The United States as a Farming Country 33

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Fig. 19. Irrigation projects carried on by the United States Reclamation. Service since 1902
have added more than 1,700,000 acres of farming land to the amount available in the United
States. In the Salt River valley, irrigation makes it possible to grow Egyptian long-staple cotton,
the finest kind of cotton, on more than 150,000 acres.

In 1914 the Federal and state governments combined in an effort
to spread practical information relating to farming. As a result, in
nearly every county of every state in the Union, government agents
are showing farmers how to raise bigger crops, maintain the richness
 of the soil, and keep the domestic animals in the best condition.
 Some are showing farmers’ wives the best way to can fruits
and vegetables, to preserve eggs, to prepare farm products for the
table, and to do economically the many other tasks that represent
the women’s share of farm work. Still other government agents are
organizing boys’ and girls’ clubs whose object is to show the young
people how to carry on farm work in such a way that it will be both
interesting and profitable.
Public works. In addition to the huge sums spent directly on
agricultural problems, the government of the United States has spent
enormous sums in building dams and digging canals and even tunnels