THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



heretofore used. A comparison of the 

 Amount of tannin contained in canaigre 

 and other materials used in tanning shows 

 its superiority over all others. 



Canaigre root, 26. 30 per cent. 



Oak bark 7 to 20 per cent. 



Hemlock bark 13.92 per cent. 



Sumac 16 to 24 per cent. 



Wattle bark 20. 00 per cent. 

 When properly planted and cultivated 

 the yield runs from 25 to 30 tons to the 



The Canaigre Plant. 



acre of green roots which when dried will 

 weigh about one-half of the green product 

 and it has Europe and America for a mar- 

 ket. The value of the crop averages from 

 $225 to $250 an acre. 



There are now approximately 2,000,000 

 acres of land devoted to the culture of to- 

 bacco, and it is doubtful if any better 

 tobacco is grown in any country than 

 that of the Southwest. This remark will 

 be better appreciated when it is remem- 

 bered that before the recent war with 



Spain tons and tons of tobacco were an- 

 nually shipped from Connecticut to Cuba 

 and there metamorphosed and then re- 

 shipped and imported into the United 

 States as the genuine Cuban article. The 

 force of the imagination is strong in the 

 use of tobacco as well as in the use of 

 some other things. It is a fact that many 

 quite important American citizens prize 

 the merits of a cigar by the price they pay 

 for it, rather than from any other reason. 

 The total world's production of tobacco in 

 1897 was 1,330,000,000 pounds, of which 

 gross amount the United States produced 

 550,000.000. The annual increase in pro- 

 duction is large and it can be grown and 

 manufactured in the Southwest in equal 

 excellence and perfection with any coun- 

 try in the world without the aid of imagin- 

 ation. 



The Souths et is pre-eminently a fruit 

 country. Apples, pears, peaches, plums, 

 apricots, prunes, thrive and ripen to per- 

 fection. But the grape excels either for 

 the table, raisin and wine. Most of these 

 fruits will not grow in the North or East 

 in anything like commercial quantities, 

 hence the Southwest is particularly valu- 

 able as a fruit country and here many 

 fruits grow wild. 



Hops, broom corn, flax and ramies grow 

 abundantly and mature well, and the cult- 

 ure and manufacture of American silk is 

 becoming an important and lucrative in- 

 dustry. The reason of this is found in 

 the demonstrated fact that the sun and 

 soil in particular localities in the warm 

 and equable climate of the Southwest is 

 particularly adapted to the production of 

 the raw material and experience teaches 

 the transposition of this raw material into 

 a high grade manufactured article is here 

 as complete and perfect as in any country. 

 But a few years ago American silk 

 found no market at home, because of a 

 foolish prejudice against it ; buyers in- 

 sisted on the French article or that made 

 in Belgium or Switzerland or perhaps 

 Japan or China, but all that "foolish pre- 

 judice" is now happily a thing of the past 



