THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



99 



them, it may not be served in a form that 

 suits their needs. Ask them to write and 

 tell you of their practical experiences 

 telling where they made a failure, either 

 in raising or selling their crops; what 

 methods they have found best, or whether 

 they have a specialty in any one crop. In 

 short, any bit of practical wisdom that 

 they have learned arid that, while it may 

 seem like a slight thing to them, may 

 prove of great value to some of the readers, 

 who have not yet learned it in that dear 

 school of experience." 



We will be indeed glad to have our 

 readers tell us anything of interest regard- 

 ing the kind of soil they till, the crops 

 they raise, the methods they employ, or 

 the markets they find for their products. 



destroyed, wasted by careless and inju- 

 dicous methods, is what most counts. 

 Every one who has visitecL a great lumber 

 camp knows that more material is de- 

 stroyed than'is sent to market. The small- 

 er trees, nut large enough for marketable 

 timber, are regarded as mere encum- 

 brances, to be slashed and burned and got 

 out of the way in whatever fashion may be 

 readiest. The ground is thus entirely 

 cleared. The beds of moss and leaf-mold, 

 hitherto perennial reservoirs of moisture, 

 are dried up The soil and rocks are ex- 

 posed, and the country transformed into a 

 desert. What shoiild be done is evident. 

 The small trees should be carefully pre- 

 served, so that they may in turn grow to 

 full size, and meantime shade the ground 



and preserve the forest conditions. Lum- 



bering should, in brief, mean a judicious NEBRAS KA'S CROP FOR ,897. 



thinning out, not a wholesale destruction 



of the forest. 



Tree planting should be practiced on an Corn > bushels. .229,907,853 



extensive scale, forest fires be more scrup- Oats bu?hels 69,389,944 



, ., , Rye, bushels 5,392,507 



ulously guarded against, and the woodland 



,. ,. , Potatoes, bushes 8,045,802 



area of the country be systematically cul- 



,..-,. , ,. .,. , ., , Barlev, bushels 2.889,574 



tivated, instead of ruthlessly raided. ' 



,, ,. , , , ,, , , iuaxseed, bushels 230,646 



Other nations neglected the lesson long, ' 



but have learned it at last, and now enforce ^ ay ' tons 4 ' 630 ' l4 



it with a strictness that here might seem ugw beets, tons 104,00 



despotic. But this nation is bound to Chicory, tons 



come, sooner of later, to some such system VALUE AT LOCAL MARKET PRICES. 



of forest conservation, and it will be for- Farm products .....$ 99,370,965.21 



tunate if it does not reach it through the Dairy products 9,438,000.00 



ruinous experience of treelessness. Eggs 2,250,000.00 



*Poultry 5,500,000.00 



A GOOD SUGGESTION. ** Live stock 44,965,489.35 



We are indebted to one of our subscrib- 

 ers for the following, which he suggests Total $461,523,454.56 



would be a good thing to place before our *Estimated. **Sixty counties only, 



readers. We quote, with but slight alter- Wherever the actual facts were obtain- 



ations. as follows: able they were given. In the case of only 



"Ask your subscribers what changes a few counties was it necessary to make 



they would suggest in the AGE. Tell estimates and these were carefully and 



them that their interests are yours, and conservatively computed. This is prob- 



above all, that without their co-operation ably as accurate a summary of the crop 



you fear you cannot prepare a bill of fare production of Nebraska for 1897 as can be 



that will be acceptable to their mental given until the official reports of the state 



palate. That, while there is any quantity board of agriculture are published. Even 



of this mental food to be obtained for these will be but little, if any, more ac- 



