriations have been provided in this bill for industrial work among Indians. These reimbursable appropriations will amount to more than $700,000. The Indians have heretofore been allotted land but they have not been provided with tools and general farm equipment. This appropriation will enable the commissioner of Indian affairs to improve stock conditions and place herds of cattle on a number of Indian reservations. It is expected that this appropriation will aid very materially the in dustrial activities among the " Indians of the country and go far towards developing their self-support. f This bill carries a somewhat reduced amount for irrigation work on Indian reservations and contains a clause which will require detailed information regarding each of these projects to be furnished congress at its next session. Tho Indian irrigation projects have heretofore been appropriated for and constructed largely with out adequate detailed information, and it is ex pected at the next session of congress that the Indian office will furnish a complete statement regarding each of these projects so that congress may have a thorough understanding of condi tions on each of the reservations where irri gation projects are being constructed. It is also expected that the information obtained from these reports will result in procuring adminis trative legislative action which will protect more securoly the water rights of the Indians of the country. .Tl1oecGniSAicluded in the b111 an appropriation or ?85,000 to cover salaries and expenses of probate attorneys under the direction of tho JJSJf1 Blonlp ln thG workn& out of probate re S?I 1 ,ir, thG Protection of the property of In dian children in Oklahoma, which will be done 01 narjnony with rules of probate procedure adopted at a conference of the county judges with the commissioner of Indian affairs held In January and recently adopted and promulgated by the justices of the supreme court wJLbili also, carrles $100,000 to support a 2,nSX-ad a?d aeeressivo campaign for tho suppression of the liquor traffic among Indians, tini VL g vea Jhe commissioner six confiden finnfinn0PeCt?5s,witn speclal civil service quali tinn Sfn U JB, GXPeted that this approprla nuL !! J68,? U iu tnorugh investigations being made on Ind an reservations and throughout tho vlSfJ UntPI generally that he may be ad efuto,al COnditionB a8 for theI oftwa ilLProJides or tbQ consolidation of the Sov .fJ?e to civilized tribes and the union agency and with it a reduction of $50,000 over jier rtr- win-r-i SS3 utTmah -iff'- -r in.ml.y ''- . wa