272 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



wells containing several iron tables. When 

 there is a scarcity of rain a messenger 

 starts out with a tablet, marked with the 

 date of the journey and the name of the 

 district making the petition. Arri-ving at 

 another city he pays a sum of money and 

 is allowed to draw another tablet from the 

 well, throwing in his own by way of ex- 

 change. On the return journey he is sup- 

 posed to eat only bran and travel at top 

 speed day and night. Sometimes he passes 

 through districts as greatly in need of rain 

 as his own. Then the people in these 

 places waylay him and, temporarily borrow- 

 ing his tablet,get the rain intended for an- 

 other place. 



Prayers are usually made in the fifth and 

 sixth months when the rainfall is always 

 due, and a limit of ten days is set for their 

 effective operation. Under such conditions 

 rain usually falls during the prescribed 

 time. When the prayers are in progress 

 the umbrella, among other objects, comes 



under the ban. In some provinces 

 foreigners have been mobbed for car- 

 rying this harmless article at that time. 

 New York Commercial Advertiser. 



The interior department has set aside a 

 new forest reserve, which takes in a very 

 large portion of northern and central Ari- 

 zona. Commencing at the 40 mile rail- 

 road land limit the reservation extends 

 southward to the alt river valley Indian 

 reservation; the eastern boundery is the 

 line of the White Mountain Indian re- 

 servation; Bigbug and Ash creeks con- 

 stitute about the western boundary of the 

 new reserve. Much of this land is purely 

 agricultural and has never been covered 

 by a growth of trees. It is surmised that 

 proposed government reclamation of arid 

 lands by water storage has some bearing on 

 the creation of this vast forest reserve 

 Prescott, Ariz. Courier. 



LAND ON YOUR FEET. 



You take a cat up by the tail, and whirl him round and round, 

 And hurl him out into th^ air, out into space profound, 



He through the yeilding atmosphere will many a whirl complete; 



Bur, when he strikes upon the ground he'll land upon his feet. 



Fa^'e takes a man, just like a cat, and, with more force than grace, 

 It whirls him wriggling round and round and hurls him into spoce; 

 And those that fall upon the back, and have not strength to rise, 

 Are those short sighted creatures who forgot to advertise! 



THE SHUART EARTH GRADERS. 



STYLE 



NO. 2. 



ing borders, ditches, etc. 



These machines rapidly and cheaply re- 

 duce the most uneven land to perfect 

 surface for the application of water. 

 Made in several different styles. On the 

 No. 3 style the blade can be worked diag- 

 onally, as well as straight across, thus 

 adapting it to throwing up and distribut- 

 For descriptive circulars and price, address, 



B. F. SHUART, Oberlin, Ohio. 



