THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



nce, and 3.2 was the maximum difference 

 in purity. The difference in crop, how- 

 ever, is very decidedly in favor of very 

 early planting. 



The question of the distance between 

 rows is recurred to again, and a former 

 recommendation is repeated, i. e., making 

 the alternate spaces between rows nar- 

 rower and wider. The distances advo- 

 cated are eleven and twenty-seven inches. 

 The chief advantage claimed is in irrigat- 

 ing, also an increase of crop. 



IRRIGATING UP THE SEED. 



Twelve experiments were made with 

 irrigating up the seed, and a like number 

 without irrigation. Of the twelve experi- 

 ments with irrigrtion none failed, of those 

 without irrigation two failed. The crops 

 from the twelve irrigated at the time of 

 planting averaged 26.3 tons to the acre. 

 The crops from the ten plots which came 

 up, but which were not irrigated at the 

 time of planting, averaged 25.4 tons to 

 the acre. 



INSECTS INJURIOUS TO BEETS. 



The earliest observations on this sub- 

 ject seem to have been made by Prof. C. 

 P. Gillette in 1894, when he records the 

 leaf hoppers Gnathodus abdominalis, Pla- 

 tymetopius acutus, and Agallia uhleri, as 

 doing injury to beets in the vicinity of 

 Grand Junction, also a mealy bug, Dacty- 

 lapius solani, as infesting the crowns of 

 the plant. The next mention of injury to 

 beets by insects is in 1897, when the 

 writer's patch of beets was seriously in- 

 jured by the leaf hoppers Agallia uhleri, 

 A. sanguineolenta, A. cinerea, and the 

 striped beetle Systena taeniata. Later 

 Monoxia puncticollis. and also the blister 

 beetle, Macrobases unicolor, did some 

 damage. 



In 1869 the beet army- worm (Laphygma 

 flavimaculata) made its appearance near 

 Grand Junction, and was very destructive. 

 It did not appear in injurious numbers in 

 this locality in 1900. Prof. Gillette and 

 his assistant, Mr. E. D. Ball, found but 



few specimens of either the first or second 

 brood. Prof. Gillette (Thirteenth Annual 

 Report of the Colorado Agricultural Ex- 

 periment Station) says of this failure of 

 the insect to appear the second season: 

 The very sudden appearance of this insect 

 which had never before been considered 

 injurious, in such destructive numbers, 

 and its equally sudden disappearance, is 

 quite remarkable. Particularly is this so 

 from the fact that the fall brood of worms 

 in 1899 were but little parasitized, and the 

 moths matured in enormous numbers. 

 The latter must have failed, for some rea- 

 son, to winter over. These worms ap- 

 peared on some experimental patches of 

 beets at Lamar and Rockyford in 1899, 

 and the first brood appeared in destructive 

 numbers in 1900. The worms began to 

 appear during the first week in June, and 

 were abundant by the 14th, when spray- 

 ing was begun. Late planted beets were 

 not injured by them, except where they 

 were planted near patches of weeds or ear- 

 lier beets. The poisons were effectual, 

 especially where two sprayings were made 

 with Paris green. 



Other insects mentioned by Prof. Gil- 

 lette as having been observed on beets and 

 not already mentioned, are Nysius angus- 

 tatus Coften called false cinch bug), more 

 or less abundant everywhere, in some cases 

 causing beets to wilt and die. Deilephila 

 lineata was found as an occasional feeder, 

 especially where purslane was allowed to 

 grow. (Mr. Ball's notes.) 



MONEY IN HORSE-RADISH CULTURE. 



The cultivation of horse radish is one of 

 the profitable fields neglected by market 

 gardener and general farmer. In the vi- 

 cinity of large cities men who give the 

 business the proper time and attention 

 clear $300 or more an acre every year. If 

 the roots are sold in the open market these 

 figures are obtained, but when ground and 

 put in cans for use, the profits run up to 

 early one thousand dollars an acre. The 



