THE DIVERSIFIED FARM. 



ALL well informed orchardists of experience recog- 

 nize the prime necessity of properly spraying 

 their trees. In no part of the United States are 

 the orchards so free from disease and insect enemies as 

 to relieve the fruit grower from the labor and expense 

 of waging an annual warfare against his tireless foes. 

 It is alleged that in spite of all the efforts directed to 

 the destruction of noxious insects, the annual loss to 

 the farmer and fruit grower from this cause alone 

 amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars. In view, 

 therefore, of the transcendent importance of a correct 

 knowledge of the subject of proper and timely spray- 

 ing of orchards, it is hoped that the subject as herein 

 presented may meet with the approbation of orch- 

 ardists generally. For much of the valuable informa- 

 tion here given we are indebted to the careful and 

 prolonged researches of Professor Bailey, of the Ex- 

 periment Station at Cornell University, New York. 

 The information conveyed by the table and formula 

 following may be easily worth to a single orchardist a 

 hundred times the yearly cost of THE IRRIGATION 

 AGE, and this number should be carefully preserved 

 for future use, for the orchardist will certainly have 

 frequent need to draw upon these pages for guidance 

 in his work. The Irrigation Age for June, 



GARDEN CROPS UNDER THE DITCH. 



Following will be found formula for preparing most 

 of the spraying compounds recommended in the fore- 

 going table, and the list should be scrupulously 

 preserved for reference. 



AMMONIACAL COPPER CARBONATE. Copper carbonate, 1 

 ounce; ammonia, enough to dissolve the copper; water, 6 gallons. 

 The copper carbonate is best dissolved in large bottles, where it 

 will keep indefinitely, and it should be diluted with water as re- 

 quired. For same purpose as Bordeaux. 



COPPER SULPHATE SOLUTION. Copper sulphate, 1 pound; 

 water, 15 gallons. Dissolve the copper sulphate in the water, 

 when it is ready for use. This should never be applied to foliage, 

 but must be used before the buds break. For peaches and 

 nectarines use 25 gallons of water for fungous diseases. 



PARIS GREEN. Paris green, 1 pound; water, 250 gallons. If 

 this mixture is to be used upon peach trees, one pound quicklime 

 should be added. Repeated applications will injure most foliage 

 unless lime is added. Paris green and Bordeaux can be applied 

 together with perfect safety. The action of neither is weakened, 

 and the Paris green loses all caustic properties. For insects 

 which chew. 



LONDON PURPLE This is used in the same proportion as 

 Paris green, but as it more caustic it should be applied with the 

 lime or with the Bordeaux mixture. Do not use it on peach or 

 plum trees. For insects which chew. 



HELLEBORE. - Fresh white hellebore, 1 ounce; water, 3 gallons. 

 Apply when thoroughly mixed. For insects which chew. 



KEROSENE EMULSION. Hard soap, % pound; boiling water, 1 

 gallon; kerosene, 2 gallons. Dissolve the soap in the water, add 

 the kerosene, and churn with a pump for five or ten minutes. 

 Dilute ten or fifteen times before applying. For insects which 

 suck, cabbage worms, and all insects which have soft bodies. 



BORDEAUX MIXTURE. Copper sulphate, 6 pounds; quicklime, 

 4 pounds; water, 40 gallons. Dissolve the copper sulphate by 

 putting it in a bag of coarse cloth and hanging this in a vessel 

 holding at least four gallons, so that it is iust covered by the 

 water. Use an earthen or wooden vessel. Slack the lime in an 

 equal amount of water. Then mix the two and add enough water 

 to make forty gallons. It is then ready for immediate use. For 

 rots, moulds, mildews and all fungous diseases. 



Black knots on plums or cherries should be cut out and burned 

 as soon as discovered. 



For aphides or plant lice use kerosene emulsion on all plants. 



Paris green and London purple are " arsenites." 



The Cornell mixture is a combination of Paris green and kero- 

 sene emulsion (the two principal insecticides) and Bordeaux 

 mixture (the principle fungicide) into one mixture. [P.S. The 

 experiments with this compound were not a complete success, 

 but something practical may result in the future,] 



WITH proper management the farmer can grow a 

 succession of two or three crops on every acre 

 of his vegetable garden, throughout the year. 

 If this is being done as far north as Green Bay, Wis., 

 what can not be done under the superior conditions 

 afforded the Western irrigation farmer? 



As THE AGE numbers among its readers farmers 

 through all portions of the Arid West, where con- 

 ditions vary widely, only general information regard- 

 ing the management of vegetable crops can be given. 



The most important point, after that of securing- 

 only the best seeds, is the preparation and fertiliza- 

 tion of the soil. Deep plowing and a thorough pul- 

 verization of the soil should be the rule, so that the 

 manures applied shall be thoroughly incorporated. 

 Outside of the benefit of securing a perfect seed bed, 

 this deep stirring of the garden tends to the retention 

 of the moisture in the soil. 



IRISH POTATOES. 



The largest crop of potatoes ever grown in the 

 States on a measured acre at one planting, was raised 

 under irrigation by W. J. Sturges.of Buffalo, Johnson 

 County, Wyoming, in 1890 (974 bushels, 48 pounds), 

 thus forcibly illustrating the value of irrigation for 

 securing the best returns. 



It is usually advantageous to spread out the tubers 

 intended for seed on the floor where the sun can 

 reach them for a few days so that the eyes will start 

 growing. Cut the seed tubers two eyes to a piece, 

 and plant in rows from 3% feet to 4 feet apart, the 

 tubers being from 12 to 18 inches apart in the row. 

 Enterprising farmers to-day are treating their seed 

 potatoes for scab, by steeping them 90 minutes in a 

 solution of corrosive sublimate. 



In some sections the practice is not to irrigate as 

 long as the vines continue growing, but when they 

 begin to wither and turn yellow around the roots, to 

 water them. Make deep channels with the shovel 

 plow, having wings attached in order that the water 

 may not touch the vines, arranging the beds so that 

 the lower end of the rows will not be flooded. As soon 

 as the ground is in condition to work after irrigating 

 and before it becomes hard and baked, cultivate the 

 surface soil thoroughly. 



An overabundance of water will result in large, 

 soggy tubers, unfit for the table unless baked, as they 

 contain an unusual percentage of water to that of 

 starch. It is only a question of time before potatoes 

 will be sold at so much per starch contents, the same as 

 creameries pay the farmer for the amount of butter 

 fat in their milk, or the sugar factory men according- 

 to the percentage of sugar in the' farmers' beets. 



Nearly two million bushels of potatoes are yearly 

 imported into the States, so that there is not enough 

 grown- to fill our home markets. 



ASPARAGUS 



is always a good and profitable crop. A convenient 

 method is to make the beds in " floor," over which a 

 thin sheet of water may be run from a furrow at the 

 head, toward another at the foot, from which the 

 water may again be flowed over another " floor '' below 

 the first. This crop can be raised either from seed or 

 roots. As it requires three or four years to procure a 

 good stand from seed, many consider it better to plant 

 one- or two-year-old roots. For garden culture it is 

 customary to set them out in rows four feet apart, 

 and two feet apart in the row, about two inches be- 



