122 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



son by plowing as soon as possible after the small 

 grain is harvested, and sowing with millet. Last 

 year through dry weather and heat it lived, ready to 

 start with the first fall showers, and, just before frost, 

 one-half a ton to two tons per acre of good cattle 

 hay was cut, leaving enough stubble on the ground 

 to prevent soil blowing an important item for in 

 many localities the drouth-resisting advantages of 

 fall plowing cannot be reaped, at least on upland, 

 for fear of soil blowing in the spring. By sowing at 

 different times as needed, millet will make a sub- 

 stitute for pasture grass passable in quality and 

 bountiful in quantity from the first heat of summer 

 until first frost." 



A Good Tree Protector Required." In many 

 localities young fruit trees are, about this season 

 of the year, attacked by pests which soon strip the 

 trees of bark near the ground and thus rum them," 

 writes J. M. Goodwin. " The mountain mouse and 

 rat of the Rocky mountain regions are, in many 

 cases, very destructive to young orchards, but the 

 worst pest is the rabbit, which strips off the bark and 

 girdles the small trees from the ground up as high 

 as they can reach. Some of the tree protectors are 

 good, and one of the best and cheapest is that made by 

 the Yucca Manufacturing Company of California. An- 

 other remedy is to surround young orchards with 

 woven wire rabbit -proof fencing. In the Snake 

 river valley in Idaho a cheap remedy against the 

 ravages of mice and rabbits has been used to much 

 extent, entirely keeping away these pests, but the 

 trees fared about as badly as if stripped of their 

 bark. Tarred paper, cut into sizes to go around 

 the tree and lap over a little, was tightly tied 

 with a string or wire. -In cool or really cold weather 

 no harm is done, but when the hot rays come in 

 summer these brown, impervious wrappings fairly 

 scorch the bark of the trees, and in many cases kill 

 them. This experiment was tried on an orchard in 

 Boise valley four years ago on trees in their second 

 year from the nursery. Trees two years younger, 

 planted in an extension to this orchard two years 

 ago, are now about twice as large none of them 

 died and present a striking illustration of the 

 effects of overheating the bodies by being encased 

 in tarred paper. There ought to be some remedy 

 against these animal pests by coating the trees 

 with some substance that will drive them away, 

 but fruit growers differ much as to what should be 

 used in that way. Lard, tallow, tar, petroleum and 

 other substances have been used with unsatisfactory 

 results." 



The Potato Scab. The potato crop is one of 

 great importance to Wyoming. The fine quality and 

 great yield have won several prizes for potatoes 

 grown in this State, and as it is a crop which can be 

 easily cultivated, and returns a good profit on the ex- 

 pense and labor necessary, the acreage should be 

 largely increased. The disease which is most to be 

 feared in growing potatoes is the scab. This is a 

 wholly preventable fungus disease, and never occurs 

 in clean soil unless germs are introduced with the 

 seed. This scab greatly reduces the yield as well as 

 impairing the quality. More than that, the fungus 

 once introduced persists in the soil for a number of 

 years. The Wyoming Experiment Station has given 

 considerable attention to this subject, and Aven Nel- 

 on, the botanist, gives the following as a good method 



ot treating the seed before planting: In about fifteen 

 gallons of water dissolve about two ounces of corro- 

 sive sublimate (bicloride of mercury). In this solu- 

 tion immerse the seed potatoes for one and a half 

 hours, after which spread them out to dry, and plant 

 as usual. See that the potatoes are clean. Put them 

 in a coarse gunny sack and place in the solution. As 

 corrosive sublimate is a violent poison all animals 

 must be kept away from the solution and the treated 

 seed. The solution should be prepared in wooden 

 vessels a barrel, for instance, which after using, must 

 be thoroughly cleansed or destroyed. 



Texas Cattle Fever. The Nevada Agricultural 

 Experiment Station has issued a very comprehensive 

 bulletin on the Texas cattle fever. For some time 

 W. McN. Miller, special investigator of diseases of 

 animals, of the station, has been giving close atten- 

 tion to an outbreak of this disease among a herd of 

 cattle in Douglas County. The disease manifests it- 

 self by fever, dullness, diminished quantity of milk 

 in cows, loss of appetite and a tendency to leave the 

 herd. The temperature varies from 104 to 107.6 de- 

 grees, Fahrenheit, and the higher the fever the sooner 

 comes the fatal ending. Infected animals usually 

 die after from three to ten days. A most important 

 thing to notice is the presence of small ticks, which 

 are rarely seen on native Nevada cattle not affected 

 with the disease. 



Preventive treatment embraces first, the removal 

 of the affected herd, sick as well as healthy animals; 

 second, the destruction of the ticks by currying, col- 

 lecting and burning, and by the application of insec- 

 ticides; third, the administration of quinine sulphate 

 in doses of thirty grains daily. It should be moist- 

 ened with two tablespoonfuls of alcohol, and then 

 added to a pint of water. To cure the developed 

 disease, the temperature of all animals in the herd 

 should be taken systematically with an ordinary phy- 

 sician's clinical thermometer, and to those whose 

 temperature exceeds 103 degrees there should be 

 given 150 grains of quinine sulphate, this to be fol- 

 lowed by doses of thirty grains daily until tempera- 

 is reduced. 



How to Kill Cutworms. Young corn is fre- 

 quently seriously injured by cutworms, but preventive 

 measures differ with the various species. In dealing 

 with them where they are scattered over a large area,, 

 probably the most successful method is by the distribu- 

 tion of poisonous baits, says Prof. Riley. These may 

 consist of freshly cut clover or other succulent vegeta- 

 tion poisoned with Paris green, and made into balls or 

 gathered into masses, so as to prevent their too rapid 

 drying. One mode of accomplishing this last object 

 is by covering the poisoned plants with boards. 

 These poisoned baits, if placed at intervals along the 

 corn rows, will attract a large proportion of the cut- 

 worms, which, by feeding upon them, will perish. 

 For smaller areas, or for garden patches, the same 

 method may be followed, or the larvae may be un- 

 unearthed from about the base of the plants, where 

 they retire for concealment during the day. 



Another method is to take a smooth walking cane 

 and make smooth holes several inches deep at inter- 

 vals, going over the same ground every day and 

 punching in these holes to destroy the worms which 

 seek them during the day as a place of concealment 

 and tumble in. The patent salts, such as kainit.have 

 proved of the greatest value against many subter- 



