No. 7. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 15 



billing its particles several inches beneath the surface. Eeference 

 has been made to the advantage of having corn stalks, straw and 

 other litter used for bedding livestock cut into short lengths. Added 

 to their increased absorbing capacity by being treated thus, is the 

 fact that they will, when thus treated, require much less room for 

 storage, and it is to be hoped that manufacturers of thrashing ma- 

 chines will in the near future equip their machines with an attach- 

 ment for cutting the straw at the same time the thrashing is being 

 done. 



IRRIGATION 



Irrigation has been discussed by some farmers in the State and 

 projects for building large reservoirs in the deep valleys of the Dela- 

 ware, Susquehanna and Ohio basins of the northern and central 

 counties, for storing water to be used for irrigating agricultural 

 lands lower down these vallej'^s during dry seasons, have been under 

 consideration. This looks well, but irrigation, as it is now practiced 

 in the humid and semi-arid and arid regions, is an entirely different 

 proposition and uf) to this time the humid irrigation project has not 

 been working out in an extensive and practical way. To supply the 

 enormous quantities of water needed to grow crops would require 

 immense reservoirs and an outlay of money entirely beyond the 

 means of the farmers and gardeners who would use it and, therefore, 

 the State would have to build these reservoirs which might be fea- 

 sible, but until the methods I have suggested for conserving mois- 

 ture have been found insufficient the irrigation project should be 

 allowed to slumber. Another thing to be considered is the fact that 

 in the semi-arid and arid regions, where irrigation is extensively 

 practiced, farmers do not have to take into consideration, when they 

 are irrigating, the possibility of within four or five hours thereafter, 

 having a rainfall of several inches which might mean serious injury 

 to, or the entire destruction of the crop irrigated. 



WORK DONE BY THE DEPARTMENT 



BUREAU OF FARMERS' INSTITUTES 



Farmers' Institutes were held in every county of the State during 

 the year. The State was divided into five districts so that through- 

 out the Institute season, beginning November 25, and ending March 

 9, there were five Institutes in progress nearly every day, making in 

 all four hundred and thirty days of regular institutes held in the 

 State. There were also seventeen special Institutes. Movable Schools 

 o^' Agriculture were likewise held in eleven counties, continuing in 

 session from four to six days, and speakers were furnished by the 

 Bureau for a number of Harvest Home gatherings at which farm 

 topics were discussed. The number present at these meetings aggre- 

 gated nearly 200,000, which will give some idea of the immensity and 

 importance of the work. 

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