PULSE OF THE IRRIGATION INDUSTRY. 



39 



$250,000 of debenture still remain in the 

 treasury. 



The directors in London are Colonel W. 

 J. Engledue, Earl of Winchelsea, Lord 

 Clan morris, Lord Ernest Hamilton, Rob- 

 ert J. Price, M. P., John Ferguson, Dr. 

 Boyd and B. Chetham- Strode. 



The local directors are Mr. W. T. 

 Thornton, Governor of New Mexico, Ed- 

 win C. Roberts, of El Paso, Texas, 

 Joshua S. Raynolds, President of First 

 National Bank of El Paso, Dr. John M. 

 Yair and Henry D. Bowman, banker of 

 Las Cruces, New Mexico. 



The engineer of the company is John L. 

 Campbell of El Paso, Texas. 



If successfully carried out this will be 

 one of the largest irrigation enterprises in 

 the country, and later on we hope to be 

 able to give further particulars in regard 

 to the system which the company pro- 

 poses to follow, and which embraces some 

 features of peculiar interest. 



THE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT 

 STATIONS. 



Nearly forty-five years ago, a company 

 of farmers joined themselves together in 

 the little German village of Moeckern, 

 near the city of Leipsic, and under the in- 

 fluence of the Leipsic University, called a 

 chemist to their aid and (with later help 

 from government) organized the first agri- 

 cultural experiment station. Liebig in 

 Germany, Boussingault in France, Lawes 

 and Gilbert in England, and other great 

 pioneers had been blazing the path of prog- 

 ress for years before. A great deal of 

 research bearing upon agriculture had 

 been and is still being carried on in the 

 schools and universities, but the action of 

 these Saxon agriculturists in 1851 marks 

 the beginning of the experiment station 

 proper, the organization of scientific re- 

 search and with the aid of government "as 

 a necessary and permanent branch of agri- 

 cultural business." 



The seed thus sown has brought forth 

 manyfold. In 1856 there were five; in 

 1861, fifteen; in 1866, thirty; and today 

 their are more than one hundred experi- 

 ment stations and kindred institutions in 

 the different countries of Europe. Some 

 are connected with the great universities or 

 agricultural technical schools, others are 

 independent and supported by societies. 



In each of them, from one to ten or more 

 investigators are engaged in the discovery 

 of the laws that underlie the practice of 

 farming, and in finding how they are best 

 applied. 



So rapid and so sure has been the prog- 

 ress of this enterprise in both hemispheres, 

 that private persons, educators, societies' 

 and governments have learned the useful- 

 ness and indeed the necessity of these in- 

 stitutions, not for the farmer alone, but 

 for all who are dependent upon the prod- 

 ucts of the soil. The movement is ex- 

 tending to Asia and to South America; 

 everywhere, indeed, its importance is com- 

 ing to be felt. From "The People's 

 Food A Great National Inquiry," in 

 June Review of Reviews. 



PROGRESS IN NEW ZEALAND. 



\17HAT is yet but a hope or prophecy 

 V V w ith us, regarding many questions 

 of social and political importance, has 

 become ancient history to the inhabitants 

 of that little island country away off in 

 the southwest corner of the world. Mr. 

 A. D. Willis, a member of the New Zealand 

 Parliament, was lately in this country, and 

 gave the following information to a re- 

 porter for the daily press : 



"There are over 2,000 miles of railway in 

 New Zealand, nearly all owned by the govern- 

 ment. Our system of managing them cannot 

 be beaten. There is no corruption and not a 

 single abuse. The telegraph system belongs 

 entirely to the government. 



Then we have a government system of in- 

 surance which works admirably. Through this 

 we are abolishing all pensions. All government 

 employes, including those connected with the 

 railroads and telegraph system, are compelled 

 to provide for their own insurance out of their 

 salaries. 



Our taxation is based on Henry George's 

 theory of a single tax on land, but we have also 

 an income tax. Land improved and unimproved 

 pays the same tax. Under our income tax we 

 exempt all incomes under 300 a year, and 

 on incomes from 300 to 1,000 the rate is six- 

 pence per pound. On incomes from 1,000 to 

 2,000 the rate increases from sixpence to a 

 shilling, and on all incomes above 2,000 it 

 remains a shilling on the pound. 



Last year we adopted a system of lending 

 money to farmers, on both free-hold and lease- 

 hold lands, at a low rate of interest, with a 1 

 per cent, sinking fund, which clears off the loan 

 in thirty -three years by compound interest. 



In every way we look carefully to the inter- 

 ests of the mass of the people. Our factory 

 girls are not allowed to work over eight hours 



