316 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



eases of horses and cows. The fine fibers 

 of the leaf when moistened and bound on 

 a fresh wound will give instant relief and 

 assist in healing bruises. 



This plant is easily grown in temperate 

 climes, and if it does not cure so well as in 

 Kentucky, its value is not depreciated. 

 The seed may be purchased from any deal- 

 er in field seeds, at five cents a package, 

 which will produce several hundred plants. 

 Sowing the seed and transplanting the 

 plants is about the same as for cabbage or 

 tomatoes. The hoeing and general culti- 

 vation does not differ from other plants, 

 and when the buttons begin to show for 

 blossoms they should be pinched out, which 

 is called topping. This causes the leaves 

 to spread and the fiber to get thicker and 

 more valuable. Small suckers will form 

 at the top of every stem, where the leaf 

 branches from the main stalk, and must be 

 broken off by a twist with the thumb and 

 forefinger. When the leaves show spots 

 the tobacco should be cut and hung up in 

 the barn or shed to cure. 



In -cutting, the stalks should be split 

 down to within about six inches of the 

 ground and cut at the roots. Ten or more 

 stalks may then be crossed over a stick 

 four feet long and hung up between poles 

 so the leaves will hang down. I have 

 grown specimens by irrigation, having 

 leaves thirty-six inches long and twenty 

 inches wide. The stem will not cure until 

 Christmas when it may be handled on 

 damp rainy days. Any soil that will pro- 

 duce good cabbage may be planted to to- 

 bacco with success, but usually the most 

 satisfactory crops are grown on new land. 

 As a choice house plant for winter there is 

 nothing so beautiful or beneficial as a 

 blooming tobacco stalk, in a pot or box. 

 The plant is very tender and will not 

 stand much frost. Worms attack it when 

 very small and continue eating until after 

 the plant is cut and sheltered in the house 

 or barn. 



FALL IRRIGATION. 

 The benefits of fall irrigation are appar- 

 ent to every farmer and orchardist who 

 has given the experiment a fair test and 

 watched results. Some think that when 

 trees shed their foliage and fruits are har- 

 vested, they should go into winter without 



water being applied to the roots. But, 

 this idea certainly is erroneous, and con- 

 trary to the laws governing tree life and 

 the natural yearly conditions of forest 

 growth. The native forests are more 

 thrifty, earlier in foliage and produce bet- 

 ter fruits after a wet fall and cold winter. 

 Fall rains give the roots an opportunity 

 for storing nourishment and prevent dry 

 rot during the season of rest. The same 

 is true of irrigation, if applied before se- 

 vere freezing of the ground. Small root- 

 lets do not cease growing throughout the 

 winter, and are the first to impart vigor 

 to the trunks in early spring, hence re- 

 quire moisture. 



After a cultivated crop has been har- 

 vested a thorough irrigation fills up the 

 soil channels of moisture, assists in rotting 

 weeds and stubbles, and thereby adds to 

 the fertility'held in check for the following 

 spring. When irrigated, the coating of 

 weeds and grasses fall more closely to the 

 surface and decay, thus forming a mulch 

 for winter, and fitting the ground for early 

 spring plowing. In most sections of the 

 west the fields are thrown open after 

 harvest for common pasture, and every- 

 thing in the shape of vegetation is tramped 

 under foot and destroyed, if the fields are 

 left without water from the cropping sea- 

 son. Why then should this important 

 work be neglected and its benefits lost to 

 the farmer? Fall irrigation when coupled 

 with fall plowing will add immensely to 

 the products of tree and vine and the cul- 

 tivated crops of the next year and should 

 oe more generally practiced. 



PLANTING CHESTNUTS. 



Many western farmers have tried trans- 

 planting eastern grown chestnut trees, 

 with but little success, and have naturally 

 concluded that the soil and climate are not 

 suited to nut culture. I have seen many 

 nice, thrifty trees and plucked large, nu- 

 tritious nuts from chestnut groves in dif- 

 ferent sections of the West, and am con- 

 vinced that conditions are favorable for 

 successful and profitable growing of the 

 American varieties in most of the sheltered 

 valleys of the Rocky Mountain and Pacific 

 Coast states. The trees are hard to trans- 

 plant with success even when taken from 

 the original seed bed, and set immediately, 



