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THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



AN INDEPENDENT WATER SUPPLY. 



It is within the means and immediate reach of the 

 individual. The farmer who realizes the necessity 

 and value of irrigation and has the courage to under- 

 take things need not wait upon the advent of a " ditch 

 company," nor the cooperation of his less enterpris- 

 ing neighbors, but may successfully set up in business 

 for himself without delay. Furthermore he may have 

 an independent water supply, secure from the annoy- 

 ances incident to leaking dams, washed out headgates, 

 quarreling over the division of a scanty supply, and 

 the hundred and one unpleasant features which 

 may attend securing water from a company or com- 

 munity ditch or reservoir. It may be located upon 

 whatever portion of the farmer's land he may prefer, 

 in most cases, and the means of irrigation thus made 

 to conform to the taste and convenience of the irri- 

 gator to a greater extent than can ordinarily be the 

 case of water supply received from canals. 



But the greatest value of the windmill as a factor 

 in the irrigation problem lies in its present obtain- 

 able and immediate usefulness to the isolated farmer 

 who could not expect to secure the benefits of water 

 from a ditch " it may be for years and it may be for 

 ever;" and in the fact that it constitutes a sort of safe- 

 guard, or sheet anchor a means of "holding on" 

 for the settler upon the lands of the semi-arid region. 

 The dry farmer upon such land can, by means of a 

 windmill, pump and reservoir of very moderate cost, 

 provide for his own table and thus make sure the 

 means of subsistence of his family through the recur- 

 rent seasons unfavorable for crop growing upon his 

 non-irrigated land, besides adding greatly to their 

 comfort, convenience and healthfulness and his own 

 profits every 'year. 



The windmill is destined to prove a very important 

 factor in the irrigation problem throughout a very 

 large proportion of the country. 



CULTIVATION OF CANAIGRE. 



BY W. C. FITZSIMMONS. 



THE importance of cultivating canaigre for tan- 

 ning purposes is becoming more and more 

 apparent as investigations are pursued. Consul 

 Monaghan, at Chemnitz, Germany, has lately made 

 inquiry into the demand for canaigre as a tanning 

 agent in Germany. A moderate price for the dried 

 roots of this plant in Vienna is stated to be about 3)^ 

 cents per pound, or say $70 per ton. Experience in 

 the extensive use of canaigre has shown it to possess 

 certain features not found in most other substances 

 used in the preparation of leather, which make it 

 especially valuable. Leather produced by means of 

 canaigre comes out smooth, soft, with good grain and a 

 clear, bright color. It is regarded as especially valu- 



able in the preparation of fancy leather for the use of 

 saddlers and others. 



WORLD-WIDE DEMAND. 



From Mr. Monaghan's investigations and observa- 

 tions it may be assumed that the demand for a 

 properly prepared article of canaigre would be prac- 

 tically world-wide; for tanning in some way or other 

 is an ancient art, and there are few countries where 

 tannin in some form is not extensively used. 



Consul Monaghan learns that a single tanning firm 

 in Scotland has offered to buy 10,000 tons of canaigre 

 at $40 per ton; and wherever its merits are known a 

 ready sale awaits it. 



This plant yields a high percentage of tannin, and 

 is alleged to average from 20 to 35 per cent. a much 

 higher average than most of the barks from which 

 nearly all tannin is now extracted for commercial use. 

 The demand and the market for canaigre may there- 

 fore be assumed to exist to a practically unlimited 

 extent; it remains then for the men of the arid region 

 to step in and profit by this fact. 



AREAS ADAPTED TO ITS GROWTH. 



There are millions of acres of land adapted to the 

 growth of canaigre, and it already grows wild over 

 wide areas, throughout the southern portions at least, 

 of the arid belt. How far north this plant may be 

 grown with profit has not been demonstrated, but in 

 New Mexico, Arizona and Southern California it 

 grows extensively and thrives luxuriantly. It is well 

 known that the principal sources of tannin, the 

 oak and hemlock, are being rapidly exhausted, and 

 that our own tanners are searching the world for 

 material for their use. Gambier is imported in large 

 quantities and at great cost to supply this need, and 

 in 1891 the value of this import alone was over 

 1,500,000. From the fact that a general demand for 

 tannin exists in all countries at a reasonable price, 

 and from the fact, too, that the sources of previous 

 supply are being rapidly depleted, if not exhausted, 

 under increasing demand, it must follow that a prac- 

 ticable and adequate source of supply for this sub- 

 stance>promises good results for producers. And the 

 special adaptability of canaigre culture to the arid 

 zone points to that region to supply the world with a 

 staple article of commerce for all time to come. 



EXPERIMENTAL CULTIVATION. 



It has not been fully demonstrated as yet on a large 

 scale what the productive capacity of the plant is 

 under favorable conditions; but the results of experi- 

 ments made at the Arizona Agricultural Experiment 

 Station, and also by private individuals in several 

 places, point unmistakably to profitable results from 

 the cultivation of canaigre under irrigation. It has 

 been found in practice that it is difficult to secure a 

 good stand of canaigre from planting the seed, and 



