

THE DIVERSIFIED FARM. 



The most prosperous agricultural community in America to-day are the Mormons, in Utah, and their 

 prosperity is largely due to the fact that their twenty-acre farms are made to produce almost everything re- 

 quired for the food and clothing of the family. The South has passed through the great depression better than 

 the North, and chiefly because since the failure of cotton speculation twenty years ago, the efforts of the 

 southern farmer, statesman and new spaper have been devoted to building up a diversified agriculture, and 

 with great success. Sustenance of the family, in all directions, from the farm, should be the watchword of the 

 small farm-owner, and the small farm is to-day the most profitable the whole world over. 



A GRAIN POR THE ARID REGIONS. 



BY W. C. FITZSIMMONS. 



SEVERAL varieties of grains of African origin 

 have been exploited as peculiarly adapted to 

 drouthy areas. Among the most widely tried and 

 most successful for the arid lands are varieties of 

 Dhoura, also called rice corn and Egyptian corn. The 

 white Dhoura is by far the most common, but the brown 

 and black by some are pronounced superior. A vari- 

 ety of this species originated in Southwest Kansas, 

 originally called "Jerusalem'' corn, now known as 

 " Bailey" corn, in honor of Judge L. D. Bailey, who 

 brought it into prominence, is undoubtedly the best 

 variety of the group yet tested in this country. It 

 stands drouth better, is more productive, shatters less 

 easily and makes in a shorter season. Its grain is 

 distinguishable by being flattened into a disc -shape 

 instead of being globular. 



One serious defect of Dhoura in all varieties is 

 that the fodder is of small value. The corn plant for 

 the arid lands ought to be a fodder producer also, so 

 that upon any failure of the grain, by reason of ex- 

 traordinary drouth, or the occurrence of early frosts, 

 or heavy hailstorms, the " roughness " might at 

 least be counted on. Several varieties of sorghum 

 have been found of great value on this account. They 

 are sure to produce some feed in any sort of year, 

 and under favorable circumstances, yield immensely 

 of an excellent quality of fodder, besides producing 

 paying crops of seed. The "Amber " has been found 

 the safest variety for a regular and reliable crop. 

 Broomcorn is another crop that yields a large har- 

 vest of excellent feed when grown and handled for 

 that purpose. Many growers prefer it to sorghum 

 for the purpose, and the seed may be to a certain 

 extent used for feeding purposes. 



Prof. C. C. Georgeson, of the Kansas Agricultural 

 College, in response to inquiries, recently published a 

 statement of the nutritive value of sorghum and 

 broomcorn seeds for stock feed, showing that by an- 

 alysis they rank very high in nutrient properties; 

 but feeders have found that stock cannot be induced 

 to eat such grains for any considerable length of 

 time, except in combination with other feed in such 

 a way as to pretty thoroughly disguise them. In fact 

 thev are valuable only as incidental or supplementary 

 supply and not .for steady feeding or for sole reliance. 



The red and white Kaffir corns, however, seem to 

 approach very nearly to the requirements of the arid 

 land farmer for a grain and forage crop for stock. 

 They require a somewhat longer season to mature 

 the grain than do the best varieties of Dhoura, but 

 when it is produced there is more of it, it is better 

 feed, does not waste so easily in handling and there is 

 always a fine yield of the best of fodder to supple- 



ment the grain or make up in part for the lack of it. 

 Of the two kinds the red Kaffir is superior to the 

 white. It makes its grain in about two weeks less 

 time, produces more largely, and the heads all come 

 clean out of the sheath. The heads of the white 

 Kaffir are apt to have a small proportion of imperfect 

 moldy grains at the base, owing to the head not hav- 

 ing pushed clear out of the sheath. The red Kaffir 

 corn is pronounced by those who have grown and 

 fed it for a series of years, equal in all respects, pound 

 for pound, to Indian corn. It produces from 30 to 80 

 bushels per acre, yielding some crop even under the 

 most slovenly neglect, and responding readily to 

 generous cultivation and irrigation. Present indica- 

 tions are that it is the feeding grain crop par excel- 

 lence for the semi-arid lands. 



FOREIGN FOREST ADMINISTRATION. 



IN view of the intimate relation between forestry and 

 irrigation development and considering .the monu- 

 mental carelessness and indifference manifested by 

 theauthonties in this country in the matter of preserv- 

 ingand extending our wooded areas, it will be inter- 

 estingto note how foreign governments deal with the 

 question. 



Nearly all the nations of Europe carefully control 

 the forest supply, not only on public lands, but on pri- 

 vate holdings also, and the cutting of trees is placed 

 under rigid restrictions and official supervision. The 

 forests are all highly protected, and even where no 

 state control exists, the freedom in tree cutting which 

 characterizes this country is unknown. In Germany 

 during the last twenty-five years some 300,000 acres 

 have been reforested, and the government has granted 

 $300,000 in this way to private owners of waste land. 

 In Austria, since 1852, a forest law which exercises a 

 strict supervision over the forests, both public and 

 private, has been in existence, and no one is allowed 

 to devastate a forest to the detriment of adjoining 

 holders of land, and every cleared or cut forest must 

 be replanted within five years. 



In Italy the effort is constant to increase the amount 

 of wooded lands, and the government contributes 

 three-fifths of the cost of reforestation, upon condi- 

 tion that the work is done according to its plan and 

 instructions. In Switzerland the national govern- 

 ment contributes from thirty to seventy per cent, of 

 the establishment of new forests, and from twenty to 

 fifty per cent, for the planting of protected forests, 

 and the law is very strict in regard to cutting. France 

 is also deeply interested in public forest property. 

 The forests belong largely to communities and public 

 institutions, as well as to the state, and they are con- 

 trolled in a manner similar to the regulation of for- 

 ests in Germany. Here, as well as there, no clearing 



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