232 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



A Hen Race. A novel contest is in progress, 

 promoted by the National Stockman and Farmer. It 

 is an egg-laying contest, participated in by over two 

 hundred contestants, and covering a period of one 

 year. The racers owned by the contestants vary in 

 number from three to two hundred. A similar con- 

 test four years ago was won by a pen of single-comb 

 Brown Leghorns, which averaged 222% eggs each for 

 the year; a pen of Silver-faced Wyandottes second, 

 with 200*4 e gg s each. The first six months of the 

 present contest closed August 1st, with a pen of 

 Brown Leghorns again in the lead, a pen of White 

 Plymouth Rocks second. While such a contest as 

 this will fall far short of attracting the attention be- 

 stowed upon a single " mill '' between a pair of bris- 

 tle-haired, broken-nosed pugilists, it is or more real 

 value to humanity than the whole generation of 

 "Jims " and "Jacks" and " Paddies." 



Use Machines. Among the labor-saving ap- 

 pliances with which people become acquainted some- 

 what slowly are the potato digger and the fodder har- 

 vester. Men are apparently conservative about 

 utilizing horsepower in harvesting a potato crop or 

 cutting up corn, cane and other fodder crops, al- 

 though these are among the most tedious, wearying, 

 irksome features of farm work. There are good, 

 practical machines for doing such work, and horses 

 are cheaper than men. It is well to save time and 

 backache by doing such jobs by horsepower and it 



pays. 



Feed the Cattle in the Spring. An experi- 

 enced and observing Iowa feeder declares that if the 

 cattle grower will take half his grain, which is to be 

 devoted to feeding a bunch of cattle, and give it to 

 them in the spring when grass is short, and then feed 

 the balance in the fall, better results will be realized 

 than if all the grain is fed in the fall. 



Relative Values of Some Farm Crops. 



Probably most readers of THE AGE, if asked the 

 most valuable farm crop produced in the United 

 States, would unhesitatingly answer, " wheat.'' Prob- 

 ably because we come into more intimate and ex- 

 tended personal relation with the wheat crop than 

 with most others, this belief is very widely entertained 

 in all parts, except, possibly, the Southern States. 

 Cotton being there so preeminently the main crop 

 produced in a number of States, it very naturally 

 stands first in public estimation. The fact is, how- 

 ever, that hay is generally the most valuable crop 

 produced in the United States, and for the year 1893 

 was valued at $570,882,872. For the same year, the 

 wheat crop was valued at only $213,171,381; while 

 the value of the corn crop was greater than either, 

 and reached 591,625,627. The cotton crop was worth 

 about 300,000 ,.000, and the poultry and eggs marketed 

 last year have been authoritatively estimated at over 

 $200,000,000, or practically as much as the wheat crop. 

 Some conception of the extent of the swine raising 

 industry in this country may be formed by the fig- 

 ures of $270,384,626. for the value of last year's hog 

 crop, given by the Department of Agriculture. West- 

 ern pork packers alone paid the sum of $166,000,000 

 for hogs packed by them in 1893. 



A South Dakota farmer, residing near Howard, 

 states that irrigating his corn once with water from 

 an artesian well produced ears a foot long. 



Beef Cattle Killed. Statistics of beef cattl 

 slaughtered at the principal points show that in 188 

 the number killed at Chicago, Kansas City, Omaha 

 and St. Louis was 750,000. In 1885 the number was 

 1,450,000, a gain of nearly 100 per cent, in five years, 

 while in 1890 the figures reached 3,375,000, which 

 showed a gain for the five years of over 110 per cent. 

 But large as these figures are for the census year, the 

 returns for 1893 show a total slaughter of beef cattle 

 at the places named of 4,100,000 head. For the cal- 

 endar year 1893 our exports of beef, canned, salted, 

 fresh or otherwise, including tallow, amounted to 

 353,149,084 pounds, valued at $28,727,933. 



Hog Products. Some conception of the magni- 

 tude of the swine interest in the United States may 

 be formed, when we know that for the year 1893 the 

 amount of hams, bacon, fresh and pickled pork and 

 lard exported to foreign countries reached the stu- 

 pendous amount of 821,990,390 pounds, worth $85,- 

 860,162, or somewhat over ten cents per pound. Dur- 

 ing the same period only 148,897 pounds of mutton 

 were exported, valued at $12,174. 



Butter. During 1892 there were exported from 

 the United States 11,395,424 pounds of butter, worth 

 $2,000,057, as against 6,994,310 pounds in 1893, worth 

 $1,347,742. Also 83,184,808 pounds of cheese worth 

 $7,835,229, against 69,374,802 pounds worth $6,677,017 

 in 1893. 



Arizona Potatoes. Arizona is coming to the 

 front as a potato-growing region. It is claimed that 

 the rich valleys about Flagstaff yield potatoes in 

 such abundance that, if there were facilities for 

 reaching the markets readily, a single county would 

 supply the whole territory with potatoes and have 

 some to ship to other localities. 



Few people probably have any conception of the 

 amount of porcine jewelry annually manufactured in 

 the United States, if rings placed in the noses of pigs 

 to prevent "rooting" may be designated by that 

 name. It is alleged by the Merchants' Revieiv, of 

 New York, that one firm alone makes some 16,000,000 

 hog nose rings annually, one machine making 200 per 

 minute. 



In reviewing the extent of our foreign trade dur- 

 ing the past fiscal year, it is of interest to note that 

 while the value of all exports was 8892,143,547, there 

 were shipped from the port of New York alone pro- 

 ducts valued at $369,146,365, or more than forty per 

 cent, of the entire exports of the country. Boston 

 stands as the second export point, and sent out pro- 

 ducts valued at $84,000,000. Other ports in the order 

 of their exports are: Baltimore, $78,422,000; Philadel- 

 phia, $40,500,000, and Savannah, $25,527,000. Of the 

 imports for the year, amounting to $654,995,151, there 

 came to Atlantic ports the value of 8537,639,09-'; to 

 border and lake ports, 841,692,558; Pacific ports. ?42,- 

 359,317; Gulf ports, $27,796,696, and to interior points, 

 $5,507,485. 



Honey made from the blossoms of the eucalyptus 

 tree is reported to have great medicinal value, as 

 well as all the toothsome qualities which should be- 

 long to the products of the hive. Consignments of 

 eucalyptus honey from Australia to London are re- 

 ported to have met with the highest favor and to- 

 have sold at very alluring prices. 



