1102 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



but are not permitted and may be forfeited by non-users 

 for two consecutive years. 



Some 231 miles of canals have already been con- 

 structed, including 57 miles of natural channel used for 

 the same purpose. The main canal has a capacity of 1,400 

 cubic feet of water per second. Distribution ditches are 

 not included in the mileage mentioned, as, under this 

 company's system, such ditches are constructed by the 

 water users, the company only building the canals and 

 main laterals. The amount expended by the company 

 on their canal system is about $1,300,000. 



The Southern Alberta Land Company has acquired 

 some 400,000 acres between the Bow and Belly rivers and 

 eastward from the junction of these streams towards 

 Medicine Hat. They have been given the right to divert 

 2,000 cubic feet of water per second from the Bow river, 

 at high water and flood stages only, the low water flow 

 of the stream being already appropriated for other irri- 

 gation projects. Consequently enormous storage capacity 

 is having to be provided. The work of constructing 

 ditches, dams and other necessary equipment are well 

 under way and it is expected that water will be turned 

 into the land during the summer of 1912. 



Under the terms of agreement, the company is re- 

 quired to irrigate not less than twenty-five per cent of 

 the land purchased, or 95,000 acres. If the quantity of 

 water reserved proves to be greater than the company 

 can apply to beneficial use on lands sold to them, they 

 vill be required to dispose of the surplus to any whose 

 l;nds can be served by these ditches. 



LOUISIANA A DESIRABLE PLACE FOR SETTLERS 



The state of Louisiana, with many million acres of 

 now uncultivated but highly productive soil, a mild cli- 

 mate which permits a series of crops to be grown on the 

 same land each year, and a network of navigable canals 

 and streams which insures cheap transportation, will bid 

 for the immigration Canada is now getting from the 

 United States. In order to make the bid most effective, 

 a Louisiana Agricultural Exhibit Commission has been 

 appointed by the Governor, and supplied with funds by 

 the parishes or counties of the state, for the purpose of 

 gathering exhibits and data concerning agricultural pro- 

 duction, cost and profits, health and market -conditions', 

 character of soil and climate, etc., and thus equipped meet 

 the people of the north and west face to face. 



The commission will demonstrate that with only 

 about 5,000,000 acres in cultivation out of 27,000,000 acres 

 comprising the state, the people of Louisiana have pros- 

 pered, her planters have enjoyed wealth and affluence, 

 and her farmers have never known want. The plantation 

 or overlord system is now rapidly disappearing and the 

 great estates are being subdivided and cultivated by 

 smaller independent farmers. The cut-over forests are 

 being cleared and opened up to settlement. The wet 

 alluvial lands are being drained and made available to 

 the plow. In this manner new tracts of virgin lands are 

 being made available and the state in its official capacity 

 is taking time by the forelock and is going after farmer 

 families to occupy these lands. 



The first exhibit the Louisiana commission will give 

 will be at the United States Land and Irrigation Exposi- 

 tion at Chicago, November 18 to December 9. Others 

 will follow later. The object of the commission is to 

 exhibit average rather than abnormal products, so that 

 the farmer seeking accurate information may learn ex- 

 actly what the soils of Louisiana produce under normal 

 conditions. 



No land will be sold at these exhibits, no private en- 

 terprise will be exploited and no information will be given 

 out except such as have been carefully investigated and 

 compiled by the commission itself. The chairman of the 

 commission, Dr. W. R. Dodson of Baton Rouge, is the 

 dean and director of the State College of Agriculture and 

 Agricultural Experiment Stations. 



NEW CORPORATIONS. 



The Zimmerman Land & Irrigation Company, of 

 Zimmerman, Pecos County, Texas, has recently filed its 

 charter with the Secretary of State. The company is cap- 

 italized at $200,000. The incorporators are Davie Zimmer- 

 man, James W. Fogelman and Silas E. Rice. 



SILAGE AND CONCRETE SILOS. 



The principal source of profit in dairying, stock-rais- 

 ing and farming lies in improving the quality and at the 

 same time keeping down the cost of production. In this 

 matter of profit and loss nothing plays such an important 

 part as the question of feeds and feeding. The natural 

 feed for animals, the one on which they do best, is green 

 pasture. In climates subject to frost, man has made the 

 same provision for animals as for himself by providing 

 them in winter with canned green fodder called "silage." 

 Silage is made most commonly from corn, cowpeas, clover, 

 sorghum, or alfalfa, merely chopped fine and stored in 

 large water-tight cans known as "silos." In dry weather 

 or in winter, when green pasture cannot be had, this feed 

 is equally good in producing a flow of milk or in putting 

 fat on animals. One acre of a crop harvested as silage 

 will feed twice as much stock as the same amount har- 

 vested in any other manner. 



Like a glass fruit jar, a silo must be water-tight and 

 jointless to keep the silage from moulding or "dry tiring." 

 For this reason, and also because no painting or repairing 

 is ever necessary, solid-wall concrete silos are coming into 

 general use. 



Selecting the Size of the Silo. 



The best silos are built circular in shape. The size 

 depends upon how many animals are to be fed daily, the 

 quantity in pounds for each animal's daily feed, and the 

 number of days it may be necessary to feed them. The 

 silo should be of such size that a layer of silage at least 

 2 inches in depth will be removed each day after feeding 

 has begun. This prevents a thin top layer from mould- 

 ing. A dairy cow requires about 40 pounds of silage per 

 day, and the following table is based on this amount. 

 Forty pounds is also the average weight of a cubic foot 

 of silage. 



DIMENSIONS OF SILO ACCORDING TO SIZE OF HERD. 

 FEED FOR 180 DAYS. FEED ,-OR 240 DAYS. = 



NU 



5 S 



MBER OF COWS g 



IN HERD. 



= 5 



s< 



Size of Silo. K o 



% | Size of Silo. 



i- ? IM ** 



W C 



3 



M Sf 



U -tJ 



Ft. Ft. 



10 

 10 



11 



12 

 13 

 14 

 15 

 16 

 16 

 17 

 18 

 19 



25 



28 



29 



32 



33' 



34 



34 



35 



37 



37 



39 



40 



Ft. Acres 



31 3 1 /2 



35 4 



36 5 



39 6'/ 2 



40 8 

 37 



38 

 39 

 89 

 39 

 40 



10 



11 



13 



ll'A 



16 



19 



It is frequently advisable to cut down the average 

 daily ration or to use silage together with other feeds. 

 With this thought in mind, and especially for dry weather 

 feeding in summer, many farmers find it best to build two 

 silos of moderate size instead of one large structure. 



Location and Foundation. 



Locate the silo where it will be convenient for feeding. 

 Usually it is joined to the barn by means of a chute and 

 passageway with doors. Since the silo and its contents are 

 heavy, it must be built on solid ground. The bottom of 

 the foundation should go below the frost line. The silo 

 may, with advantage, extend 4 to 5 feet into the ground. 

 Dig the pit large enough to allow for the thickness of the 

 circular walls and a footing 2 feet wide. 



Making the Forms. 



In order to save lumber the concrete is poured into 

 forms which can be moved up as the concrete sets or be- 

 comes hard. These movable forms consist of two circular 

 shells 3 to 4 feet high, so made that one fits within the 

 other with space between for a 6-inch wall. The hori- 

 zontal framework consists of 2 by 4-inch timbers cut to 



