THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



135 



perches to allow a common hoe to be in- 

 troduced to scrape the droppings out. 

 Sprinkle the platform with dust or coal 

 ashes every day, and the poultry house 

 will never become foul with bad odors if 

 it is cleaned out two or three times a week. 

 Florida Farmer and Fruit Grower. 



BEE-STINGS FOR RHEUMATISM. 



Reports as to the effect of bee-stings on 

 rheumatism continue to conflict, some re- 

 porting success, others failure. E. W. 

 Moore says his mother, 62 years old, had 

 for years lost the use of her left hand 

 through rheumatism. Last summer, hiv- 

 ing a swarm alone, her hand was badly 

 stung and swelled greatly, but when the 

 swelling went down the joints were no 

 longer stiff, and now she can use the hand 

 as well as ever. Progressive Bee-Keeper. 



A Buffalo farmer made a discovery last 

 summer in regard to toads, that shook his 

 faith in the use of that animal. He often 

 noticed in the evening a large toad sitting 

 before the beehive, but was careful not to 

 molest it, as it was such a good destroyer 

 of troublesome insects. One evening he 

 watched the toad for a short time and 

 found to his surprise that as a bee alighted 

 loaded with honey, at the entrance of the 

 hive, the toad darted out his tongue and 

 captured the bee. Upon dissection, the 

 stomach of the toad was found to be full 

 of bees in various stages of digestion, and 

 in all probability it had devoured 40 or 50 

 bees per day. One would think the sting 

 of the bee would protect it from such a 

 fate. 



F. J. Berry, of the Dexter Horse Ex- 

 change, Chicago, is one of the many horse- 

 men who predict a scarcity of horses in 

 the near future. In a speech made at the 

 National Stock Breeders' meeting at St. 

 Paul, he said that owing to the poor 

 methods of the past few years, which have 

 driven so many breeders out of business, 

 we might expect a horse famine in this 

 country. 



If the water flows in the ditch now i s 

 the best time of the entire year to irrigate 

 a young orchard. It is now conceded by 

 all experienced horticulturists in arid 

 America that more young trees are killed 

 by winter drouth than summer heat, and 

 we now believe fully in the efficacy of a 

 good wetting in midwinter in order to cir- 

 cumvent as far as possible the damaging 

 results of the peculiar drying out process 

 which is so apt to shrivel our young stock 

 between now and early spring. 



This is a good time to dynamite ground 

 upon which to set fruit trees and where it 

 is on virgin land with tenacious hard pan 

 it will surely pay, as it does not exceed 5 

 cents a charge. Drive the holes with a 

 steel rod and maul. Make the holes from 

 three to four feet deep and charge with a 

 third of a stick of giant. If unacquainted 

 with the explosive and method of handling 

 it, get some one who knows all about it to 

 do the initial work and give instructions. 

 After the blast, take a long-handled shovel 

 and throw out the mass of earth in the 

 hole caused by the explosion. If the 

 holes can be irrigated at once with as much 

 water as they can hold so much the better. 

 Set the trees at the usual time in the 

 spring. Mosca (Col.) Herald. 



The government is conducting experi- 

 ments in regard to different varieties of 

 grass. A large "grass garden" is main- 

 tained at Knoxville, Tenn., where under 

 the careful eye of a competent director, 

 experiments in regard to the use and 

 growth of grass and forage plants are 

 being tried. 



A farmer of Red Lake township, South 

 Dakota, makes the following report for the 

 past season. On 90 acres of land he raised 

 1,500 bushels of wheat and 2,400 bushels 

 of corn on 80 acres. From Jan. 1, 1897, 

 to Jan. 8, 1898, the sale of corn was 2,500 

 bushels, for which he received over $500, 

 He has sold a small part of his wheat for 

 70 cents a bushel. A good report for 

 South Dakota as well as for the farmer. 



