THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



57 



ODDS rfND ENDS 



POTATO TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Imports of potatoes into the United States in the 

 fiscal year ended June 30, 1902, amounted to 7,656,162 

 bushels, against 371,911 bushels in the previous year, 

 according to statistics published by the United States 

 Treasury Department. Exports in 1902 were 628,484 

 bushels, leaving the net imports 7,027,672 bushels. With 

 two exceptions, the 1902 imports into this country were 

 the heaviest ever made. The short domestic crops of 

 1881, amounting to only 109,145,494 bushels, resulted 

 in imports in the following fiscal year of 8,789,860 

 bushels. Another shortage in the domestic production 

 in 1887, when the crop amounted to only 134,103,000 

 bushels, was followed by imports of 8,259,538 bushels. 



As a general rule neither the exports nor imports 

 of this product are important. The trade is, in fact, 

 am anomalous one among food products, in that heavy 

 increases anfl decreases in domestic production have 

 little effect upon the external commerce. During the 

 past thirty years exports of potatoes from the United 

 States have never amounted to so much as 1,000,000 

 bushels annually ; in only fifteen years out of the thirty 

 have imports exceeded that amount, and four times only 

 have they exceeded 5,000,000 bushels. The annual pro- 

 duction, meanwhile, has varied widely, ranging from 

 the low figures of 1874, when the crop was only 105,981,- 

 000, to the high record figures of 1895, when the crop 

 amounted to 297,237,370^ bushels. The difference be- 

 tween the smallest and the largest crops of the past 

 thirty years is thus seen to be 191,256,370 bushels, 

 and it would be naturally expected in an important food 

 product like this that the wide range in production 

 would be reflected by important variations in the export 

 or import trade. It has not been unusual, however, that 

 in a year when the crop was greatly short of an average, 

 and was apparently entirely insufficient for domestic 

 consumption, there followed no appreciable increase in 

 imports. Crop variations ranging from neglible quanti- 

 ties up to as high as 190,000,000 bushels have never yet 

 resulted in an iinport trade amounting to so much as 

 10,000,000 bushels annually. 



N. A. Easton, of Merle, San Diego county, forwards 

 to the Los Angeles Express a sample of the evergreen 

 Australian forage plant, which has been found ad- 

 mirably adapted to the arid lands of Southern Cali- 

 fornia. He has more than forty acres planted to this 

 peculiar shrublike grass, and he declares that it is ex- 

 cellent for live stock and for poultry. 



While the plant will grow profitably on lands hav- 

 ing but little raik it is found to be far more profitable 

 where there is plenty of rain and where water is avail- 

 able for irrigation. The plants are set from four to 

 eight feet apart, like cabbage plants, when grown without 

 irrigation, and ten feet apart when subject to irrigation. 

 The plants must be watered until rooted, after which 

 they will take care of tremselves. 



' "This plant has been known to grow successfully 

 on the hardpan, or on rocky, steep side-hills," says Mr. 

 Easton. "It is far superior to evergreen millet, as it has 

 but one tap root and does not kill out like alfileria. It is 

 a great fertilizer when plowed under and well rotted, and 



with irrigation it has produced fifteen tons of hay an 

 acre the first year and thirty tons the second year." 



Without irrigation the product is said to be about 

 one-tenth as much. Mr. Eaton declares that it will 

 make most any rocky sidehill worth $5 to $10 an acre 

 or more where brush or timber has grown successfully, 

 and it is very nutritious for all kinds of 'stock when 

 accustomed to it. The tender tops, he says, are excellent 

 for greens. Riverside (Cal.) Press & Horticulturist. 



The following, clipped from The St. Paul Globe 

 of Nov. 18, is an evidence that Geo. Maxwell of the 

 National Irrigation Association is awakening to the fact 

 that an occasional meeting of his association would be 

 the proper thing : 



"At the meeting of the Board of Directors of the 

 Chamber of Commerce, it was announced by the Secre- 

 tary, B. F. Beardsley, that he had just received advices 

 from the executive committee of the National Irrigation 

 Association that the national advisory board of the asso- 

 ciation will hold its next annual meeting in St. Paul in 

 October, 1903. There are about 600 members of the 

 association on this board, and a majority of the number 

 are the most representative business men of the country. 

 The national association numbers about 3,000 members, 

 and it is expected that at least 500 will be present at the 

 convention here next October. 



The Oregon Irrigation Association met recently at 

 Portland and elected permanent officers, appointed 

 committees on resolution and legislation and adjourned 

 until next day. The following were elected to serve 

 during the ensuing year : 



President, A.H. Devers of Portland ; vice-president, 

 W. R. King, Malheur county; secretary, J. M. Moore, 

 Portland ; treasurer, W. T. Wright, Union county. The 

 election of Devers as president is considered a vic- 

 tory for the adherents of government irrigation as 

 against private enterprise under the Carey act. The 

 reselutions passed by the association will be received 

 by the United States government as a partial guide 

 for its reclamation work and as an expression of popu- 

 lar sentiment in this state. 



George H. Williams, mayor of Portland, delivered 

 the address of welcome to the delegates, in which he 

 facetiously referred to the steady downpour of rain dur- 

 ing the past two days, remarking that "eastern people 

 who have traveled in California and have been told 

 there that it rains 12 months of the year in Oregon 

 will be surprised to hear that $1,000,000 can be prop- 

 erly expended in this state in artificial irrigation, but 

 they do not know that Oregon is a state distinguished for 

 its variety of scenery, climate and soil." Spokesman- 

 Review. 



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