THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



273 



himself to circumstances which is 

 his noteworthy characteristic, he 

 made the best of the situation and 

 by the next day bought a New 

 York, a Milwaukee or some other 

 paper with the air of always having 

 done so. The stereotypers chose 

 their time well, as the war news 

 was of prime importance, but the 

 publishers banded together and re- 

 fused their demands, and the glori- 

 ous Fourth passed by without the 

 daily papers. On July 6th the Chi 

 cago dailies made their appearance, 

 much reduced in size, being only 

 four-page editions. "Blessings 

 brighten as they take their flight" 

 says the proverb, and we appreciate 

 doubly our dailies from having been 

 deprived of them. 



Ameu The Lousiana Farmer 



to This. and Rice Journal under 



the heading "Irrigation Empha- 

 sized," say?: "The frequent recur- 

 rence of drouths and the anomalous 

 condition of the weather for the 

 past few years have certainly 

 taught the rice farmer that he must 

 no longer trust to rainfalls to nour- 

 ish and mature his harvests. In 

 fact it might be added that to make 

 acertaintyof any kind of a crop we 

 have to supplement some means of 

 irrigation to supply any deficit of 

 moisture that may occur from an 

 absence of rainfalls. This must be 

 done by building reservoirs and 

 storing a good supply of water 

 during the winter and early spring 

 by canals debouching from bayous 

 or by a system of deep wells op- 

 erated by wind- mills, force steam 

 pumps or compressed air. .The 

 sooner farmers provide these acces- 

 sories the sooner will they meet 

 success in farming." 



The wisdom of this utterance is 

 beginning to be realized all over 

 the west and southwest, and the 

 prospect of seeing irrigation in gen- 

 eral use is in the near future. 



Division of Some idea of the ef- 

 pubiicatioM. fort made by the Gov- 

 ernment to diffuse information on 



agricultural subjects to the farmer, 

 may be gained when we see it 

 stated that "the total number of 

 copies of all publications during 

 the past fiscal year, not including 

 the 'Year book,' was 6,541,210, and 

 for the first half of the current fis- 

 cal year 3,290,225." The publica- 

 tion of agricultural matter for free 

 distribution was begun several 

 years previous to the creation of 

 the Department of Agriculture, 

 and to Mr. Henry P. Ellsworth we 

 are indebted for the first reference 

 bearing directly upon agricultural 

 research carried on under govern- 

 mental auspices, In 1837 Mr. Ells- 

 worth was Commissioner of Pat- 

 ents, and in his annual report he 

 devoted some space to the distribu- 

 tion and improvements of seeds of 

 corn and wheat. The first really 

 official publication of agricultural 

 matter was in 1841, when the same 

 gentleman made a report in which 

 he discussed new methods of mak- 

 ing illuminating oil from corn and 

 sugar from cornstalks. Prom this 

 small acorn sprang the great oak of 

 agricultural publications of the 

 present day. The monthly and 

 yearly reports continued for sev- 

 eral years as the only publications 

 issued, with the exception of cer- 

 tain miscellaneous bulletins now 

 and then. In 1889 the first Farm- 

 ers' Bulletin was issued under the 

 title of "Tne what and the why 

 of experiment stations," 100,000 

 copies being issued. As a proof 

 of the growing demand for these 

 "in the five years, from 1893-1897 

 inclusive, the increase in the total 

 number of publications of the De- 

 partment has been, in round num- 

 bers, from 2,500.000 to 6,500,000 or 

 160 per cent." The time seems not 

 far distant when every farmer 

 will be supplied with the literature 

 best suited to his crop, and the old- 

 time "hayseed" who never pro- 

 gresses but does things as his fath- 

 er did, will give place to the edu- 

 cated, enlightened farmer who 

 uses his brain as well as his hands. 



