g THE DIVERSIFIED FARM. 



In diversified farming by irrigation lies tne salvation of agriculture. 



THE AGE wants to brighten the pages of its Diversified Farm department and with 

 this object in view it requests its readers everywhere to send in photographs and pic- 

 tures of fields, orchards and farm homes: prize-taking horses, cattle, sheep or hogs, 

 Also sketches or plans of convenient and commodious barns hen houses, corn cribs, 

 etc. Sketches of labor-saving devices, such as ditch cleaners and watering troughs. 

 A good illustration of a windmill irrigation plant is always interesting. Will you help 

 us improve the appearance of THE AGE? 



GAS FROM MANURE 



The Literary Digest \ Jan. 21) contains a 

 translation from a French paper upon the 

 scientific use of farm refuse. It is 

 claimed by a French scientist that manure 

 could be put to a better use than that of a 

 fertilizer, as the only elements which 

 make it valuable for that purpose are 

 found in such small quantities that in a 

 ton of manure there is not more than a 

 handful of the real fertilizing ingredients, 

 such as potash, phosphoric acid and lime. 

 The suggestion is made, therefoce. that 

 these fertilizing agents be used directly 

 and the manure put to a more profitable 

 use. The use suggested that of lighting 

 farm dwellings from the gases arising 

 fi-om manure will be a new idea to many 

 but this is what it is claimed can be done. 



The director of the Pasteur Institute at 

 Lille. France. Dr. Albert Calmette. has 

 made experiments which have demon- 

 strated that not only ammonia may be ob- 

 tained from manure, but that the gases 

 generated will burn in the open air. His 

 method, as outlined in the magazine, is as 

 follows: 



'He advises covering the manure with a 

 bell-shaped cover furnished with a tube 

 that ends in a receiver filled with acidu- 

 lated water. Thus, instead of dispersing 

 through the atmosphere, the ammonia 

 engendered by the fermentation of the 

 manure would be collected in liquid form, 

 from which the ammoniacal salts could 

 easily be recovered. But this is only the 

 smallest and the least interesting side of 



the question. The fermentation produces 

 not only ammonia, but also, in great 

 quantities, carbonic acid. and divers gaseous 

 hydro-carbons endowed with the precious 

 property of burning in the open air with a 

 bright flame.'' By furnishing the receiv- 

 er with a good gasometer. Dr. Calmette 

 claims enough gas can be obtained to 

 light all the buildings of a farm. 



There are establishments in England 

 which now use city refuse to run the en- 

 gines connected with the city electric 

 plant. This refuse is burned in a special 

 form of furnace and no other fuel is neces- 

 sary. 



While these suggestions are of no prac- 

 tical value to the average farmer at 

 present, as it will doubtless be many years 

 before we see farms equipped with an ap- 

 paratus for making, gas from manure, it is 

 interesting to know what may be done in 

 this line and in the future these* possibili- 

 ties may become practical realities. 



A PLEA FOR THE POOR. 

 ANNA FORBES GOODYEAR. 



While vast multitudes of poor people, in 

 the United States, are suffering for pro- 

 ducts of land, millions of acres of govern- 

 ment lands lie vacant and untilled. But 

 want of a few hundred dollars to the family 

 prevents the very poor avail ing themselves 

 of them, under homestead laws: for means 

 to get to them, cultivate them, and live 

 while raising first crops are indispensable. 



Since the needy of our land are estimated 

 at millions, and all benevolent individuals 



