THE IRRIGATION A (,'/:. 



39 



cheese. When taken out of the press 

 they are placed in a curing room, usually 

 on the top shelf, then branded, noting 

 that mouth and date, which with the 

 notes taken during the day helps us to 

 follow up the history of the cheese. Ex- 

 perienced cheese makers say that only one 

 half the work of the maker is done when 

 the cheese is placed in the curing room. 

 The cheese should be turned, every day 

 and the temperature of the room kept as 

 near as may be between 60 and 70 de- 

 grees Fah. 



IRRIGATION FOR THE DE- 

 VELOPMENT OF FRUIT. 



n~~!HE fruit tree or plant is a wonder- 

 J_ ful laboratory and manufactory. It 

 takes the crude materials from the air 

 and soil, manipulates them in unison with 

 that greatest of alchemists the Sun 

 in such a manner that our greatest chem- 

 ists are puzzled and baffled to explain how 

 it is done. The miscroscope, retort, con- 

 denser and test tube have all added their 

 quota to the investigation, but how and 

 why a peach tree will manufacture peaches 

 from the same soil constituents, as the 

 cherry trees makes into cherries, or the 

 grape vine turns into grapes, is as far from 

 solution as ever. The fruit tree takes the 

 phosphate, potash, nitrogen, lime, etc., 

 from the soil only when they are dissolved 

 in water, hence the great virtue and 

 value of water. 



The sponge-like fibers at the end of the 

 rootlets absorb the food laden water, it is 

 carried up through the roots, stem and 

 branches to the leaves, which in their 

 turn sponge like absorb carbonic acid 

 gas from the air, transforming all the ma- 

 terials gathered from the soil and air into 

 wood, bark, leaves and delicious fruit. 



The late P.of. Asa Gray, computed 

 that the Washington Elm at Cambridge, 

 must produce every year some 7.000,1)00 

 leaves, equal to 200,000 square feet of sur- 

 face, or about five acres, yet the crown of 

 this tree is only about 70 feet in diameter 



therefore does not come over one-tenth of 

 an acre of land. 



At Erlangen, Germany, Prof. P faff stud- 

 ied in detail the amount of water evapor- 

 ated by an oak tree between May 28th 

 and Oct. 24th. i. e. from the time the 

 leaves appeared until they fell. He found 

 this tree pumped from the soil 264,000 

 pounds of water into the air during this 

 time, and that this amount of water was. 

 8k times more than fell as rain during the- 

 same time, on an area equal in circumfer- 

 ence to the tree top. 



If then a tree transpires so much water 

 from the soil, and trees can only secure 

 the materials they require for the growth 

 of wood, fruit, etc. , through the medium 

 of water, is it a wonder that it should be- 

 found necessary to supply water artific- 

 ially during the long summers of ourWest- 

 eru states. 



But too much of a good thing is some- 

 times worse than none. Too much water 

 can be used in the orchard, rendering the^ 

 fruit soggy, of poor flavor, impairing the 

 health of the trees and rendering them less 

 able to withstand the assaults of fungoid 

 and insect parasites. 



An ideal condition would be to keep 

 the soil of the orchard sufficiently moist at 

 all times thus giving the trees the chance 

 of securing enough food for its fullest de- 

 velopment. But to do this requires knowl- 

 edge, skill and good judgement which 

 alone can be learned by experience. 



PROFIT IN ONIONS. 



Many large crops of onions have been 

 harvested this season and those not grow- 

 ing the crop are no doubt anxious to en- 

 gage in the business next season, because 

 it is one of the most profitable of vegeta- 

 ble crops. 



This reminds the writer of a story of an 

 onion crop which was favorable to the on- 

 ions but derogatory to the potatoes. This, 

 is the story in brief : 



A priest was traveling through a cer- 

 tain portion of Ireland and he stopped one 



