THE DIVERSIFIED FARM. 



121 



izing material carried down >vith the water, which, 

 for that reason, may be endured. A case of this 

 kind lately came under the writer's observation. Mr. 

 A had a fine orchard on a sunny slope, and being 

 able to get a liberal supply of water he used it very 

 freely, and greatl-y to the inconvenience of his neigh- 

 bor adjoining below, who had alfalfa. Complaints 

 did little good in staying the floods from the orchard 

 slopes, and the alfalfa man finally changed his tac- 

 tics. He detected a lack of nitrogen in the orchard- 

 ist's soil, and recommended a heavy coating of sheep 

 manure. The fruit man eagerly embraced the op- 

 portunity to add to the growth of his fine orchard, 

 and literally covered the ground with the accumula- 

 tions of an old sheep corral in the neighborhood, 

 bought and spread in the orchard at a cost of four 

 cents per cubic foot. His reckless waste of water re- 

 sulted as the wily alfalfa neighbor expected. The lat- 

 ter merely prepared his ground to receive all the waste 

 water, loaded with the newly applied fertilizing 

 agent, and was thus greatly benefited, putting money 

 in his purse at the expense of his careless neighbor. 



Periodicity in Rainfall. Chancellor F. H. 

 Snow, of the Kansas Agricultural College, whose 

 experience in recording the rainfall extends over 

 twenty-seven years, says there is a periodical oscil- 

 lation in the rainfall ; the length of the rain cycle 

 seems to be about seven years, that is to say, in each 

 period of seven years there appear to be two or more 

 consecutive years whose rainfall is above the average, 

 followed by a similar series of years whose rainfall is 

 below the average. An examination of the records 

 also shows that the precipitation during the growing 

 season, from March 1 to September 1, follows sub- 

 stantially the same seven year periodicity as the an- 

 nual precipitation. It becomes, then, a question of 

 great importance whether the excess of rainfall in 

 the months and years whose precipitation is above 

 the average cannot be stored in such a way as to be 

 of service in the following months or seasons in 

 which the precipitation is below the average. In a 

 general way, undoubtedly, a large portion of the ex- 

 cess of rainfall may be stored in the soil itself after 

 the surface has been broken by the plow. If the 

 cultivated area of the semi-arid region were to be 

 increased upon an extensive scale, a large portion 

 of the excess of rainfall would be retained upon the 

 area upon which it falls. The rains in Western Kan- 

 sas are generally quite local, and consist of a heavy 

 downpour in a comparatively short time. Long-con- 

 tinued, moderate or drizzling rains are almost un- 

 known in that portion of the State. It is estimated 

 that from sixty to ninety per cent of the rainfall runs 

 into the streams, and is of no benefit to the region in 

 which it is precipitated. The preservation of even a 

 small portion of this waste of water would be of in- 

 calculable value for agricultural purposes. The con- 

 ditions are favorable for the construction of artificial 

 reservoirs in that part of the State upon almost every 

 quarter section of land, without extravagant expend- 

 iture of time, labor or money. 



ness, or carelessness, or obstinacy of one man, it is 

 of paramount importance. Utah has tried it for a 

 single year, and its effects are enough to make friends 

 for such a measure in every State. It is not an ex- 

 pensive operation, but it is an all-important one, and 

 the statement is made, which is probably true, that 

 the saving on a single acre of land is enough to pay 

 for the work of spraying fifty acres. This advice is 

 applicable elsewhere as well as to Idaho. 



Spray the Trees. The Salt Lake Tribune urges 

 upon the Legislature of Idaho the importance of 

 compelling, under penalty of fine for neglect, the 

 spraying of orchard trees, and suggests that when 

 the entire fruit industry, which is now being estab- 

 lished, may be subjected to injury through the lazi- 



Vegetable Growing in South Dakota. In 



writing of his experience in irrigating small tracts of 

 land, S. M. Gibbs, of Groton, S. D., gives some val- 

 uable information. During last year, Mr. Gibbs 

 planted several small tracts, upon which he could 

 get water, with potatoes, tomatoes, etc. The potatoes 

 yielded about 600 bushels to the acre, and this under 

 circumstances which were by no means favorable. 

 About an acre and a half of potatoes were planted 

 in a small depression in the prairie, but late in June, 

 after they had got fairly started, there was a terrific 

 storm ; in fact there was a fall of rain of six inches 

 in three hours. This flooded the "patch" to the depth 

 of two feet, and washed out over one-half of them, 

 but in spite of this Mr. Gibbs harvested a crop from 

 this spot four times as large as that of one of his 

 neighbors from five acres of ground. Mr. Gibbs had 

 the same successful result in growing tomatoes. If 

 he had cultivated an acre in the same manner the 

 yield would amounted to not less than $1,500. This 

 experience but demonstrates what an immense factor 

 in agriculture irrigation will become when we con- 

 sider these results obtained from small tracts of irri- 

 gated land and the result from his 500-acre farm, 

 which Mr. Gibbs says brought him only $2.50 an acre. 

 During the present year Mr. Gibbs expects to 

 irrigate a larger body of land, and there are many 

 other farmers in that vicinity who are intending to 

 follow his example. 



Need of a Forage Plant in Kansas. R. A. 



Winters, of Atwood, Kansas, says that there is a need 

 of a perennial forage plant on the plains of Western 

 Kansas and Nebraska. Of the native plants, buffalo 

 grass takes the lead. When there is lack of moisture 

 it simply stops and waits until conditions are favor- 

 able and then goes on. It is a useful plant, but it 

 is a dwarf. Then there is what is called the " soap 

 weed," " buffalo pumpkins," and a species of " morn- 

 ing glory." These are all rank growers, have large, 

 deep penetrating roots, and seem able to defy the 

 drouth and the high winds, but they are practically 

 of no value. What is really needed is a plant that 

 can be fed to cattle, and will also have. the drouth- 

 resisting qualities. 



The Millet Crop. At the recent meeting of the 

 Kansas State Board of Agriculture, Senator James 

 Shearer made some pertinent remarks in regard to 

 field grasses : " The almost complete failure of com- 

 mon tame grasses during the last dry season sets us 

 to casting about for a substitute. As a substitute for 

 tame grass we find millet very good. Two tons of 

 good hay, and, if thrashed, fifteen to twenty-five 

 bushels of seed per acre is a common yield, while 

 a crop of corn will do better after it than after corn; 

 but we would especially recommend it for a second 

 crop, instead of having our small grain land lying 

 idle half the season and growing to weeds. It can 

 be put in much better condition for a crop next sea- 



