THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



States of the arid region. Yet some of the professors 

 in the colleges themselves admit that their institu- 

 tions seem more inclined to follow the lines of inves- 

 tigation and the methods of the eastern colleges and 

 experiment stations, where irrigation is more an ab- 

 stract interest than a vital question as in Western 

 agriculture. Happily for Washington, it is proposed 

 to establish a special experiment station, as a branch 

 of the State Agricultural College, in the arid belt, 

 where irrigation experiments sh^ll be foremost. \ 

 H. Libby in American Agriculturist. 



Farmers' Institutes. The custom of holding 

 farmers' institutes in winter is a wise one, and we 

 hope that every Western State and Territory will, this 

 winter, follow the example of the older States. A 

 little circular sent out by the Kansas Agricultural 

 College has the following timely remarks on the 

 subject : 



" The season for institutes is at hand. Are you pre- 

 pared to make the most of it? The popular name, 

 4 farmers' institute,' denotes an organization holding 

 meetings for the mutual enlightenment of the mem- 

 bers in the business of farming. Is there such an 

 organization in your neighborhood ? If not, why not? 

 There is no other object of so much general interest 

 to the people in any neighborhood. There is no other 

 subject in the discussion of which all can join with 

 so much unanimity of feeling, and in which all can 

 take part and contribute from their experience to the 

 general fund of information; there is no other inter- 

 est which, if the proper feeling exists, can draw the 

 families together in so large numbers, for mutual en- 

 joyment and edification; and if rightly conducted, 

 nothing else, not excepting the farm paper, will be so 

 effective in promoting good farming and good neigh- 

 borly feeling. An institution with such possibilities 

 ought not to languish. If for any reason no institute 

 has as yet been organized in your neighborhood, you 

 will receive the thanks and appreciative help of your 

 neighbors and friends if you take the initiative in 

 starting one." 



Ancient Prices of Sugar. In these days when 

 the world's production of sugar reaches the annual 

 amount of about seven million tons, of which the 

 United States consumes nearly one-third, and when 

 a hundred pounds of good sugar may be bought for 

 $4, it is of interest to note the prices in previous cen- 

 turies. According to Herr Von Lippman, sugar was 

 more than forty times as dear 640 years ago in En- 

 gland as it is now. In the year 1300 sugar in England 

 cost about $2 a pound; in 1400 about $2.25; in 1500 

 about 50 cts.; in 1600 about 75 cts.; in 1700 about 50 

 cts. ; in 1800 about 35 cts. 



In view of the enormous prices that our ancestors 

 paid for one of. the least expensive food products of 

 to-day, a simple arithmetical calculation may be of 

 interest. If we assume that sugar is intrinsically 

 worth as much now as it was in 1372, the value of the 

 sugar imported into the United States during the last 

 fiscal year would be nearly twenty-three billion dol- 

 larsa sum more than three times as great as all the 

 gold, silver and paper money in the world to-day. 

 What was to the people of a few hundred years ago 

 an almost unattainable luxury, is with us a common 

 household necessity. What the princes of the elder 

 world were unable to buy, except sparingly, the poor- 

 est American laborer may enjoy in plenty. 



The history of sugar making shows that whenever 

 and wherever it has been made on a large scale, 



evenin the earlier times when appliances were 

 crude, the regions producing the raw material as 

 well as those manufacturing and refining it, have 

 prospered. The enormous consumption of sugar 

 in the United States and the immense terri- 

 tory adapted to cane and beet culture point un- 

 mistakably to the day, not far distant, when our 

 home supply of sugar will be produced in our own 

 country. It is a most astonishing fact, not com- 

 forting to thorough Americans, that we annually send 

 abroad to buy sugar, gold or its equivalent equal in 

 amount to more than tour times the annual produc- 

 tion of that metal in the United States. These are 

 facts to be pondered by progressive men who prefer 

 to introduce business into politics rather than politics 

 into business. 



Cultivation vs. Irrigation. Some months ago 

 an article appeared in these columns, written by Mr. 

 Fitzsimmons, treating of the question of more and 

 better cultivation of orchards and less irrigation. His 

 argument is strongly corroborated in the case of some 

 orchards near Denver, Colorado, belonging to the 

 Stark Brothers. An eye-witness testifies that the 

 large orchards referred to are in a region where irri- 

 gation is almost wholly depended upon to produce 

 crops of all kinds, and yet these trees have been 

 brought to bearing age and condition and produce 

 abundantly without any irrigation whatever. It is 

 there a mere matter of care and proper cultivation. 

 It has been proven over and over again that a proper 

 and thorough system of cultivation may be made to 

 go very far to supplement a light rainfall, and yield 

 the most valuable results, with the use of a small 

 amount of irrigating water. These magnificent 

 orchards of the Stark Brothers stand as a most valu- 

 able object-lesson showing what may be accomplished 

 under a scanty rainfall, by taking the necessary steps 

 to conserve the water which does fall, and to utilize 

 it with the best advantage in the promotion of growth 

 in both trees and fruit. Keep the earth finely pul- 

 verized in the orchard to a depth of two or three 

 inches, and allow no weeds to grow, and the results 

 will be surprising, even with a minimum amount of 

 irrigating water. 



A Beautiful Hedge Plant. The mild, uniform 

 winters of the irrigated valleys of the inter-moun- 

 tain regions are favorable to the successful use of 

 many of the half-hardy trees, shrubs and herbaceous 

 plants, especially in those valleys of low altitude in 

 the northern section, and in all of those of the farther 

 south. As the needed fence laws are gradually being 

 put in operation in State after State, the barbaric 

 fence around smaller places is being found useless, 

 yet the desire for seclusion often calls for at least an 

 ornamental hedge. For this purpose, and to replace 

 the ugly cypress, we indorse the Pomona Progress 

 in its advocacy of the Japanese honeysuckle. A rude 

 framework or wire fencing must be provided on 

 which to train it. It has long, flexible branches, ter- 

 minated by the fragrant blossoms, red outside, nearly 

 white within. Plant from three to six feet apart and 

 weave the branches as they grow in and out among 

 the larger ones. It will soon cover the fence, and 

 blooms profusely in June. Another variety, the Lon- 

 icera fragrantissima, is a winter bloomer, is ever- 

 green and the most fragrant of all honeysuckles. It 

 is an erect shrub and grows to a height of six feet. 

 There are about eighty species of honeysuckle, and 

 many of them are desirable for hedge purposes. 



