868 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



It may be a dead calm when suddenly a blast bursts 

 forth, shaking the tent to its foundation and threatening to 

 sweep it across the heights. 



Many nights the heavy down pour of rain, penetrated the 

 tent and gave us an unexpected shower bath. Once the wind 

 wrecked the tent and the heavy snow fall, the first of No- 

 vember, made it uninhabitable. 



Luckily, in the bungalow, we were building, one room 

 was nearly finished, and in this room we sought shelter, after 

 more than twelve hours, wading in the snow and keeping 

 warm by exercising. 



We came not alone to these heights, but brought with 

 us our choicest treasurer, a big tiger cat "Boy"' and twenty- 

 five barred and white rocks, scored by a competent judge. 



It was a pitiful sight to see these chickens turned loose 

 after a five days journey, with no place to go, no shelter 

 whatever when darkness fell upon them. 



With the aid of dry goods boxes and some quilts, we 

 managed to make a place at the side of the tent. 



Next day, four posts, a few pieces of scantling and some 

 slabs were converted into a rude house. 



My experience, in building was similar to that in farm- 

 ing. Miy hands were tender and soft, and my strength 

 spasmodic, and of little endurance. The sawing of the boards 

 taxed me to the utmost, and I had fewer finger nails, at the 

 completion of the work, than I had at the beginning. The 

 hammer seemed to me cross-eyed and more often missed 

 than hit the head of the nail, but it seemed to always find a 

 part of my anatomy. Nature was kind to me, and came to 

 my rescue. She first blistered my hands and then made 

 them callous. 



Having been accustomed to a market, where what the 

 appetite craved, could be secured, we found that we would 

 have to subsist upon those things which could be readily 

 obtained. 



As a cow furnishes half of the living, we purchased one 

 with her calf for $65. To obtain this half of the living, 

 from the cow, was an arduous task. We knew less about 

 the milking of the cow than she did herself, so instead of 

 training her, she trained us, how to do the work. 



I tried to milk her and in so doing learned the lesson 

 of aerial navigation and not to cry over spilled milk. 



My wife then took her in hand and today she is gentle 

 to milk and comes when called. 



My wife seems to have a craze for raising calves, and 

 succeeded in raising seven calves from this cow "Boss" dur- 

 ing the first year. This story was told to a man and when 

 he looked incredulous, my wife said : "You do not believe 

 that do you?" and he replied, "Some people would." Well, 

 she raised the cow's own calf and bought six others. 



Four were sold for young beef. One heifer was sold 

 to a dairyman. One died from eating damp alfalfa. And 

 the cow still has her own calf "Beauty" which she loves as 

 much now as the day it was born. 



Beauty is today a cow valued at $50, at least I refused 

 that amount for her. 



This year we sold two calves, for $0.00 each. We sell 

 cream and have plenty of milk for our own use and the 

 chickens and pigs. 



The poultry business has grown to such an extent that 

 it requires all the time of one person to manage it. We 

 have never been able to supply the demand for stock and 

 eggs for setting. Only yesterday a man came over from the 

 Springs and offered me $3.00 a piece for all my white rock 

 pullets, but I did not care to sell them. 



The only thing that has not come up to my expectation 

 are the pigs. They refuse to attain the mammoth size, I 

 have read they should. An experienced farmer told me it 

 was because their tails were too long and inquired why I 

 did not cut them off? I told him I had read that in order 

 to have healthy pigs, their tails must curl and if I cut them 

 off there would be no curl. 



I have fenced the tract, built a good stable, sanitary 

 chicken houses, cement house for the incubators, made a 

 large cistern, and the end is not yet. 



Three acres of cherry trees were set out and 100 

 Carolina poplars planted on dry land around the bungalow. 

 Such has been my first year of farm life and it con- 

 sisted chiefly of hard labor. 



'Twuz lucky ma was brave, when things wuz goin' wrong. 

 She never whined, but kept a-hoping right along : 

 When I was in the dumps, I've often heard her say : 



"its always darkest just before the break of day." 



Well she was right, you see ; we've nothin' now to dread. 



The winters nearly past, and there is light ahead ; 



I'm so relieved I'd like to jump and crack my heels, 



And ma sings all day long to show how good she feels. 



The mental life to which I have been accustomed is 

 blotted out. The books, magazines and papers are covered 

 with dust and no longer my daily companions. The social 

 life is a thing of the past. The mantle of Doctor of Philoso- 

 phy has fallen from my shoulders, like a worn out garment 

 and the dignity which it bore has departed. 



1 am called "the old man" and for my success in raising 

 beans on virgin soil, often dignified by the sobriquet "the 

 bean man from Fountain." 



1 have become simply "the man with the hoe and the 

 brother of the ox." 



For one year and a half our home has been on Gebbie 

 Heights. The scene has changed somewhat since we nrst 

 pitched our tent. 



Instead of the barren lands and bleak heights, the place 

 is covered with cultivated fields, ornamented trees and 

 orchards and dotted with houses and the necessary farm 

 buildings. 



The irrigation system has been vastly improved and 

 there seems a good prospect that in the not far distant 

 future, this place will become a "thing of beauty and a joy 

 forever." 



MONTGOMERY MOORE, A. M., PH. D. 



AN ENCOURAGING LETTER. 



IRRIGATION AGE: 



Enclosed please find lOc in stamps. Kindly send me a 

 copy of the last number of IRRIGATION AGE. Mine has been 

 destroyed. The IRRIGATION AGE is one of the few periodicals 

 which are worth keeping. 



Yours truly, 



J. W. TAYLOR. 



This is a very encouraging letter, and the Editor feels 

 that it should grace a corner in the new Correspondence 

 Department. Mr. Taylor is evidently appreciating the IRRI- 

 GATION AGE and the Editor will do his best henceforth to 

 make its columns indispensable to its many reade Irs. 



March 23, 1911. 

 EDITOR IRRIGATION AGE: 



Will you, as a favor, inform me as you may be able 

 what the law in New York state is lelative to appropri- 

 ating all or part of the water flowing in an unnavigable 

 stream through land of which one is the posessor? 

 You will oblige, vours very truly. 



JOHN W. DE BRUYN. 



84 Worcester St., Boston, Mass. 



Will some one of our readers give this information to 

 Mr. De Bruyn either directly or through the columns of 



I KKHIAT.ION AGE? Editor. 



CANADIAN STEAM PLOW PROPOSITION $20.00 

 PER ACRE. 



480 acres free of stone or brush. 



Located 20 miles southeast of Winnipeg, 6 miles from 

 Niverville, on Canadian Pacific Ry. 



Soil, good black loam on clay subsoil. 

 Terms, one-fourth cash; balance to suit. 



Write or call on 



C. A. Comley, 



169 E. Third St., 



St. Paul, Minn. 



Send $1.00 for The Irrigation Age, one year, and the 

 Primer of Irrigation, paper bound, a 260-page finely 

 illustrated work for beginners in irrigation. 



