THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



THE CO JFEE TREE IN THE UNITED STATES. 



IN a recent issue of your paper you state that the 

 coffee tree will not endure hot sunshine during 

 the first two or three years of its growth. I think you 

 are in error as to this statement. It was my fortune 

 to spend several years on a coffee estate in Ceylon, 

 and I never found that the sun affected the young 

 plants provided there was sufficient rainfall, and in 

 this country irrigation would insure plenty of moist- 

 ure. In that country we raised the plants in the 

 nurseries from seed, and when the seedlings were 

 seven or eight inches high, transplanted out of doors. 

 While in the nurseries, however, great care was exer- 

 cised in keeping them sheltered from the sun. At 

 three years the young trees would begin bearing, and 

 at five years would be in full bearing. A coffee 

 estate requires the employment of a large number of 

 people in picking, pruning and weeding, the latter 

 being a heavy item of expense, as every inch of 

 ground must be kept clear of weeds by hand picking, 

 as any implement is liable to injure the roots. 



In Ceylon we paid our skilled labor what would be 

 equal to 25 cents in American money; common 

 laborers got 20 cents, and women and boys 15 cents 

 per day. In this country, where labor is so well paid, 

 I do not think it could be made a profitable industry. 

 I would suggest trying, Cinchona, which merely 

 requires weeding, and at three years could be made 

 to yield some profit. I sincerely hope that the Cali- 

 fornia experiment station will take up this matter. 



C. S. HANDCOCK. 



HINT TO THE FARMERS. 



Mr. G. Meese, of Spokane, Wash., says if the farm- 

 ers in that vicinity will raise broom corn he will sup- 

 ply the market. He wants all farmers raising that 

 crop, or intending to try it, to write him. Mr. Meese 

 is in the broom-making business and he wants to 

 patronize the western farmer instead of being com- 

 pelled to send East for his supplies. 



RAPID DITCHING. 



In 1890 Dr. O. J. Chandler, of the Consolidated 

 Canal Co., of Mesa, Ariz., decided to use modern 

 machinery in the construction of the company's 

 ditches, and, after thorough investigation in this di- 

 rection, contracted with the Marion Steam Shovel 

 Company, of Marion, Ohio, for one of their medium 

 sized ditching dredges, which was constructed and 

 put in operation early in 1891. This machine proved 

 extremely serviceable, from the fact that in enlarging 

 the old ditches they could keep the water running at 

 all times while the enlargement was being made. 

 The material being cemented gravel, loose rock, sand 

 and earth, with large cottonwood, mesquit and willow 



stumps to contend with, the operation of the dredge 

 in all its work was highly successful, the work being 

 done for a small per cent, of former methods. 



The accompanying cut is from a photo taken while 

 the enlargement of the ancient canal was being made. 

 The Consolidated Canal Co. found this investment so 

 satisfactory that they have recently entered into a 



THE DITCHER AT WORK. 



contract with the same company for the construction 

 of a mammoth dredge, having a hull 84 feet long and 

 46 feet wide, equipped with a boom 80 feet long. 

 This dredge has a large capacity, and is capable of 

 excavating to a depth of 25 feet below the surface of 

 water, raising and dumping the material 34 feet above 

 surface of water, and at a distance of 80 feet from 

 center of dredge on either side. With this machine 

 they can complete their largest canals with one cut. 

 With this addition to their plant, the work of irriga- 

 tion can be barried on more rapidly, and what has 

 been considered an arid, worthless country is fast 

 becoming a land of productiveness, peculiarly 

 adapted to fruits, grains and grasses. 



"It is expected that the Chino, California, factory 

 will also start out in its '94 campaign with a capacity 

 of 1,000 tons of beets per day, being on an equal foot- 

 ing with the Watsonville factory," says the Champion. 



After a thorough canvass and intelligent agita- 

 tion of the proposition, the people of Kittitas county, 

 Washington, have signed contracts to plant 2,500 

 acres in sugar beets this season. 



Mr. Blackwell, of Hunter, Idaho, is preparing 

 twenty acres of land for fruit, and the Greer Bros., of 

 the same place, are preparing a large acreage for 

 prunes. 



The Island Farm Company has been incorporated 

 in Seattle, Washington, with a capital stock of $50,000. 



