THE
SCIENCES PUT TO USE
Although the population
of the United States more than doubled
between 1910 and 1990,the amount
of productive land remained almost stable.
Yet,Americans are far better fed
and clothed today than in 1910.
This has been
accomplished largely through the wide-spread use of machinery
in agriculture as well as the
application of scientific advances and discoveries.
Truks, automobiles and farm
labour, making the modern farmer more productive
than his forebears.
Scientists have bred
new hybrid plants and animals which yield more food.
New ways have been found for
controlling harmful insects, for preserving food,
for packaging, storing and marketing
farm products. All together, these improvements
have made the farme's labour so
much more productive that he now produced in 1940.
Great progress has
been made as well in using the land itself. Through improved
methods of fertilization and
conservation, farms are yieldind more than ever before.
In many areas laik Great Plains,
land once used inefficiently for grazing in now used
to produce food.
But perhaps the most
remarkable achievements have resuited from irrigation.West of the
Mississipi River alone,about 18
million hectares, once thought useless, have been reclaimed
through irrigation projects and
supply water and power to many farm communities.
Scientists know that
there are 20 million hectares in the vast western United States
which can be irrigated - a
sourse of food for many millions of people.In, these scientists know
that an equal amount of land
can be reslaimed by draining swamplands, and that another 36
million hectares of sandy
pinelands and wet grasslands can be cleared for cultivation.
The people of the
United States have really only begun to use their land resources. But
what they have been able to do
thus far has made them appreciate how much more can be done.
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