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THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



SOME PRACTICAL POINTERS. 



BY J. C. FORTENER." 



T'HE apple crop of the year 1894 was very large 

 in the Eastern part of the United States, but it 

 is surprising to find that there are practically 

 no fine apples, as judged by the standards of the ir- 

 rigated regions, in the Eastern markets. A visit to 

 the largest groceries and fancy fruit stores and to 

 South Water street in Chicago failed to disclose any 

 exceptionally fine apples, with the exception of a few 

 King of Tompkins and Ben Davis. While the market 

 quotations are $2.00 to $3.50 per barrel of 150 Ibs. fair 

 size sound apples that would pack four rows to a tier, 

 four tiers to a California, Oregon or Washington 

 apple box, are firmly held at $5.00 per barrel, and 

 South Water street commission men informed the 

 writer that choice red apples of the above described 

 size would bring 2.00 per box of 50 Ibs. Holders of 

 really fine apples can confidently expect very high 

 prices in the spring of 1895, probably as high as in 

 1894, when for a couple of months such apples sold 

 at $8.00 per barrel and upward, and a few sales were 

 made at $25.00 per barrel. 



Owing to the high freight rates the growers in the 

 irrigated region cannot ship probably until spring, and 

 the preservation of fine fruit by cold storage is plain- 

 ly pointed out as being a most profitable business. 



Refrigerating machines are now made with a 

 capacity of cooling from one car load up : they can be 

 run profitably by water power, and with turbine 

 wheels can be installed for $1,000 in addition to cost 

 of building. 



An Overload of Debt. As showing the enorm- 

 ous amounts invested by British capitalists in Austral- 

 asian enterprises, Consul Bell of Sydney, alleges that 

 the various sums borrowed within the the past few 

 years by Australasian Governments and people ag- 

 gregate the stupendous amount of $1,946,000,000. 

 This indebtedness appears the more remarkable 

 when we consider that the entire population of the 

 countries involved is less than 4,000,000 not equal to 

 that of the State of Pennsylvania in 1890. At an 

 interest rate of four per cent only the annual interest 

 charge on this indebtedness would be $20 per capita 

 of the entire population, or say $100 to each family. 

 The entire wealth of Australasia is given by good 

 authority at $6,703,018,000 ; hence it appears that 

 Great Britain has a mortgage on the colonies amount- 

 ing to nearly one-third of the entire wealth of the 

 Australasian continent. But in spite of this enormous 

 indebtedness and the crisis of last year, our consul 

 writes, that business is fairly good, and that con- 

 fidence is generally felt in the banks and in the 

 governments. In giving the causes of this speedy 

 recovery from a most distressful condition Mr. Bell 

 says: " But it must be remembered that, from the be- 

 ginning, the governmental policy of the colonies has 

 been more socialistic than in any other country, and 

 many of the public utilities have been created and 

 remain the property of the government. These 

 public utilities, so indispensable to the growth and 

 prosperity of the country were created by borrowing, 

 as the industrial conditions of the country would not 

 have justified their construction by private enterprise. 



King corn finds its royal prerogatives disputed by 



cheap wheat from the West, cotton-seed meal from 



the South, linseed meal in the central section, and 



alfalfa on the irrigated farms. They are all proving 



o be effective substitutes. 



Keeping Cabbage from Bursting. A little 

 information which ought to be of great value to irriga- 

 tion gardeners is given by a contributor to the Na- 

 tional Stockman. He says that the bursting of grow- 

 ing cabbage heads may very readily and easily be 

 prevented simply by selecting the heads which 

 show signs of bursting and starting the roots by pull- 

 ing, or cutting off some of the roots with a hoe. The 

 pulling process is declared to be preferable. The 

 writer says : " Putting both hands under the head I 

 pull until many of the roots are loosened and then 

 the plant is pushed over to one side. This treatment 

 effectually stops the bursting, and not only that but 

 the cabbage continues to grow lustily, and I have had 

 the gratification of seeing heads thus treated grow to 

 double the former size and weight, and all due to this 

 starting the roots which checked the growth enough 

 to prevent bursting, but not enough to hinder further 

 development. There is no excuse for allowing cab- 

 bage to burst when so effectual means is at hand to 

 prevent it." 



Need of Full Information. In some parts of 

 Oregon it is reported that a considerable number of 

 hogs have been fattened on wheat bought at 22 cents 

 per bushel, and the hogs sold at 3% cents per pound 

 on foot. This is certainly a good business if properly 

 conducted, for it has been shown in a number of cases 

 that wheat is worth for swine feed fully twice that 

 price with pork at present values. It is the farmer 

 who reads and profits by the successes or failures of 

 others, who eventually .scores the most substantial 

 results in his calling. Every rural reader of THE AGE 

 should keep fully abreast of the times by a careful 

 perusal of all that pertains to his business, and by 

 making experiments and ample notes for his guid- 

 ance in the future. While it is not pretended that 

 THE AGE knows all about farming and fruit growing, 

 it certainly does teach from month to month a great 

 deal which no agriculturist or horticulturist can afford 

 not to know. It will be the constant aim of this 

 journal to present from month to month such hints 

 and suggestions of a practical nature as will enable 

 any soil tiller anywhere in the country to derive at 

 least some advantage from its careful perusal. Facts 

 and figures will be presented showing results achieved 

 or achievable, and the commercial side of agriculture 

 and horticulture will be made prominent. Soil tillage 

 as a business in these days is largely a question of 

 manufacture and sale, and to do all this with the 

 highest success, or even with moderate success, the 

 husbandman must keep fully informed as to markets 

 and products, not merely locally but on a broad scale ; 

 often covering the entire country, and at times the 

 world. The time has gone by when the farmer may 

 safely rely upon his pastor or grocer to tell him what 

 to do with his crops when produced or even the best 

 methods of producing them. It is as necessary for 

 the men who till land to know what the best talent in 

 their business has accomplished, as for the lawyer to 

 know what judicial decisions in the past bear upon 

 the case on hand. While THE AGE is primarily a 

 journal for the guidance of the irrigation farmer, it 

 will be found worth many times its cost to any farmer 

 who gives its pages proper attention. The writer is 

 in possession of facts which show conclusively that a 

 direct profit of hundreds of dollars has been made by 

 a single reader following certain suggestions con- 

 tained in a single number. The practical nature of 

 nearly all information conveyed in these columns 

 adds very greatly to its value. Mere theorists are 

 not heard in this journal, and those interested are 



