Through the Department of Agriculture the soil in different parts of the country has been examined. This is done for the purpose of learning what kind of

crops will grow best

in it.

The information has been printed and distributed to farmers.

Pests, insects, and diseases which destroy

crops have been

studied. Help has been given the farmer in learning how to fight them.

Cattle that give better milk have been bred.

Pork, beef, mutton, and poultry have been improved.

Fish hatcheries have

been built, and millions of eggs have been sent to different parts of the country to stock our waters. They have been sent to European countries for the same purpose.

Books and pamphlets of various kinds are sent out by our government to farmers, fruit growers, and others.

The information given helps them to raise the best and largest crops possible on their land.

At the same time it greatly increases the total products of our farms and the nation's food supply.

No other government does as much for its people in this

way.

The Department of Agriculture recently spent $25,000000 in carrying on one year's work.

Our crops were valued at more than $6,000,000,000 that same year.

Questions and Topics for Discussion

Why is the country's food supply important?

What kind of soil do we have in most parts of the United States? What about the soil in other parts where there is little rainfall? What is the United States government doing for these sections? How is land irrigated?

What effect does irrigation have on land?

How does it affect the crops?

Through what department of our government is the work of irrigation carried on?

In what other ways does the Department of Agriculture help and coöperate with the farmers?

What farm pests do you know of? official about it?

Did you tell any

Where did you see them?
Why?

How does our government increase our supply of fish?

What information do the books and pamphlets sent out by the government contain?

How much money did the Department of Agriculture spend in one year?

What was the value of our farm crops that same year?

Do you think the money spent by the Department of Agriculture was well spent? Why?

What does the government of your native land do in this way?

Tell in your own words how our government coöperates in increasing our food supply.

LESSON VIII

AMERICA'S MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION
AND COMMUNICATION

A young man in an evening school class was asked to give one reason why he liked to live in America.

He said, "I like to live in America because I can get from one place to another easily. There are electric cars, trains, and automobiles. In a short time I can go anywhere I wish."

What this young man said about getting from one place to another is true.

There are cars, trains, automobiles and boats at your convenience during the day, and often through the night.

Our railroads are over 250,000 miles in length. If laid on our northern boundary, they would stretch across the country one hundred times.

At present we have one-third of the total miles of railroad in the world.

People are constantly traveling over our railroads on business, and for health and pleasure.

Our railroads have helped to bind our people together. Many trains carry grain, meats, fruits, vegetables, and milk from one part of the country to another.

Our railroad rates are lower and our railway service better than in any other country.

There are electric railways almost everywhere.

In some cities where the streets are crowded, there are electric trains overhead, and subway trains under the ground.

Automobiles have come into general use.

Over fivesixths of all the automobiles in the world are used in the United States. They have influenced country life greatly, and have made trucking easier and quicker.

We have thousands of miles of navigable rivers, lakes, and canals.

The St. Lawrence River, the Great Lakes, and the Mississippi River form easy routes into the interior of the country.

Our coastline is greater than that of the whole of Europe. As means of communication we have the telephone, the telegraph, the radio, and the postal service.

The telephone is important both for business and pleas

ure.

One may sit in his home and talk with another hundreds of miles away.

The United States has more than fourteen million telephones, or about twice as many as the rest of the world.

China, with its four hundred million people, has less than one-fourth as many telephones as the city of Boston.

The telegraph is used in every part of the country. Wireless telegraphs are one of the wonders of the age. Messages can be sent from vessels far out at sea to each other and to the shore.

Telegraphic messages are also sent by cables under the

ocean.

The post office is more largely used here than in any other country.

A little more than two hundred years ago there were seventy-five post offices in the United States. To-day there are over fifty-four thousand.