THK IRRIGATION AGE. 



duct of 2,000,000 acres of beets. Com- 

 pare this with the raising of other crops, 

 for instance wheat. For the past five 

 years the average yield of wheat in the 

 United States has not exceeded 12 bush- 

 els per acre. The average price to the 

 farmer has not been more than 70 cents 

 per bushel, or $8.40 per acre. On this 

 basis it requires the product of seven 

 acres of wheat to pay for one acre of 

 beets. 



Is it a wise policy to export the product 

 of 14.000,000 acres of wheat to pay for 

 the product of 2,000,000 acres beets? 

 This country has the labor, land, capital 

 and skill to produce all the sugar we 

 consume. To pay for the sugar we im- 

 port is a constant drain upon the gold 

 reserve. The sugar problem is one that 

 deserves the earnest consideration of the 

 incoming administration, and no doubt 

 will receive it. L. A. 



TWO METHODS OF TREE PLANT- 

 ING. 



During the past fifteen years I have 

 planted a great many trees, both fruit 

 and deciduous, and have lost but very 

 few not to exceed two per cent. I have 

 always attributed my great success to 

 the careful manner in which the trees 

 are handled and planted. My aim is 

 always to preserve as much of the roots 

 as possible, trim off the ends that are 

 lacerated, keep them damp all of the 

 time, work the fine soil well among the 

 fibrous roots, and firm the soil solidly on 

 them, and finish by leaving the top 

 layer of soil loose. The tops are trim- 

 med to make a symmetrical tree. The 

 foregoing is the regulation method 

 among tree-planters. Now, I have a 

 neighbor who plants a great number of 

 trees, and whose success is even greater 

 than mine, for he loses none to speak of, 

 and his trees start off in good shape, 

 and make a fine growth right from the 

 start, yet he seems to be the most care- 

 less tree-planter I ever saw. His method 

 of planting is rather peculiar, but his 

 great success proves it to be good, while 

 three years after planting his trees are 

 better than mine. 



He always buys two-year fruit trees, 

 and deciduous, not over six feet in 

 height. The roots are all cut back to 

 six inches in length, and the top short- 



ened and all branches cut oack to two 

 inch stubs. A hole a foot in diameter 

 is dug, the tree jabbed in watered if 

 necessary, fine soil filled in ani packed 

 tightly about the root stubs, and a couple 

 of shovelfulls thrown loosely on top. I 

 have seen him cut the roots of a large two- 

 year old apple tree back to three inches, 

 all the branches off smooth, and the top 

 back to three feet, and in two years 

 afterward he had as fine, thrifty arid 

 symmetrical trees as any one could wish 

 for, and they were actually larger than 

 the same sort of trees set with all the 

 roots carefully preserved. Any person 

 can readily see the advantages of such 

 pruning and root cutting, labor saved in 

 setting out, etc.; and as the method has 

 proved such a grand success with him, 

 there is no reason why others should not 

 adopt it. All trees I set out hereafter 

 will be treated in this manner. Fred 

 Grundy in 111. Farm and Fireside. 



SWEET POTATOES FOR MARKET. 



Col. S. S. Harvey, of Quinette, Escam- 

 bia County, writes to a farm paper as 

 follows: 



As a matter of interest to many of 

 your readers, allow me to call their 

 attention to the market price of sweet 

 potatoes at various Northern markets. 

 While I am satisfied that the ordinary 

 yams we have been iu the habit of rais- 

 ing are a good paying crop, there is one 

 variety of the sweet potato not raised 

 generally in our section or state that at 

 all times sells for considerably more 

 than any other variety in all Northern 

 markets; in fact, nearly double the price 

 of other sweets. That is the " Jersey 

 Sweet. 11 Without doubt it is the u aris- 

 tocrat" of sweet potatoes, as the pompano 

 is of fish, as the Bartlett is of pears. It 

 has a subtle flavor 110 other of its kind 

 possesses. 



But the important point is its selling 

 qualities. It will produce in quality 

 about the same as our best, and sell for 

 at least seventy-five per cent more in any 

 of the Northern markets. On the twen- 

 tieth day of August last I dug a row 

 and shipped them, in a carload of pears, 

 to Chicago. There w r ere five boxes of 

 them (the ordinary pear-box), and they 

 sold for six dollars and seventy-five cents. 



