1E2 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



Where theory conflicts with fact, it is not the fact, 

 it is the theory that should be modified. In the rapid 

 evolution of the west from desert to the garden spot of 

 America, each year brings changing conditions. Ideals 

 must give place to realities; fancies to facts. Policies 

 of forestry preservation need direction from a mind so 

 well balanced that it heeds today's progression while 

 contemplating the needs of the morrow. 



Unallied with any political party and owing alle- 

 giance only to his chief, who has already declared an 

 unequivocal attitude in conservation policies, Mr. 

 Graves enters the arena with the well wishes of all 

 except the coterie of Third Term boomers. 



Who 

 Killed 

 Cock 

 Robin? 



Whom is to be the scapegoat when these 

 ponderous investigations have run their 

 course and congress is ready to assign a 

 cause for the high cost of necessities and 

 the resultant increased cost of living ? Of 

 course, there must be a "goat," otherwise 

 the demonstration would fail to have its effect upon the 

 public. Something must be done to appease the mental 

 suffering of a million city-glued, salary-grabbing people 

 who are incapable of solving the problem. 



Trusts, labor and the tariff are all popular crim- 

 inals in the eyes of certain classes. A decision that 

 either, any two, or all, are responsible for the high price 

 of food-stuffs would meet with ready belief, provid- 

 ing the charge is adorned with even a meagre covering 

 of logic. And where the public's suspicions are already 

 so firmly rooted, even the logic of the conclusion might 

 be dispensed with without loss of effect. 



But while the imaginary cause is, in the popular 

 mind, reputed to be hiding behind barriers of capital, 

 organization, or legislation, the virile words of James 

 J. Hill, the master railroad builder of the northwest, 

 recur to the mind and throw a new light upon this 

 baffling economic problem. 



For years he has preached a doctrine in which he 

 found few supporters. Watching the wasteful methods 

 of American farming, and noting the failure of pro- 

 duction to keep pace with consumptive demand, he 

 sounded the note of alarm but only to unheeding ears. 

 For was the country not prosperous? Were the people 

 not living in affluence while they skimmed the earth of 

 its food products? 



In his public utterances Mr. Hill again and again, 

 warned against that day when, without more intensive 

 and more scientific methods of farming, production of 

 food stuffs would fail to supply the demand. For the 

 farmer he predicted an era of prosperity at the expense 

 of the city consumer. Looking beyond even the present 

 time he prophesied an evolution in methods of agricul- 

 ture and the adoption of plans for conservation of plant 

 foods within the soil. Only from this change in condi- 



tions, he believes, the consumer may expect relief from 

 the high living costs. 



But while these observations may be of interest 

 to those who are already studying agriculture or who 

 are actively engaged in farming or gardening, there is 

 still another condition that is of import. Unless there 

 is immediate relief from the present high food costs 

 city dwellers will be forced, both from necessity and 

 inclination, to seek better fortune in the country. To 

 maintain the balance of -economic conditions, some con- 

 sumers must become producers. 



Observation at the recent land show and exposi- 

 tion in Chicago proves the fact that city dwellers are 

 restless. During the entire period of exhibit there were 

 probably fewer farmers in attendance than might be 

 found at a county or township fair. Records of exhib- 

 itors show that it was citizens, not suburbanites, who 

 made inquiry and asked to be supplied with detailed 

 data. 



Unless appearances are deceptive and signs of the 

 times point to wrong conclusions, the western land own- 

 er may expect rapid appreciation in land values within 

 the next few years. And the promoter of an irrigated 

 project should find an increasing demand for his hold- 

 ings. 



Already the crowd of vultures has scented the prey 

 and dozens of "dollar a month" and other similar of- 

 fers are being placed before the city public. Doubtless 

 there are some concerns engaged in this work that merit 

 commendation, but it can be truthfully said that the 

 majority are in the gold-brick class. 



Loco 



Weed 



Yields 



to Science. 



Basing his prediction upon experiments 

 and investigations covering a period of 

 nearly twenty years. Prof. L. E. Sayre, 

 dean of the Department of Pharmacy in 

 the Kansas Universitv. predicts that the 

 time is approaching when the loco weed, 

 so common in many of the western and southwestern 

 states, shall become an animal food of even more nutri- 

 tious value than, alfalfa. Newspaper reports intimate 

 that he has already discovered a means to destroy the 

 noxious elements within the weed, and that experiments 

 are now being conducted to prove the practicable value 

 of the method. 



According to a lecture delivered before the Kansas 

 Stock Breeders' Association, in session recently at To- 

 peka, Professor Sayre asserted that a liberal sprinkling 

 of the loco plant with sodium sulphate will result in the 

 formation 'of an insoluble compound of barium, the 

 only known poisonous element in the weed. When so 

 treated, he declared, it not only becomes harmless to 

 stock, but from its richness in proteids and nitrogenous 

 elements it is a most desirable food. 



In connection with his announcement of the dis- 

 covery and his hope to demonstrate its value, Professor 





