THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



201 



rows and the ridges or hills not disturbed 

 by hoe or plow. Furrow irrigation I think 

 is best, with the ditches pretty deep so 

 that the water will not flood over the vines. 

 Harvesting is done by pulling or plow- 

 ing up the vines, or by potato fork. When 

 the vines are dug all the nuts cling to the 

 vines and should be left several days to 

 dry. Two or three rows can be thrown 

 together and left to diy and cure for about 

 two days, when they can be hauled to the 

 barn or stackyard on a hayrack and stacked. 

 The nuts can be picked off by hand at 

 leisure and the vines fed to cows and 

 sheep, making excellent feed. I have 

 grown 80 bushels on an acre under irriga- 

 tion. A bushel weighs twenty-two pounds 

 and the local or home price has always 

 been 10 cents per pound. An acre at these 

 figures yields $176, and gives a good profit 

 on the investment. Seed can be purchased 

 by wholesale at about 10 cents per pound 

 in Missouri, Kansas, Indiana, Georgia and 

 elsewhere. The people of the United 

 States consume about $10,000, 000 worth of 

 peanuts every year so that there is no dan- 

 ger from overproduction. Every farmer 

 should plant a few at least for the children, 

 hogs and chickens, and the acreage will 

 certainly be increased with the coming 

 years. 



LICORICE ROOT. 



A farmer near Phoenix, Arizona, has 

 demonstrated to his entire satisfaction 

 that licot ice can be grown in that state. 

 Some years ago he planted a package of 

 licorice seed as an experiment, and so rap- 

 id has been the growth of the root that it 

 has not only covered its own territory but 

 threatens to usurp that of the alfalfa field 

 and the garden patch. Some of the roots 

 dug are ten feet long. The owner has made 

 no effort to dispose of the crop beyond 

 sharing it with his neighbors, and his 

 chief efforts now are to get rid of the roots 

 which form a perfect network under the 

 surface. He is through raising licorice 

 root. 



THE ALFALFA PLANT. 

 Alfalfa is a species of Chilian clover in- 

 troduced in the Rocky mountain country 

 about a quarter of a century ago, from the 

 deserts of South America. The plant 

 withstands drouth and cold to such a re- 



markable degree that it is the most valu- 

 able green and dry forage grass grown in 

 the realms of irrigation. In the coldest 

 cultivated valleys of the west, two crops of 

 hay can be cut every year from a good field 

 of alfalfa while the warmei sections furn- 



