THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



73 



ear as a badge showing their healthy con ' 

 dition. Cows that cannot pass the test 

 will be killed. 



NEW FRUIT PICKER. 



Two Pennsylvanians have patented a 

 fruit picker, consisting of a pole with a 

 steel loop at the top, having the upper 

 edge sharpened and bent inward to cut the 

 fruit from the limb. A loosely woven tube 

 made of cords is attached to the under side 

 of the loop and extends down to the lower 

 end of the pole to break the fall of the 

 fruit. 



ITEMS. 



The sheep industry is on the boom out 

 west this year. 



Colorado is advancing very rapidly in 

 the dairy industry. 



The great packing companies are going 

 into the butter and egg business now. Of 

 course there's money in it. 



Keep the chickens free from lice. A 

 remedy for a lice-infested hen house is to 

 burn sulphur in it. Put a pound of sul- 

 phur on live coals and close the door 

 tightly and leave for an hour or so. 



If you want to succeed in the dairy bus- 

 iness make good butter and sell it to cus- 

 tomers direct. There are always a large 

 number of families willing to pay an extra 

 price for butter from a nice home place. 



The smaller stock growers have become 

 so thick on most ranges that they feel 

 their power and are not slow in making it 

 felt. The old-time cattle baron will have 

 to change his tactics if he wants to stay 

 in the business. 



During 1896 England imported from 

 Denmark 120,000,000 pounds of butter, 

 157,000,000 pounds of pork and bacon, and 

 9,180,000 score egss. Within two years 

 the production of bacon in Denmark has 

 increased 20 per cent. 



Kansas has 552,538 milch cows, an in- 

 crease of 36,963 during the year. There 

 are 2,399,494 hogs in the state. Poultry 



products to the value of $3.909,892 have 

 been sold, and butter, cheese and milk to 

 the value of $1,509,381. 



Runaway horses are unknown in Rus- 

 sia. No one drives there without having 

 a thin cord with a running noose around 

 the neck of the animal. When an ani- 

 mal bolts the cord is pulled, and the horse 

 stops as soon as it feels the pressure on 

 the windpipe. 



February, 1866, was in one way the 

 most wonderful month in the world's his- 

 tory. It had no full moon. January had 

 had two full moons and so had March; 

 but February had none. This remarkable 

 state of things had never happened before 

 since the creation. 



There is nothing like the dairy farm 

 the year round to insure a steady income, 

 and winter dairying is a sure road to pros- 

 perity and comfort for the dairy farmer. 

 With Elgin at 22 cents a pound and a 

 higher price for better brands, the coming 

 winter's outlook is good. 



English dairy authorities state that the 

 English cows produce 1,400,000,000 gal- 

 lons of milk annually, of which 400,000,- 

 000 are used for making butter and cheese, 

 600,000.000 as milk for the table, at an 

 average of sixteen gallons per inhabitant, 

 and 400,000,000 in fattening calves. 



In haste she tried, to drive a nail, 



But the next time she will linger ; 

 And then perhaps she'll miss the one 



That's growing on her finger. 

 In this world of sin and woe, 



Man should have but few regrets 

 If he wants little here below, 

 For that is all he gets. 

 O the musing poet warbles 



Of the frost that's on the vine 

 And the labors of the buskers, 



In a style that's very fine ; 

 But you bet he couldn't do it 

 If he'd ever husked an ear, 

 For about that much of farming 

 Makes the romance disappear. 



