CORRESPONDENCE. 



A MODEL FARM. 



The following letter was received from 

 J. F. Mayes, manager of the Texas Chal- 

 lenge Windmill Company, Dallas, Texasj 

 in response to our request for information 

 regarding their state fair project: 

 IRRIGATION AGE, CHICAGO, ILL. : 



Gentlemen: Replying to your esteemed 

 favor, will say in regard to our state fair 

 project that we expect to put in at the 

 Texas State Fair as a permanent feature 

 thereof a model irrigation farm in minia- 

 ture. The water for irrigating the crops 

 will be drawn from a depth of 60 feet dy 

 windmills and gasoline engines and the 

 water distributed over the farm by means 

 of ditches. The grounds will of course 

 be laid off in an artistic manner with a 

 view to making it pleasing to the eye from 

 the standpoint of a landscape gardener and 

 the crops will be arranged with a view to 

 heightening this effect in every possible 

 way. The crops will be grown from the 

 choicest seed obtainable and the principal 

 idea will be to demonstrate in a practical 

 way just what can be done with different 

 crops by a proper system of irrigation. 

 The space allotted to any one crop will 

 necessarily be limited, but for demonstra- 

 tive purposes it will be as valuable as if 

 the crops were larger. 



The soil on which the state fair grounds 

 is located is an average sample of what is 

 known as the Texas Black Land Belt. The 

 city of Dallas is located in the heart of this 

 belt of extremely rich soil, and even with- 

 out irrigation nearly all varieties of crops 

 respond to the efforts of the husbandman 

 more abundantly in this particular soil 

 than anywhere in the United States. The 

 only difficulty ever met with is the lack of 

 rain, and when artificial methods are em- 

 ployed to obviate this difficulty this par- 

 ticular soil is a veritable gold mine. So 



far there has been very little done with a 

 view to determining the results of irriga- 

 tion, which is owing principally to the 

 fact that this is comparatively a new coun- 

 try and has been settled up by people who 

 come from the older southern states where 

 it was necessary to use an immense quan- 

 tity of fertilizers in order to produce crops 

 of any kind. Their experience with the 

 black waxy soil of Texas has been so strik- 

 ingly different to what they were used to, 

 that they are inclined to let well enough 

 alone. In other words the soil here re- 

 sponds so bountifully even under natural 

 conditions, compared to what it does in 

 some other states, that no one has felt dis- 

 posed to see just how much profit could 

 be developed if every possibility were 

 taken advantage of. During the present 

 year all feed crops were practically a fail- 

 ure for lack of rainfall. The rains of the 

 past thirty days, however, have so im- 

 proved the conditions of our great staple, 

 cotton, that the people have entirely for- 

 gotten their loss in the matter of grain 

 crops. With the proper system of irriga- 

 tion, even by pumping from considerable 

 depth, these grain crops could have been 

 saved, and this particular section several 

 million dollars better off. 



The same thing would be true of nearly 

 any year, because we never have seasons 

 so favorable, but that the losses on account 

 of drouth would be astounding if figured 

 out in dollars and cents. Our idea is to 

 encourage an agitation of this subject 

 with a view to saving these immense 

 amounts for our farmers. If you have 

 any suggestions to offer in regard to our 

 exhibition farm, we would very much ap- 

 preciate the same. 



The machinery to be used in this ex- 

 hibit is manufactured by the Challenge 

 Windmill & Feedmill Co., Batavia. 111. 



