IRRIGATION IN SOUTHWEST KANSAS. 



stocked, the fish underfed, they simply do not grow 

 so fast, and the big fish eat up the little ones live off 

 their /<7<?r relations, as it were. There is something 

 that smacks of humanity in this characteristic ; but 

 whether the trait is regarded as a parallel or an op- 

 posite to human action will depend somewhat upon the 

 reader's financial condition and political basis. At 

 any rate it makes a well-stocked fish pond a sort of 

 self-regulating food mine provided there is some 

 feeding done. The fish learn very readily where to 

 look for the food, and also to come at call. Capt. 

 Hall, for example, first taught his fish to come at a 

 whistle call, and later used a small hand-bell for the 

 same purpose; and, the past season, Ex-Senator John 

 J. Ingalls, Gov.-Elect E. N. Morrill, Congressman 

 Jerry Simpson and wife, and hundreds of visitors of 

 less note have, with much interest, as Senator Ingalls 

 expressed it, " Seen the fish come to a late breakfast 

 at the ringing of a bell." They come like schoolboys 

 after a basket of red apples, or candidates for a fat 

 office, and pieces of bread thrown upon the water are 

 speedily surrounded by a wriggling, nibbling mass of 

 finny babies, each eager for a bite. The big fellows 

 are more shy, but, if strangers are not too much in 

 evidence, occasionally the water will begin to eddy 

 and boil and a great carp, looking, as one excited 

 visitor expressed it, " 'z big 'z a bar'l," makes a dab 

 at the coveted biscuit and a big piece of it disap- 

 pears. 



DOES IT 1'AV? IT DOES. 



The experience of those who have tried pump irri- 

 gation the past five years in this locality demonstrates 

 that it pays so well that a man can be sure of making 

 a good living for an average family off five acres or 

 less if the tract is well handled. All sorts of field, 

 garden and fruit crops of the temperaie zone are 

 grown, many of them with remarkable success. Ap- 

 ples, plums and cherries are the surest fruit crops, and 

 pears, apricots, grapes, etc., do well. Peaches bear 

 only an occasional crop, but a very heavy one when 

 at all. A wide range of small fruits is covered, 

 strawberries and gooseberries being leaders. Melons, 

 cucumbers, in fact all sorts of vining crops thrive re- 

 markably, and sweet potatoes, cabbage, celery, onions, 

 tomatoes, peas, beans, Irish potatoes, beets, turnips, 

 etc., produce with certainty and in abundance. From 

 $50 to upward of $200 per acre, net, have been real- 

 ized through the experimental stages of the work. 

 Much better averages may be confidently looked for 

 henceforward as experience is broadened. Finney 

 county growers, through the medium of a live horti- 

 cultural society and a county agricultural society, are 

 exchanging experiences and stimulating one another 

 to greater and more effective efforts. The small irri- 

 gated farm, the foundation of the ideal home of the 

 future, with its combination of old-time independence 

 with modern city conveniences and sure results, is al- 

 ready an established fact in Western Kansas. 



^ 't*-r ."'*'' ^>'M>K A, \ :>' ' -V v:' 





A DESIGN FOR AN IRRIGATION PUMPING PLANT 



A Hardy Fig is claimed to have been introduced 

 by J. R. Johnson of Dallas, Texas, which is attracting 

 attention in New Mexico. If this is anything "new," 

 we would like a further description of it, as the fig 

 has long been grown in a small way, successfully, as 

 far north as Illinois and New Jersey, though often 

 thought as only adaptable to the farther south. There 

 is no reason why this old variety may not succeed in 

 any of the irrigated valleys of the southwest. 



Wild Rye Grass. The native hay harvested by 

 the Indians in great quantities, baled and sold in the 

 coast markets, is well known to travelers over 

 the far northwestern roads. We have seen it almost 

 hiding the horses and cattle grazing among it. The 

 editor of the Washington Farmer says that Sheriff 

 Meade of Kittitas county gathered seed and sowed 

 an eighty-acre field and pronoupces wild rye the best 

 forage plant that can be grown in irrigated fields. 



