TH E IRRIGA TION A GE. 



251 



for it at the factory is about $7. 00 per ton. 

 Or the farmer may count on a net profit 

 of from $15 to $30 an acre on %e crop. 



As it is not a staple, like corn or wheat, 

 the market might be easily overstocked, 

 so while it is a profitable crop for a limited 

 number, farmers had best not embark in 

 the cultivatioa of it unless assured of a 

 market beforehand. 



THE SOY BEAX. 



The Kansas Experiment Station has 

 been growing the soy bean for the past ten 

 years, startiug with a small patch, and in- 

 creasing the area until last year 35 acres 

 were grown . It is a good drought-resister. 

 is not touched by chinch bugs, and the 

 beans are richer in protein than linseed 

 meal. With sufficient moisture to germ- 

 inate them, a crop can be grown after 

 wheat and oats are harvested. In 1896 

 the yield on ground after wheat was eight 

 bushels per acre, in 1898 six and one- 

 quarter bushels. With linseed meal at $25 

 per ton. these crops after wheat would be 

 worth $6.00 and $4.68 per acre. When 

 planted earlier in the season, the yield of 

 soy beans is from 10 to 20 bushels per 

 acre. The soy bean not only furnishes a 

 crop rich in protein, but at the same time 

 enriches the soil. Henry Rogier, one of 

 our graduates, reports an increase in large 

 fields of five bushels of wheat per acre on 

 land where soy beans had previously been 

 grown, over land that had not been in soy 

 beans. 



With dairy cows, soy bean meal takes 

 the place of linseed meal, being somewhat 

 richer in protein, a laxative feed, and soft- 

 ening the butter fat. Not over three 

 pounds ptr day should be fed to a cow, 

 and the softening effect on the butter may 

 be overcome by giving feeds having the 

 opposite tendency, such as corn, Kaffir 

 corn and cottonseed meal. 



We believe the soy bean is worthy of a 

 trial in all parts of this state, and that the 

 trial should not be made on less than an 

 acre; five acres would be better. Hun- 

 dreds of people have tried planting a quart 



of seed, with the result that grasshoppers 

 and rabbits harvested these small patches. 

 Kansas Ex. Station, Bui. 24. 



AN OLD IRRIGATION IDEA REVIVED. 



L. J. C. Spruance has struck a novel idea 

 to get the water down to the tap roots of 

 his orange trees while the irrigation water 

 is limited. He bores with a six-inch post 

 auger a hole four feet deep on two sides of 

 the trees about three feet from the trunk. 

 These holes he will allow to fill with water 

 when irrigating, thus placing the water 

 where it is most required, to the tap root 

 of the tree. 



If the water supply is permanently 

 scanty, bore the holes only about 20 or 22 

 inches deep and place therein a two-foot 

 joint of light, shet iron pipe, leaving it 

 there permanently. A dozen buckets of 

 water will do as much good in the pipe as 

 a hundred times that much will do when 

 spread all over the ground. Covina Ar- 

 gus. 



A CHANCE FOR THE GIRLS. 

 Fifty girl students have this year en- 

 tered upon a full scientific course of farm- 

 ing at the Agricultural College in Minne- 

 apolis. Heretofore the opportunities af- 

 forded girls for study were confined to the 

 few weeks of summer vacation allotted to 

 the male students, but this year, as in 

 others to come, one may assume they are 

 to enjoy full privileges with the men. It 

 is supposed, if the experiment proves suc- 

 cessful, that other states may be induced 

 to follow the example set by Minnesota, 

 and that henceforth farm life may present 

 such unwonted attractions to farmer lads 

 as to induce them to stay at home. 



EGGS BY THE WHEELBARROWFUL. 

 John K. Musick has written a book on 

 ^'Hawaii; Our New Possession," and 

 among other interesting information is 

 something about the birds on Leyson 

 Island, a small island about a hundred 

 miles in extent, which is 800 miles west 

 of Honolulu. Mr. Music says : 



