9 6 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



ploughed under while in the green stage, is a good 

 thing to help the fertility of the orchard. 



My specialty is small fruit culture, in which I have 

 been engaged twenty-eight years. If I had a young 

 apple or pear orchard of one thousand or ten thou- 

 sand trees, I would practice the above order of rota- 

 tion as nearly as possible. I would not grow corn or 

 small grain in an orchard. A peach or a plum orch- 

 ard grows so as to shade the ground much earlier, 

 and being planted nearer together not more than 

 two crops of strawberries could be grown on the 

 ground profitably. B. H. SMITH, Lawrence, Kans. 



About Small Ditches. C. T. N. and Others. What is the 

 capacity of small ditches at different grades? Reference is made 

 to the farm laterals. What method of management of ditches 

 is most economical of labor to keep them in order and distribute 

 the water? 



^ C. T. N. asks a question that admits of as many 

 answers as there are kinds of soil, width of ditches, 

 and manners of letting the water into the laterals. 

 With a five-inch pressure the water on a level will 

 carry itself at very different velocities over the bot- 

 tom of the ditch, over some very slowly and over 

 others more rapidly, owing to what kind of soil the 

 bottom is made up of. Over clay it will run faster 

 than over sand or drift soil. When the grade is one- 

 tenth of a foot in 100 feet, the velocity of course is 

 greater than when on a level; but there is no definite 

 rule, only a general one to ascertain what that is. 



In boxes made of wood or iron these matters can 

 be given quite accurately, but not in soils. 



Second, in order to throw the water out of a lateral 

 at any given place, the best way is to throw a blanket 

 across to stop the water, and then by this let the 

 water out over the sides through small and shallow 

 cuts. The blanket is made by tying a gunny sack 

 over a pole at one side, and when it is thrown across 

 the other side is let down into the bottom of the 

 lateral and secured by throwing dirt upon it. 



A. E. B. 



Tree Protectors. A. G. L. What is the best protection to 

 prevent rabbits eating the bark, and in many cases girdling and 

 destroying the tree? 



The trees may be wrapped with bagging, stalks or 

 paper to prevent reaching the bark, but this is expen- 

 sive and requires great care to be fully effective. Wire 

 netting around small fields or gardens can be used 

 to good advantage, but around large fields they are 

 not always satisfactory. The industrious and per- 

 sistent animals will find an occasional weak spot, or 

 soft spot, and a single one can do a deal of mischief 

 while you are resting in fancied security. A wash 

 made of strong soap suds say two pounds of soap to 

 five gallons of water with the addition of sulphur 

 when it is boiling may be easily and cheaply ap- 

 plied. If used twice a year spring and fall the 

 trees will hardly be troubled by any sort of vermin. 



C. W. G. 



MAXIMS FOR THE IRRIGATED FARM. 



A TWO-LINE fact, simply stated, will often 

 stimulate thought more than a column-long 

 treatise. These brief sentences are intended 

 to be suggestive a condensed expression of accepted 

 truths and wise precepts. 



You can use too much water. There is little dan- 

 ger of too much cultivation. 



Those serve God best who watch as well as pray, 

 who combine faith and good works. 



True, a woman can make more money with three 

 plug chickens than a man with a dozen thorough- 

 breds. 



It is queer, but the blackest hens lay the whitest 

 eggs most valuable in the market. 



A bushel of wheat will make seventeen pounds of 

 pork ; a bushel of corn fourteen pounds. 



The successful dairyman must have confidence in 

 himself and faith in his cows. 



Every little fibrous root is a suction pump, sucking 

 up moisture from below. 



Don't expend too much in repairing a rattletrap of 

 house or barn. Better build new. 



The highest grades of product yield best returns. 

 There is always room at the top. 



It is no fault of the cow that farm values have 

 fallen. She has held her own. 



Don't venture on an uncertain distant market when 

 you can get a fair price at home. 



It is more satisfactory to buy wheat by actual 

 weight than by measurement. 



Sugar beets are good food for sheep ; mangels are 

 better. 



Feeding farm crops to sheep on the land is best 

 means for restoring fertility. 



Breeding ewes kept in good flesh during winter 

 will produce better lambs for it. 



Hogs and alfalfa fields are a safe reliance on the 

 irrigated farm. 



Keep always ahead of your work. Be fully ready 

 when spring opens. 



