THIRTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART XIII 785 



terested in good farm orchards or in the growing of fruit on a com- 

 mercial scale learned from one of the leading fruit exhibitors that he 

 attributes his success in fruit growing during the last few years to the 

 use of smudges in his orchards. Two years ago when the frost destroyed 

 the apple crop over the greater part of Iowa this man saved a 12-acre 

 orchard by lighting smudge pots between every square of four trees. 

 This made a good deal of work and cost considerable money, but it paid 

 handsomely because apples brought a fancy price that fall. The few 

 who can manage to raise big crops when others raise little or nothing 

 are the men who succeed best. 



The agricultural display was not up to standard. The corn show was 

 very poor. The latter part of August is, of course, too early for new 

 corn in Iowa, but if it is desirable to show corn at all, the display ought 

 at least to do credit to the state and not be composed of a lot of mis- 

 cellaneous samples that would be ruled out at a county fair. The corn 

 on display certainly was not representative of Iowa's crop and should 

 never have been given space on the half empty shelves on which it was 

 found. The products of the grain fields have not been properly displayed 

 at Des Moines for many years. We are unable to divine a reason for this 

 lack of interest in this important field. Surely Iowa farmers produce 

 grains that are worthy of a prominent place in Agricultural Hall. 



Some of the exhibits of the Iowa State College were most instructive. 

 Among these was a soil map of the state showing that co-operative 

 experiments in the growing of corn, small grains, and alfalfa are being 

 conducted in all the counties except five. Furthermore, that good stands 

 of alfalfa have been obtained in at least 90 counties in the state, though 

 unsuccessful attempts have also been made in some of the counties. 

 From a general view of the map, however, one got the impression that 

 this valuable legume can be grown all over the state if the ground is 

 properly prepared therefor. There may be restricted sections where the 

 soil is underlaid with hardpan or where good drainage is lacking that 

 are not suitable for alfalfa, but the experiments mentioned corroborate 

 the opinion expressed by this journal for several years that there is 

 comparatively little land in Iowa on which this valuable forage plant 

 can not be grown to advantage. It is time for farmers in the corn belt 

 to pay more attention to this forage plant w^hich forms such a valuable 

 adjunct to corn silage for beef as well as milk production. 



Another exhibit in the Iowa State College building was a concrete 

 illustration of the results that have recently been obtained at that 

 institution in pig-feeding experiment. Stuffed pigs were placed in four 

 pens, the first representing a dry lot, the second a rape pasture, the 

 third a clover pasture and the fourth an alfalfa pasture. Printed cards 

 over each pen showed that pork had been produced at a cost of 5.21 

 cents per pound in the dry lot, at 3.8 cents on rape pasture, at 3.7 cents 

 on clover pasture, and at 3.4 cents on alfalfa pasture. The pastures in 

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