Home -> James H. Barry Press -> Eurasia -> Chapter 14
CHAPTER XIV. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. I visited several experimental farms under the management of the Department of Agriculture and was informed by the superintendent of the farm that the Government had a small farm of six hundred and forty acres in every district in which was situated the District High School where boys and girls were taught how to farm and to raise stock and poultry to the best advantage, and also large farms at every military reservation where persons convicted of crime were taught how to become useful members of society. The Government raised only thoroughbred stock and poultry on the farms, and the service of the males was given free to every farmer that desired to improve his stock. As Eurasia covered a vast extent of country, enjoying every variety of climate, the Department of Agriculture had all almost unlimited field to work in and was yearly producing some new variety of plants that enriched the labors of the husbandman as well as discovering remedies to successfully combat parasites and other enemies of the fruitraiser and horticulturist as well as the farmer. District fairs were held once a year in every district at which prizes were given to the best butter and cheese makers and to the best breeder of every kind of live stock and poultry raised in the district, but no stock or poultry imported into the district could receive a prize. The owner of anything exhibited at the fair had to make an affidavit that he or she had raised it on his or her farm. Prizes were given to the owner of the best cereals and vegetables of all kinds as well as for hemp, flax, cotton and silk, and for the best manufactured articles of every description. The Government exhibited at every district fair the most improved machinery in use for bettering the means of production with skilled mechanics to operate it and any person desiring to purchase a machine could buy it from the Government at the actual cost of manufacture with twenty per cent. added. The Government prizes at the district fairs excited and aroused a growing interest in the people to improve their condition and by bringing them together in great gatherings made them more friendly to one another with a broader and deeper feeling for humanity.