134 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



Not Self-Supporting. Doubtless the 



farmers of Indiana have been too busy 

 raising wheat for the Liverpool market in 

 competition with the peons of Argentina 

 to bother themselves with providing a home 

 supply of cabbage and potatoes. In this 

 connection the Indiana Farmer says: 



It is well to repeat the fact to our readers 

 that we are importing altogether too much pro- 

 duce from other states into Indiana. A few 

 days ago one of our commission firms received 

 a car load of cabbage from Maine, two car 

 loads of potatoes from Michigan and one each 

 from two other states. "We surely ought to 

 grow enough vegetables for our own use. Pota- 

 toes seldom fall below a paying price here, and 

 there seems to be no valid reason why our 

 farmers should not grow at least enough for 

 home supply. 



A Well-Known Horseman has discov- 

 ered a fact in natural history which may 

 not be generally known. It is that all 

 four-footed beasts, in making the first 

 movement in walking, running, or any sort 

 of forward motion, always employ the left 

 hind leg as a starter. Even a child, if 

 put down on all fours and bidden to ad- 

 vance in that position, will make the first 

 move with his left leg, his hands at the 

 same time occupying the place of an ani- 

 mal's forelegs, says the Southern Stock 

 Farm. 



Apple Borers The Canadian Horti- 

 culturist gives the following remedy for 

 apple tree borers: 



When borers get into a tree there is no 

 other remedy than cutting them out with a 

 sharp knife, or killing them in their burrows 

 with a stout wire. But prevention is better 

 than remedy, and the injury from borers can 

 easily be prevented. To do so, wash the trunks 

 and larger branches with a mixture of s<>ft soap 

 reduced to the consistency of thick paint with 

 a solution of washing soda. If just enough 

 carbolic acid is added to give it a strong smell 

 it will be all the more repulsive to the beetles. 

 This should be applied during the early part of 

 June and again early in July, when the beetles 

 are most active in laying their eggs. 



New Prolific is the name of a peach of 

 recent introduction in Michigan, and is 

 alleged to be very hardy and a liberal 

 bearer. Mr. G. R. Agnew, of Erie, Mich., 

 recommends it highly, and says that his 

 future plantings will comprise 60 per cent. 

 New Prolifics. 



South Dakota can raise wheat at a cost 

 of $8.75 an acre, including $1.52 for 

 ground rent, which is lower than in any 

 .other State. Yet in that State the average 

 crop will not pay that cost at present sell- 

 ing prices. 



Foreign lemons are being shipped into 

 New York in such quantities and ai'e sell- 

 ing so cheaply that the California growers 

 have abandoned the Atlantic coast markets 

 and will push their sales in the interior 

 West. 



There were 63,485,413 passengers car- 

 ried over the 10,500 miles < f railway in 

 Illinois last year, with a loss of only twelve 

 lives, or one out of 5,290,451. The num- 

 ber injured was as one to 409,583. 



Mexico shipped four hundred carloads 

 of oranges to the United States last year, 

 and six hundred loads during the season 

 just ended. The loss of the Florida trees 

 made this possible. 



It requires 1 5, 000, 000 cows to supply the 

 demand for milk ?md its products in this 

 country, and the products of 60,000,000 

 acres of land to feed them. 



In 1830 the whole tonnage of Great 

 Britain was but 2,600,000. To-day the 

 tonnage register shows 6,000,000 tons of 

 steam and 5, 000,000 tons of sailing vessels. 



Delaware has the largest peach crop 

 since 1875, about 6,000,000 baskets, and 

 growers have offered them as low as 25 

 cents a basket. 



Montana heads the list this year as to 

 the number of sheep, followed by Califor- 

 nia, Ohio and New Mexico in the order 

 named. 



The State farms in North Carolina, 

 where the convicts are employed, have 

 5,000 acres in corn and 4,000 acres in 

 cotton. 



The number of sheep in the country has 

 decreased in the last two years from 55,- 

 000,000 to less than 43,000,000 head. 



There are more than 500, 000 telephones 

 in use in the United States, and they are 

 used more than 2,000,000 times daily. 



The consumption of cheese is apparent- 

 ly decreasing. It is held to be a luxury, 

 and the hard times tells against it. 



Vessels drawing twenty-three feet of 

 water can now enter Sabine harbor with 

 perfect ease and safety. 



